| RALLY NEWS NO.7 Service/Mallow/Sunday 11.15
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 10 Peter’s Hill
1st (5) Keith Cronin/Anthony O'Conaill (Lancer N) 53.36.1
2nd (1) Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Focus WRC) 53.50.9
3rd (14) Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Lancer N) 55.52.4
4th (4) Kevin O'Kane/Martin Brady (Impreza WRC) 56.01.2
5th (21) Emma McKinstry/Kenny Hull (Impreza WRC) 56.29.9
6th (20) John McGaffin/Alan Russell (Impreza WRC) 56.41.3
7th (10) Cathal Rogers/Paul McLaughlin (Lancer N) 56.44.8
8th (46) Alwyn Jobb/Thomas Nugent (Lancer) 57.05.3
9th (17) Seamus O'Connell/Brian Duggan (Escort) 57.05.6
10th (18) Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort) 57.17.9
Keith Cronin and his co driver Anthony O’Conaill fairly flew through the Peter’s Hill stage to record fastest time, and increase their winning margin over Stephen Moore from 6s to 14s. In all fairness Moore did have some intercom problems through the 2nd half of the stage but it was still a fantastic performance by young Cronin. The stage was very muddy in places and caught out the flying Frank Kelly, his Escort parked in a hedge on a K left just before the stage finish. Damien Tourish had been battling with Colin Britton for 3rd overall but his lancer also went off on a very muddy section just before junction 9 on a downhill into square left.
Keith Cronin’s co-driver Anthony O’Conaill when asked where the wing mirror on his side went, he just laughed and said something along the lines of “That was a bolt of lightning!” He gave a bit of a nervous giggle then and admitted that it had just got pulled off against a hedge somewhere in the stage and that they had been going “all out” to increase the lead over Stephen Moore. Moore admitted that it was a very difficult stage and having no intercom on the muddy sections wasn’t easy. Colin Britton has kept up the good work this morning by moving up into 3rd place the young Artigarvan man saying “We had a good run, it was wild slippy I think I need new tyres”. Kevin O’Kane held on to 4th despite his Subaru sliding into a ditch after a junction and clunking over a big rock which damaged a suspension strut. Emma McKinstry wasted no time getting her Subaru into service here at Mallow, Emma thinking that the car needed a gearbox change. It transpired though that when the mechanics examined it the Impreza sump guard had got bent and was catching the gear change mechanism. The damage is being repaired so hopefully Emma can hold on to her 5th place. John McGaffin had a good run through stage 10 despite having to squeeze past Frank Kelly’s stricken Escort.
We are just getting news in now that Aidan Caldwell from Strabane running at 47 in his Escort has stopped to give Frank Kelly’s Escort a tow out of the hedge. To all intents and purposes though Frank is out of the battle for best 2 wheel drive honours, which is now between Seamus O’Connell and Adrian Hetherington. Hetherington was fastest on the opening stage this morning while O’Connell was the quickest on stage 10. Adrian reckoned that Seamus must have been taking chances over the muddy sections, and he chose just to drive them safely. Further stories include – Sean Heaney in the Lancer at No.30 spun the car and stalled the engine and then when he went to hit the starter button the whole thing fell off in his hand! He got going but dropped a little time. John Hickey in his Subaru said “There’s not a bolt in the car hasn’t broken, the gearbox and the axle and everything has fallen out. We must some more Loctite on these bolts!”
In the Fiesta Sporting Trophy Jonny Greer was 1s faster than Alastair Fisher through stage 10, Alastair losing a fraction with a spin. The gap now is approximately 18s. Conor Harvey had been 3rd but he got his Fiesta stuck at the notoriously muddy section at location 9 which has allowed Kyle Orr up into 3rd.
On yesterday’s Cookstown Davagh Rally Camillus Bradley won from the similar Escort of Declan McNaughton while Brian Muldoon was 3rd in his Lancer. Rally Germany: After Leg 2: Loeb in his Citroen led. Gronholm 2nd in the Focus. Duval 3rd, Hirvonen 4th, Kopecky 5th, Gardemeister 6th and P Solberg 7th in his Subaru.
More news later. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net |
