UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 17 Ballyfa – last stage

1^st (1) Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen (Focus WRC) 1.57.14.6

2^nd (2) Gareth MacHale/Paul Nagle (Focus WRC) 2.00.06.2

3^rd (3) Mark Higgins/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 2.00.56.5

4^th (4) Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Focus WRC) 2.01.09.6

5^th (8) Kevin Lynch/Gordon Noble (Focus WRC) 2.02.10.8

6^th (14) Stephen Murphy/MJ Morrissey (Impreza WRC) 2.02.47.8

7^th (11) Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Impreza WRC) 2.03.25.3

8^th (16) Michael Barrable/Dermot O'Gorman (Focus WRC) 2.03.43.5

9^th (6) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) 2.03.58.9

10^th (12) Ray Breen/Damien Morrissey (Focus WRC) 2.05.08.1  

Eugene Donnelly’s dream of winning this Galway International all fell apart in stage 16 when his Subaru reportedly under steered into a ditch and got stuck. Marcus Gronholm had turned in a stunning time on stage 14 and was just over a second behind Eugene starting that Eglish test. Initial reports that Gronholm’s Focus had also gone off proved to be incorrect and in fact the Finnish driver turned in a fantastic time 17s up on Mark Higgins.  We were told earlier that Marcus wasn’t very happy with the revised suspension set up on his Focus but as it transpired he was perfectly comfortable and found the car so much better. Marcus Gronholm commented at the end of the final stage “It was a difficult rally but we learned a lot, it was good to have Donnelly to push me. It was sad for him to go off, he was driving well”.   Gareth MacHale commented. “I’m happy enough, we were getting quicker throughout the rally as I got used to the left hand drive. I didn’t think I’d be that on the pace with the new car”. 

Mark Higgins’ late surge has promoted him to 3^rd place which will almost certainly mean maximum Tarmac Championship points as neither Gronholm or Gareth MacHale registered for the series. Mark commented. “I was a bit happier towards the end but there is still a bit to do. It was a pretty dreadful rally for me, I hope we get more grip in Sweden. Still it was a great opportunity for me to drive the Pirelli car, we had a few worries on the last stage as it is showing low oil pressure but we got here”.  Further stories include; Kevin Lynch spinning his Focus on the penultimate stage. Ray Breen had power steering trouble at the nd. Austin MacHale had a front left puncture but lost little time and Gareth Jones crashed the Reid Motorsport Impreza at a crest into square right almost within sight of the finish. Gareth’s Focus had a puncture some distance before the accident so possibly this was a contributory factor.

In Group N James Foley and his co driver Paddy Robinson scored a great victory with Kevin O’Donoghue 2^nd, Kevin Kelleher 3^rd.  Current gpN champion Colm Murphy set a string of gpN fastest times today.

In the National part of the rally with 1 stage remaining Brian Brogan and Joe Friel led in their Escort from Manus Kelly in his Lancer and Tom Holton 3^rd in his Celica.

Young Tadgh Buckley led the Fiesta Sporting Trophy contenders from Jonny Greer with Alastair Fisher 3^rd.

Martin McCormick continued to lead the Historics in his Escort from Martin Leonard with Niall Creighton 3^rd. Finally for now many thanks to all the Galway organisers for a terrific event and to all who supported the RallyNews service.

BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net