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Clare Stages Rally |
RALLY NEWS No.3 - Service - Sunday @ 12:17:36 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.3 Service/Ennis/Sunday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 Kells Cross
1st (2) Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Impreza WRC) 23.49
2nd (3) Brian OMahony/John Higgins (Impreza WRC) 24.07
3rd (1) Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 24.20
4th (6) Kevin Kelleher/Ger Conway (Impreza WRC) 24.39
5th (5) Kevin Barrett/Conor Foley (Impreza WRC) 24.47
6th (8) Roy White/James OBrien (MG S2000) 25.00
7th (7) Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Impreza N) 25.04
(9) Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort) 25.04
9th (12) Declan Gallagher/Gary Gallagher (Starlet) 25.34
10th (10) Shane Maguire/Martin McGarrity (Impreza N) 26.12
A couple of the jumps in stage 3 Kells Cross, caught the drivers out as they were much more severe than they thought. Thankfully the top drivers got through the stage unscathed although Niall Maguire’s Subaru had a brief flirtation with a ditch just past the junkyard in the stage. Niall lost little time but it took him a mile or two to get back into the swing of it as he was worried about his Subaru having sustained a puncture.
Thomas Fitzmaurice seemed to have a very good time to move into a clear lead. Brian OMahony had no problem in the stage and yet was quite a bit slower than Fitzmaurice, which is hard to understand. Kevin Kelleher reported a few 6th gear slides in his Subaru and plans to try some Pirelli tyres for this loop.
Roy White’s MG S2000 had intercom problems and co-driver James OBrien resorted to hand signals to guide Roy through the 17.4km of the stage. Roy told us that at least the car is going well and the Mountune engine seems perfect after recent upgrades. Frank Kelly continues to hold the Best Escort accolade, but he did have a bit of a worry when the road cut out on the road section into Ennis.
Colm Murphy continues to lead Group N despite an overshoot on a 6 left and also a bent suspension arm at the rear of his Impreza. When the Murphy car arrived into service, co-driver Don Montgomery was in fits of laughter as apparently they had made abet during the recce that Colm would over-shoot that particular corner! Shane Maguire is hanging on to 10th place and feels that his Impreza is down on power.
Stephen Carey/Breda ODriscoll in their class 3 Civic had a huge moment early on in the rally so they are just consolidating their position. They are still leading their class and indeed have already clinched the class in the National series. Jonathan Pringle had an overshoot in stage 2 and lost a bit of momentum, he is now 11th o/a. Declan Gallagher seems to be setting good times but feels that he is not really getting to grips with the roads so far today.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net (Our thanks to Angus Sealy (Results) and Sean White (The Special Sean White Sandwiches!) Follow RallyNews on Twitter @PaceNotes or @Real_RallyNews
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