|
|
| |
| West Cork Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.5 - Owenahincha - Saturday @ 17:53:33 |
| |
|
RALLY NEWS NO.5 Owenahincha/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 6 Ardfield 2
1st (141) Denis Cronin/Coleman Hurley (Impreza WRC) 51.41.0
2nd (2) Brian O`Mahony/John Higgins (Impreza WRC) 52.09.8
3rd (5) Owen Murphy/Anthony Nestor (Lancer N) 52.34.9
4th (8) John Joe Fleming/Robbie Ward (Focus WRC) 53.22.3
5th (1) Daragh O`Riordan/Tony McDaid (Fiesta WRC) 53.33.5
6th (14) Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort) 53.51.0
7th (6) Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort) 54.13.6
8TH (4) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 54.18.3
9TH (12) Ed O`Callaghan/Raymond Scott (Escort) 54.57.6
10TH (9) John Cope/Alistair Wylie (Impreza WRC) 55.22.7
On the second run over the Ardfield stage Denis Cronin set a time of 7.29.0 while Brian O`Mahony recorded 7.29.3. Closest to them was John Dalton on 7.38.8. Following a puncture in stage 5 where he drove on a flat front tyre on about 6k Daragh O`Riordan was then on a mis-match of rubber on the front of his Fiesta WRC and he was 18s down on Cronin. Daragh lost over half a minute with that puncture. Still, the young Scariff Plant Hire man is on a learning curve with this new car and he is doing a good job. When Denis Cronin brought his Subaru into service he said. `It is getting nicer by the stage`. The Ballylickey man then pointed at the gear change mechanism on the steering wheel and said. `These paddles are a great help to an older fellow like me!`. Denis has almost 29s of an advantage over O`Mahony but the race is far from over with 6 classic stages tomorrow and O`Mahony said when he came into service. `The car is really good now and the speed in this yoke high up is fantastic`.
Owen Murphy has battled so hard today and is doing fantastically well to hold 3rd place but he is now 25s behind O`Mahony`s World Rally Car, which is no surprise and no disgrace as Owen is only in a group N car and the former Forestry Champion said. `There is just nothing left in the car`. Adrian Hetherington is still the best of the 2 wheel drive category as well as top Escort and he said. `We are pushing but not on the limit, in fact nowhere near it. There is more left if it stays dry tomorrow`. Frank Kelly is 2nd in the 2 wheel drive battle and he commented. `We are getting the hang of the car now. It has different ratios and the axle is very aggressive, spinning the wheels up`. Both Escorts are now coming under pressure from John Dalton who seems to have recovered his composure and his speed following his earlier puncture. Ed O`Callaghan maintains his position in the top 10 and said he was happy enough, despite having a damaged driver`s door after a coming together with a chicane.
Pat O`Connell is 12th o/a and 2nd in Group N and was a lot happier after that loop and he said. `We are now about 80 per cent there in the set up it is a lot better`. Kevin O`Donoghue lost a little time this afternoon when he was running the wrong fuel pump in his Escort and he is now just inside the top 15 on a total of 58.32.4. Allen Treacy is also inside the top 20 despite losing the brakes of his Corolla towards the end of stage 6. Welshman Tomas Davies changed the gearbox on his Escort and the car is also bottoming out, otherwise going well.
More news to follow: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
|
| |
| |
| |
|
| |
|
