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| Circuit of Kerry |
| RALLY NEWS No.7 - Finish - Sunday @ 17:18:19 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.7 Finish/Tralee/Sunday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 8 LAST STAGE
1st (1) Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Impreza WRC) 58.23
2nd (4) Brian O'Mahony/John Higgins (Impreza WRC) 58.23
3rd (3) Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 58.55
4th (9) Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort) 1.00.13
5th (10) Declan Boyle/Gary McNern (Escort) 1.00.19
6th (8) Mike Quinn/Grainne McEnery (Escort) 1.01.19
7th (131) Eugene Meegan/Brian Sharkey (Lancer N) 1.01.48
8th (19) Tommy Mason/Podge Doody (Escort) 1.02.44
9th (22) Frank Sweeney/Jane Cogan (Escort) 1.03.34
10th (20) Charlie Hickey/Johnny Hickey (Escort) 1.03.43
There are close finishes and there is this Circuit of Kerry Rally. It seems like every other year the rally ends on a tiebreak. This year is no exception with Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley taking victory after a tiebreak with Brian O’Mahony/John Higgins in their similar Impreza WRC. Fitzmaurice led the rally for most of the day but Brian O’Mahony had a great run through SS7 to take the lead by 1s going into the final stage. Fitzmaurice put in one final charge and was 1s quicker than O’Mahony through the tortuous 9.7km of that Scotias Grave test. This left the pair equal on total time. The tiebreak decider is fastest on the last stage, so the champagne goes to Tralee man Thomas Fitzmaurice and his co-driver Fionn Foley. It is especially sweet for local men Thomas and Fionn as a Kerry crew has never won this event.
Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry put up a great performance this afternoon and were fastest through stages 5 and 6 but had to settle for 3rd place. There was also a great battle for the best Modified category honours with Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan just edging out Declan Boyle/Gary McNern. The two crews finished 4th and 5th o/a. A remarkable performance by both teams in their Mk2 Escorts. Mike Quinn/Grainne McEnery were a solid 6th o/a and 3rd Escort, but Mike admitted he could not match the two guys in front. Eugene Meegan/Brian Sharkey in their Mitsubishi Evo 10 were worthy GpN winners and 7th o/a. Mark Donnelly was pushing hard through stages 5 and 6 to catch Meegan but his Lancer was sidelined with gearbox troubles. Tommy Mason, Frank Sweeney and Charlie Hickey were 8th, 9th and 10th in their respective Escorts and were also 1st, 2nd and 3rd in class 13.
Following stage 6 Bernard Foley/Paul Twomey led the Junior category in their Civic by 5s from Chris Snow/Sean Brunton in a similar Honda. John O’Connor/Gerard Conway were 3rd in their Citroen C2R2. Denis Collins (Escort) led the Historics from Phillip McKibbin (Cortina).
This Circuit of Kerry Rally has built up a tremendous loyalty over the years. For example one crew today, Mike Walsh and Sean Moriarty, are very proud that their first ever Circuit of Kerry Rally was 20 years ago. For Sean Moriarty this is his 150th rally and for him his home event, this one, is always the best!
Finally for now well done to CoC Senan Raggett and his fantastic Kerry MC team for organising such a successful and interesting rally. We would like to thank all those people who have helped and supported the RallyNews service especially all our loyal sponsors. Thanks also to Dougie Hughes, Daphne Millar, Mossie O’Connell.
BRIAN &I LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net Follow RallyNews on Twitter @ pacenotes
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