Damp roads greeted the drivers as they tackled the first Sunday stage out near Kilavullen. Gareth McHale was fastest overall, 2s up on Eamonn Boland which leaves the gap between the two 18s with 5 stages remaining. Early dramas included Sean Flanagan & Brian Duggan retired their Impreza from the top 10 because of clutch troubles. Sean’s team mate Mark Nangle put his Impreza off the road and out of the rally and also of significance, Alan Carmichael retired his Lancer having hit a bank and damaged a rear suspension arm making the car impossible to drive. This alters the whole complexion of the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge and means it is now between Damien Tourish and Brendan Cumiskey. It is all a bit ironic really as Alan Carmichael has finished every Evo rally this year and here it is on the final counter and he’s retired.
When Eamonn Boland finished that opening stage this morning he was sweating hard and said it went well but the stage was pretty slippy. Gareth MacHale felt that he was nice and tidy and had no problems. Aaron MacHale was running a trifle late but didn’t seem to be too concerned. Niall McShea felt he was being too safe, too cautious with the wet conditions and would need some further adjustments to the new Impreza, but overall everything was fine.
Damien Tourish had a good run through the stage and caught and passed Liam McCarthy’s Corolla. Alan Ring reported a very big moment at a farmyard which took the wind out of the Munster Joinery man’s sails for a moment. Tommy Doyle was having clutch troubles with his Clio. John McGlaughlin seems to make a good tyre choice and set a good time to move into the top 10.
In the Fiesta Sporting Trophy Alastair Fisher was fastest through that opening stage this morning, 3s up on Elfyn Evans. In the National section Manus Kelly turned in a stunning time to move ahead of Washington James and Terence O’Shaughnessy. When James’ Darrian came into the stage finish his co driver Anthony O’Conaill said. “Its like dancing on glass on that road over the mountain!”
Austin MacHale continues to OO in the fabulous new Opel OPC Corsa S2000. Austin was slightly hampered over that opening stage by a lack of heated front screen but otherwise had a good run and was in great form. Eugene Donnelly was hoping to OO this morning but there was no sign of him where we were. The reason for his retirement yesterday was a broken wire/clip to the alternator.
On yesterday’s last Rally News we mentioned that Guy Wilks had won Rally Yorkshire. Guy’s Lancer was excluded because of a problem with the steering column. The team has appealed this decision but in the meantime Mark Higgins is shown as the winner with Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors 2nd and Dave Weston Jnr 3rd in his Impreza.
