UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 7 Lough Cutra
1st (4) Declan & Brian Boyle (Impreza WRC) 34.33.5
2nd (1) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 34.33.7
3rd (6) Sam Moffett/James O`Reilly (Fiesta WRC) 34.57.9
4th (5) Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Focus WRC) 35.00.1
5th (9) Steve Simpson/Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) 35.55.3
6th (14) Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Lancer N) 36.33.9
7th (12) Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Impreza N) 36.48.0
8th (26) Stephen McCann/Lisa O`Dowd (|Lancer N) 36.50.1
9th (21) Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (Lancer N) 36.51.3
10th (15) Martin Doherty/Conor Foley (Lancer N) 37.21.2
UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 7
1st (16) Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Starlet rwd) 35.42.9
2nd (17) Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Escort) 36.23.5
3rd (25) Pat Kelly/Jonathan Kelly (Impreza) 36.42.5
4th (57) Ed Murphy/John McCarthy (Escort) 36.59.8
5th (31) Neil Pierce/Aileen Kelly (Civic) 37.15.2
6th (34) Kevin Eves/Chris Melly (Corolla TC) 37.21.6
7th David Quigley 8th Tom Flaherty 9th Liam Howlett 10th Gary Kiernan
Through stage 7, Lough Cutra, Garry Jennings was half a second faster than Declan Boyle to leave the two Subarus split by 0.2 of a second going into the next loop of 3 stages. Declan said here at Gort Mart service. `Garry just keeps nibbling away at us. The car is behaving itself. We only released the pressure once between the 2 stages this morning and it did not miss a beat through the stages`. Garry said. `We had a nice steady run. No point in sticking my neck out`. As well as Garry suffering a really bad back for this rally he has the added distraction about worrying about his wife Kerry back home in Kesh. She is about to give birth to their second child, a brother or sister for Jessica. When we say `about to` it sounds like it could happen before the day is out. We expect Garry will be having a very rapid trip back to Fermanagh this evening!!
Sam Moffett was 5th overnight and up to 3rd o/a now. Sam is really settling in to his new Fiesta WRC but reckons he should have had more cuts in the front tyres for the stages this morning. Many of the drivers report the road surfaces to be wet, slippy and shiny, clearly very difficult. Donagh Kelly seems to be comfortable in 4th. While Manchester`s Steve Simpson felt that his tyre compounds were too hard and the car was sliding about. Josh Moffett said he had a clean safe run over Lough Cutra and now moves into a clear group N lead. Colm Murphy was the overnight GpN leader but he damaged a wishbone on his Impreza on the Black Rd stage. He managed to effect some repairs but was slow through Lough Cutra.
Modern Tyres man Rory Byrne has reported slid his Lancer into a ditch this morning and is stuck. Brendan Cumiskey was the first group N car through Black Road following Donnelly`s accident. The cars in front of him received a nominal time, Declan Boyle`s time actually, whereas Brendan got his own time that was a minute slower. This leaves him 11th o/a and 4th GpN. Declan Gallagher had a great run through Lough Cutra to extend his lead in the Modified section from Wesley Patterson. Pat Kelly continues to hold 3rd. Tom Flaherty was 6th overnight but has dropped a few places as there seems to be something awry with his Escort front suspension.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL With thanks to Zoe: www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @REal_RallyNews
