On the 2nd run over Knockalla it was Declan Boyle who again set the pace, 6s faster than Darren Gass and 9s up on Sam Moffett. The front corner of Boyle`s Subaru showed signs of contact with a straw bale and he admitted that he had touched the chicane at the bottom of Knockalla and also that he was pushing very hard in places where he knew he could get an advantage. Sam Moffett reckoned he could not go any harder than he had done over Knockalla. Darren Gass felt the tyres on his Subaru had lost their edge by the time he got to the finish of the almost 20km Knockalla test. Garry Jennings was not so far off the pace through that 10th stage but it is still a subdued Garry compared to what we are used to. Donagh Kelly had more clutch problems with his Focus, or rather it was launch control this time but all connected. Josh Moffett had a very good run to reinforce his GpN advantage. For a 22 year-old Josh is being extremely calm and wise about the whole affair.
There were dramas amongst the top National runners when Daniel Conaghan put his Escort off the side of the road on Knockalla. The following Damien Gallagher stopped to make sure that Daniel and his co driver Terence Magee were both OK. Damien had changed the rear suspension on his Escort and reported a big improvement but of course stopping with Conaghan interrupted his flow. Gary McPhillips was fastest of the Escorts over Knockalla 2, Gary 5s up on Daniel McKenna. Despite his gearbox worries Manus Kelly was only .1 of a second slower than McKenna. Adrian Hetherington seemed to get a new lease of life through stage 9 but it went slightly wrong on stage 10 when he crunched the rear corner of his Escort quite hard. One consequence of the damage was a fuel leak and his friend Frank Kelly performed `wing man` duties on the way into service, just in case a stray spark would start a conflagration. No better men than Kelly and Brennan to have as guardian angels!
Cal McCarthy, who is backed by Clonakilty Black Pudding as well as Carbery Plastics, has retired his Civic because of a broken gearbox.
On the ERC Ypres Rally in Belgium Kevin Abbring in the Peugeot 208 T16 still leads but his team-mate Craig Breen has slipped to 11th following fuel pump troubles. Stephen Wright is 33rd in his Peugeot.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net (with thanks to Michael & Zoe Patterson) *Follow RallyNews on Twitter and Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
