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| Lurgan Park Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.1 - After stage 1 - Saturday @ 11:06:19 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.1 Lurgan Park/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 1
1st (1) Garry Jennings/Michael Moran (Impreza WRC) 2.08.7
2nd (4) Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Mini WRC) 2.10.4
3rd (3) Kenny McKinstry/Noel Orr (Impreza WRC) 2.13.2
4th (7) Derek McGeehan/Laurie Smyth (Mini WRC) 2.15.2
5th (41) Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Escort) 2.17.0
6th (19) Keith White/Brian McComb (Escort Mk1) 2.18.1
7th (8) Emma McKinstry/John Woods (Impreza WRC) 2.18.2
8th (16) Darren McKelvey/Elaine Maguire (Lancer) 2.19.2
9th (5) Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 2.19.3
(9) Paddy McVeigh/Martin McCann (Impreza WRC) 2.19.3
11th (42) Frank Kelly/Connor Dunlop (Escort) 2.19.3
12th (12) Mark Massey/Paul McKenna (Lancer N) 2.19.5
First on the road, Garry Jennings, reported the stage to be very slippy despite the dry sunny conditions. Tarmac Champ-ion Garry commented. I was down in 1st gear in place where I never experienced that in the Park before`. Kenny McKinstry was next up and he dropped 5s to Jennings. Kenny did not look at all happy at stage finish as he reported zero boost on his Impreza and he commented. `I just do not understand it. It was perfect when I left it here last night`. He went on down to his service and it was quickly discovered that there was an AVL valve broken in the turbo system and there was going to have to be a real race against time to get it replaced in time for stage 2. Kenny has often said about the Park. `You have to get the first stage right and every stage after that right. Every second counts in the Park.` Well, Kenny has dropped 5s on the first stage, which is not good.
Derek McGarrity had a good run in his newly acquired Mini WRC although he possibly lost a second at the first hairpin right round the bale. Derek is another one of the drivers who said how slippy it was and he is thinking of changing to a harder compound tyre. Keith White in the Mk1 Escort took a gamble on hard compound rear tyres and it certainly seemed to pay off for him. Kevin Barrett said he took it fairly canny as the tyres on his Subaru were cold and he did not want to take any risks. Emma McKinstry is delighted to be re-united with the `family` right hand drive Subaru and she had a good run.
Wesley Patterson had a torrid time with the car problems on last weekend`s Donegal Rally and he said before the start here that everything was sorted, and he was determined not to get caught out like that again. It certainly showed, as he was fastest of the Escorts. Pat O`Connell was fastest of the Group N contenders. James Gillen was disappointed with his time, the handbrake on his Subaru not working properly and he had trouble getting around the tight hairpins. Stanley Ballantine`s Lancer was scored down the side and the wing mirror was missing. Stanley said. `The car is understeering, and that is a crime here!` Raymond Johnston was the best of the Historic cars and was 26th o/a in his Escort with Ian Millar, also in an Escort 30th and 2s down.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net (with thanks to Michael & Zoe Patterson) *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
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