UNOFFICIAL INT. LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 14 FINAL STASGE
1st (4) Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Focus WRC) 1.19.47.9
2nd (3) Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (BMW Mini WRC) 1.20.27.1
3rd (5) Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Fiesta WRC) 1.20.27.8
4th (7) Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Fiesta WRC) 1.22.33.1
5th (1) Declan & Brian Boyle (Impreza WRC) 1.22.37.0
6th (6) Dean Raftery/Mark Kane (BMW Mini WRC) 1.23.30.6
UNOFFICIAL NAT. L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 14 – FINAL STASGE
1st (8) Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Starlet rwd) 1.26.19.1
2nd (19) Mickey Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips (Escort) 1.28.44.8
3rd (82) John & Thomas Lynch (Escort) 1.29.42.0
4th (28) Stephen Greaney/Kieran Feeney (Escort) 1.30.05.6
Donegal crew Donagh Kelly & Kevin Flanagan steered their Ford Focus WRC to a heroic win on this Colm Quinn Galway International Rally this afternoon. Donagh Kelly is no stranger to success having won the West Cork Rally and finished 2nd in the Circuit of Ireland last year. This is, however, Donagh`s first Tarmac Championship victory and it propels the crew to the top of the Clonakilty Blackpudding backed series for 2015. There was a tremendous battle through today`s foggy and icy stages between Eugene Donnelly in the Mini WRC and Sam Moffett in his Fiesta WRC. Donnelly was in 3rd place starting the final stage but former Tarmac Champion Eugene produced a stunningly fastest time to take the runner up spot. The time difference between Eugene and Sam at the finish was 0.7 of a second. Sam`s brother Josh drove with some caution through the icy stages to take 4th place.
Current Tarmac Champion Declan Boyle and his co driver Brian Boyle led the rally through Day 1 but were knocked back with a 3m road penalty. Declan lost a lot of his impetus through the Sunday morning stages but decided to have a real go over the last 3 stages and reduced the deficit to Josh Moffett in front to just 3.9s. This meant that Declan stayed in 5th place that of course earns him some Tarmac Championship points and they will be valuable before the season finishes. Dean Raftery/Mark Kane in the 2nd of the Colm Quinn Mini WRCs rounded off the top half dozen. This was a brilliant drive from Dean and really does mark him out as a future star.
Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick won class 5 in their new Citroen DS3 R5. Jonny said that there is so much more to come from this new car. Aaron McHale was 8th o/a and won GpN in his Lancer by 3.2s from Brendan Cumiskey in his Impreza. Brendan did lead the category for most of the rally, McHale chipped away and got ahead today then Cumiskey turned in a couple of fast times towards the end, but it was not enough to get back in front. Joe McGonigle had a good run in his Skoda to finish 10th and 2nd Cl.5. Kevin Eves produced some very good times in his Peugeot 208 R2 to win class 2.
Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore led the Nationals from start to finish. Declan`s Starlet developed some 6th gear problems over the last few stages but he had so much time in hand he was able to cruise to victory. Mickey Conlon had a good drive to finish 2nd National in his Escort, while John Lynch was 3rd in his Escort.
Ernie Graham won the Historic Rally from Welshman Gareth Lloyd, Joe Connolly 3rd. Vincent McSweeney/Michael Kearney in their Civic won the Junior section from Richard Moore/Brian Halligan (Civic). Conor McCarthy/Dylan Coffey (Civic) 3rd. Early Junior leader Rob Duggan retired his Civic with a broken rear suspension arm.
Finally for now well done to Kieran Donohue and his hard-working Galway MC team for organising such a challenging and enjoyable event. Our thanks to all who supported and helped with our RallyNews service especially the RallyNews sponsors. Thanks also to Aidan Harper & Conor Crowley in the Motorsport Safety car for all their assistance (and the craic!).
BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
