Donagh Kelly continues to set a cracking pace and his closest pursuer through stage 5 was Sam Moffett, who was 5s slower. Declan Boyle is running down the field following the problem with his Subaru this morning, but when he brought the car into service this time he said. `She`s acting the maggot, couple of times I was going to pull over in the stage`. As we spoke to current Tarmac Champion Declan the engineers were poring over the computer read-outs and admitted that they could just not see what is causing the problem with this car.
Donagh Kelly told us that he had a good run through this new loop of stages, in his own words - `Nothing special`. Donagh has switched to a harder compound Michelin tyre (we did say earlier he was on Pirellis, but that was last year). Despite the continuing blue sky the temperature here in West Cork is falling rapidly, so the drivers may well opt for a different tyre choice before the day is out. Daragh O`Riordan seemed a little despondent when he came into service. His Fiesta WRC was in and out of a ditch in stage and also dropped a few seconds in stage 6. Happily there was no damage done. Melvyn Evans` Subaru is suffering from a throttle problem that means when Melvyn gives the car the full accelerator it is not opening properly. This is a computer problem and when Melvyn reached service he was on the phone to an engineer in the UK to see if he can find a solution.
Owen Murphy continues to set good times to hold 5th o/a while Stephen Wright is now a solid 7th o/a and getting more accustomed to his R5 Fiesta on every stage. Stephen said he fluffed a few junctions, but in overall terms he is really comfortable in the car. Adrian Hetherington was lying just outside the top 10 but he has broken the suspension of his Escort and retired. Wesley Patterson was matching times with Adrian but although he is still going Wesley is in trouble with a broken fuel union on his Escort. Josh Moffett said he kept it safe over the fast crests and some mucky stretches in stage 5, but otherwise OK. Clonakilty Black Pudding man Ed Twomey has retired his Fiesta because of a bent axle. Ed hopes to get it fixed and rejoin under Rally 2. Jason O`Mahony/Breda O`Driscoll lost time when their Civic incurred a puncture and bent the suspension arm. Still going and carrying out repairs. Jonathan O`Callaghan/Gavin Sheehan have had a problem with the drive shaft on their Peugeot 106 and they hope to rejoin under Rally 2 rules.
At Bishopscourt Derek McGarrity still leads with Derek McGeehan 2nd in the Mini WRC. Kenny McKinstry 3rd Peadar Hurson 4th. Jon Armstrong leads R2.
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