UNOFFICIAL INT. L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 6
1st (3) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 34.38.0
2nd (2) Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Impreza WRC) 34.42.2
3rd (1) Declan & Brian Boyle (Fiesta WRC) 35.02.5
4th (6) Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (Impreza WRC) 35.50.9
5th (4) Derek McGarrity/Diarmuid Falvey (Impreza WRC) 36.09.4
6th (5) Daragh O`Riordan/Tony McDaid (Fiesta WRC) 36.16.6
PLEASE NOTE: The above times are very unofficial as there was a small glitch at the end of stage 5 with the times.
UNOFFICIAL NAT. L/BOARD AFTER SS6
1st (15) Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan (Escort) 36.38.7
2nd (24) Manus Kelly/Donal Barrett (Escort) 36.45.1
3rd (21) Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Escort) 36.49.6
4th (29) Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort) 37.01.1
5th (18) David Bogie/Michael Hendry (Escort) 37.19.06.2015
6th (22) Damien Gallagher/Brendan McElhinney (Escort) 37.43.5
The onset of rain through stage 6, Corradooey, made the going very difficult for the drivers who mostly reported very slippery dangerous roads. Garry Jennings always excels in slippy difficult conditions and this was no exception as he set unofficial fastest time on SS6 to lead the rally overnight. Garry said at service. `We changed tyres and we got a small electrical problem sorted on the throttle mechanism so we had a really good run`. Donagh Kelly said he took no chances in the slippy conditions, and although he did not come here to finish 2nd, he is quite happy to be the hound rather than the hare starting the difficult Saturday stages.
Current Tarmac Champion and last year`s Donegal winner Declan Boyle admitted that he backed right off in the wet conditions and that everything is looking good on his new Fiesta WRC for tomorrow`s long day. He did say that he has to be careful with this new car in that if he hesitates for too long at the stop line of the stage that the brakes get badly glazed very easily. Seamus Leonard recovered well from his big moment on stage 4 when he clipped the rear of his Subaru on a hairpin and he set a good time through SS5 but then was a bit cautious through the wet stage 6 where he felt he was on the wrong tyres. Derek McGarrity picked up the pace on the wet 6th stage to move ahead of Daragh O`Riordan. Tommy Doyle was lying 7th in the International Rally but his Fabia S2000 went off the road in stage 5 and got stuck.
In the National Rally Declan Gallagher lost the lead and indeed is possibly out of the rally when his Starlet went off the road at the very slippy farmyard not long after the start of the stage. This left Gary McPhillips leading from Manus Kelly and Brian Brogan 3rd in what is a marvellous race. Former Scottish Rally Champion David Bogie has settled into his newly built Escort and is now starting to challenge the local men.
More news tomorrow: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL & ZOE PATTERSON *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews