UNOFFICIAL INT. L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 8 END OF DAY 1
1st (2) Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Focus WRC) 57.49.0
2nd (1) Daragh O/Riordan/Tony McDaid (Fiesta WRC) 57.54.2
3rd (3) Keith Cronin/Shane Buckley (Citroen DS3R5) 58.51.0
4th (6) Roy White/James O`Brien (Fiesta WRC) 58.57.3
5th (4) Melvyn Evans/Mark Glennerster (Impreza WRC) 59.06.3
6th (7) Stephen Wright/Mikie Galvin (Fiesta R5) 1.00.40.2
Joe McGonigle 1.01.24.9: David Guest 1.02.27.4: Brendan Cumiskey 1.02.59.9: Pauric Duffy 1.03.21.7
UNOFFICIAL NAT/ L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 8 END OF DAY 1
1st (12) Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Starlet rwd) 1.00.12.5
2nd (28) Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (BMW M1) 1.01.45.6
3rd (29) Enda O`Brien/John Butler (Escort) 1.01.49.9
4th (15) Phil Collins/Adrian Deasy (Escort) 1.02.01.2
5th (46) Donal O`Brien/Stephen Quinn (Escort) 1.02.36.7
6th (22) Vincent McSweeney/Damien Fleming (Civic) 1.03.13.9
Ross Marshall 1.04.05.3: Denis Cronin 1.05.41.7: James Fitzgerald 1.05.43.5
Following an excellent day`s rallying Donagh Kelly & Conor Foley tucked their Focus WRC into overnight Parc Ferme relieved to be still in the rally, let alone leading by 5s from Daragh O`Riordan/Tony McDaid in the Fiesta WRC. Donagh Kelly`s Focus WRC was spewing oil out from underneath the engine when the car arrived into service after stage 6. A bystander said something along the lines of `sure its only an eggcup full`…..Donagh rolled his eyes skywards and remarked. `It must be an ostrich!`. There was no doubt that the car was going no further unless it was repaired. Donagh`s engineers did a fantastic job stripping off the sump guards and repairing the damaged pipe.
When Donagh arrived into the Little Island overnight rest halt he told us that he was very happy with the way the car had gone over the last few stages of today and is looking forward to tomorrow. Daragh O`Riordan was fastest through stages 7 and 8 and he said that he had switched tyres for the final loop and it had made a difference. Keith Cronin in 3rd place got his engineers to tweak the suspension on his Citroen for stages 7 and 8, and he was very pleased with the way it had gone. He told us. `We are building the pace up all the time. The car is pushing the nose a little so we may stiffen the anti roll bar a small bit`. Roy White was 3rd fastest through stage 8 so he was delighted with his day in his new car. Melvyn Evans dropped some time when he stalled his Subaru, so having been 3rd earlier today he has ended up 5th.
Stephen Wright rounds off the top 6 overnight. Stephen only discovered late in the day that the time he was losing on the early stages today was due to a turbo problem that his mechanic fixed.
Joe McGonigle dropped a few seconds in stage 7 when he tried to pass the struggling Denis Cronin, and Joe`s Skoda ended up in a hedge. Joe said that it was not Denis` fault as he was doing his best to let him past. Denis` problem was a broken shaft on his Subaru that cost about 4m and dropped him from 2nd in the Nationals to 8th. David Guest in his ex Owen Murphy Lancer continues to lead Group N in the International from Brendan Cumiskey with Aaron MacHale dropping a few seconds towards the end of the day
In the National Rally Declan Gallagher`s overnight lead is a remarkable 1m40s from Eugene Meegan that means Declan is really under no pressure for tomorrow.
In the Historic Rally Gareth Lloyd leads Ernie Graham by 8s – both in Escorts. Frank Cunningham is 3rd and struggling a little with the lack of power steering on his Escort.
More news in the morning. BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL & ZOE PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter/Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
