UNOFFICIAL NATIONAL L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 13
1st (18) Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (BMW) 1.49.40.0
2nd (19) Jack Newman/Donal Lennon (Escort) 1.50.18.0
3rd (29) Liam Howlett/Enda Kennedy (Escort) 1.53.43.5
4th (31) Jason Ryan/Peter Falvey (Starlet) 1.54.01.8
5th (20) Ed Murphy/John McCarthy (Escort) 1.54.14.12
6th (24) Charlie Hickey/Johnny Hickey (Escort) 1.54.25.6
Fastest overall through stage 13, Ballaghbeama, was Keith Cronin. Keith is still not in the top 10 after his stage 1 delay yesterday. His Citroen is still misbehaving in the power department and he told us that he just revved the nuts off it over Ballaghbeama, and also that he was trying the new WRC tyre. At the front of the rally both Donagh Kelly and Alastair Fisher were driving in a conservative manner through stage 13, while Sam Moffett was charging hard and set 2nd fastest time overall. Donagh Kelly’s co driver Conor Foley remarked here at service. ‘It is the middle of the road for us now, every stage seems to last an hour. I have done 6 rallies with Donagh and have not lost one yet. Lets hope it lasts through the rest of the day’ Alastair Fisher backed off ever so slightly through stages 12 and 13. He did have 49s advantage over Sam Moffett starting that loop, but that gap is now down to 38s with 3 tough stages to go. Alastair’s co driver Gordon Noble posed the question here at service as to whether they have given Sam too much encouragement.
Stephen Wright is very safe in 4th place overall and he had a really good run over stage 12, Molls Gap but not so good on stage 13, Ballaghbeama. Fifth placed Alan Ring had a major moment at an oil patch on Molls Gap where his Fiesta R5 slithered across the road and nearly hit a bank. This took the wind out of Alan’s sails somewhat, but he is looking very secure in 5th place with Owen Murphy in 6th still quite a bit behind. Aaron MacHale is 7th admitted he was being economical with his tyre choice this morning but is happy to clock up the miles in his Skoda S2000 as he gets more used to it.
Callum Devine continues to lead class R2. William Creighton has put in a marvellous drive today and has overtaken Marty Gallagher for second in R2. Indeed Creighton is now matching Callum Devine’s times on some stages. Earlier in the rally Gallagher stopped at the scene of an accident and may get 40s back for his trouble. This should make the race to the chequered flag interesting.
In the National Rally Eugene Meegan still leads although he feels his BMW engine is losing a bit of power. Jack Newman looks solid in 2nd but Ed Murphy dropped from 3rd to 5th when his Escort sustained a broken panhard rod. This allowed the back axle to flop about all over the show. Ed was having the problem fixed at service and is still in contention for the coveted Sean Mullane Award for Best Kerry driver. Charlie Hickey has held on to 6th despite his Escort engine blowing copious amounts of oil out of the exhaust. He reckons the block might be cracked and is hoping the car will make the finish. Kevin O;Donoghue throttled his BMW back over the last couple of stages as the fuel pressure dropped and he was worried about damaging the engine. He is still pleased with his first run out with the new car and reckons it has a good future, especially when he learns all about whistles and bells that he has not tried yet.
Frank Cunningham continues to lead the Historic Rally from David Goose with Phillip McKibbon 3rd, all in Escorts. Kieran O’Donoghue leads the Juniors from Shane McCarthy and Christy McCarthy 3rd – all in Civics.
More news in morning: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON & MICHAEL & ZOE PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow Rally News on Twitter and Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
