Through stage 2, the 14.2km Glentane test, Alastair Fisher set fastest time, 5s up on Keith Cronin with Roy White a further 2s back. Alastair said here at service. ‘I am a bit surprised at the time. I felt I was a wee bit tentative in places.’ Keith Cronin said. ‘I was overly cautious in places. It would have been easy enough to make a mistake’. Roy White said about that 2nd stage. ‘I am happy enough, trying hard, but behaving myself’. Sam Moffett in 4th reported no problems. While Josh Moffett in 5th remarked. ‘I am just not getting into it. The stages are very mixed surfaces’. Jonny Greer rounds off the top 6 and again reported no problems but wary of the slippy roads. Kevin Kelleher summed up the conditions when he observed that although the sun is out the temperature is still very low and he found on that 2nd stage that the tyres on his Subaru started to cool. In places there was a lot of farmyard muck on the road that meant he could not lean on the tyres and the car started to under-steer. As Roy White put it ‘It is a self fulfilling prophecy – the slower you go the more the heat dissipates. Then there is less and less grip’.
Brendan Cumiskey bent 2 rims on his Fiesta R5, he does not know if it was a pothole or a manhole cover, but fortunately the tyres did not deflate. Pauric Duffy in the Fiesta R5 feels that he was a bit adventurous in his suspension set up and also considering he has not done a rally for 4 months his performance was not so bad through stage 2. We have an unconfirmed report that young William Creighton has put his Peugeot 208 R2 into a stage 2 ditch, William & co driver Liam Regan both OK but stuck. Perhaps may be able to re-join later under Rally 2. Callum Devine leads R2 in his Opel Adam from Marty Gallagher in his Peugeot R2. David Guest leads GpN in his Lancer from Gus Kearney in the Sepam backed Mitsubishi. Owen Murphy has dropped several minutes with what appears to be some sort of mechanical issue with his Skoda.
In the National Rally: Tommy Doyle/Liam Moynihan lead in their Renault Clio. Tommy said that Phillip Case has fitted new suspension and brakes to the car and it has helped a lot. Eugene Meegan in the BMW is just half a second behind Doyle. Brian Brogan is 3rd, his co driver Damien McGettigan told us that they are getting no grip and their Escort is spinning wheels everywhere. Phil Collins is 4th: Donal O’Brien 5th and Callum Duffy 6th. When Mull man Duffy referred back to his spin earlier in his 2.5l Millington engined Fabia he roared with laughter when he told us. ‘The car is way better than the driver’. Ray Cunningham currently leads the Historic category from James O’Mahony.
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