UNOFFICIAL NAT/ L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 4 Dunworley 2
1st (11) Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Escort RS) 32.37.7
2nd (12) Gary Kiernan/Ryan Moore (Escort) 32.43.3
3rd (20) Kevin Eves/William Lynch (Corolla) 32.49.3
4th (15) Damien Tourish/Domhnall McAlaney (Escort) 33.32.3
5th (14) Adrian Hetherington/Andrew Grennan (Escort) 33.38.8
6th (18) Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (BMW M1) 33.46.0
A set of new, harder compound tyres gave Donagh Kelly extra confidence through stages three and four and he set fastest times but is still only three seconds ahead of the very hard charging Sam Moffett. Sam reported absolutely no problems when he brought his Fiesta R5 into service. Alistair Fisher set second fastest R5 time through stage four, Alistair saying ‘we are doing nothing wrong and nothing different, it is just that these other guys are going hard’. Josh Moffett arrived into service with his Fiesta’s tyres looking very worn but he was almost nine seconds off the time that Sam set. Josh remarked ‘I am just not comfortable’.
Robert Barrable clipped a front wheel of his Hyundai in stage three and although he lost little or no time he did not look too comfortable through stage four were he was almost ten seconds adrift from Sam Moffett. Kevin Kelleher dropped around a minute in stage four when his Impreza WRC lost power. The turbo was changed on the Subaru at the last service but Kevin thinks that there is perhaps a valve stuck open in the system. Joe Connolly caught the Subaru on stage four but Joe tells us that Kevin moved over immediately and it cost him no time. Brendan Cumiskey changed the front suspension of his Fiesta and is now a bit closer to the times of the cars in front. Aaron MacHale is gradually building up his confidence and has speeded up, but still a little adrift. David Guest is going like a train in his GpN Lancer but it is not possible to tell if he leads GpN overall as there seems to be a computer glitch with the times.
In the National section of the rally Brian Brogan continue to set the pace from Gary Kiernan. Brogan reports no problems and Kiernan is also in good form now that his Escort brakes have been sorted out. Kevin Eves continues to surprise with the speed of his Corolla. Damien Tourish in fourth is running in class 13, well down on power compared to the class 14 cars in front so he is not doing so bad. Frank Kelly has retired his Escort because of differential failure. Andrew Mahon has been in the top ten but his Escort engine coughed to a halt for over two minutes in stage four which has wrecked his chances. Sean O’Carroll of Plasticbags.ie has ground to a halt because of clutch problems with his Escort.
News from Border Counties – David Bogie and Marty McCormack have both retired in the same place. Fredrik Ahlin leads Tom Cave by 28 seconds, Keith Cronin is third, Desi Henry fourth and Jonny Greer fifth.
More news later: Brian & Liz & Michael & Zoe Patterson *Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
