UNOFFICIAL NAT. L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 4 CLOGAGH 2
1st (1) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 39.28.2
2nd (14) Gary Kiernan/Ryan Moore (Proton) 39.34.0
3rd (41) Stuart Darcy/William Lynch (Darrian) 4019.3
4th (27) Vincent McSweeney/Michael Kearney (Lancer) 40.37.8
5th (29) Kevin Gallagher/Ger Callaghan (Darrian) 40.47.1
6th (22) Frank Kelly/Michael Coady (Escort) 40.57.7
Donagh Kelly in his Focus WRC has been going like a train all morning and has now built up a substantial 56.5s lead which means he is under no great pressure now. Stage 4 marked another fastest time for Donagh. Josh Moffett was 2nd fastest, 7s down on Donagh and just over a second faster than his big brother Sam. Declan Boyle had that first stage drama when the suspension of his Fiesta WRC got damaged and now Declan told us he is on a high speed recce exercise. The suspension of Declan’s car was fixed at last service, but then a stage 3 spin knocked him back again. Declan is only ever really interested in outright wins, which probably led to the comment about the high speed recce.
Behind Boyle there is a good battle raging between Desi Henry and Robert Barrable, just 1s separating the two at service. Desi Henry seems to have got his brake worries sorted and Robert Barrable is much happier now that he is settled into the car, and both seem to be enjoying the competition. Jonny Greer moved up one place on that loop and he commented about his first trip in the Fiesta. ‘The engine torque is fantastic but I am struggling to get the last drop of speed on the corners. The handling is just slightly different from the Citroen.’ Eugene Donnelly brought his new Hyundai into service and his main sentiment was one of pleasant surprise at how good the car is as well as the new MSX tyres. David Guest continues to lead Group N in the International section but young Callum Devine has squeezed ahead of the Clonakilty man in the overall standings. Callum is up to 11th in his Fiesta R2T and David is now 12.
In the National section John Dalton was fastest by just over a second fro Gary Kiernan through that Clogagh stage. John reported spinning the wheels on the sometimes muddy narrow roads of the stage. Kevin Eves still has a problem with his Corolla cutting out on the bumpy sections and reckons there must be a loose wire somewhere.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ & MICHAEL & ZOE PATTERSON Follow RallyNews on Twitter & Facebook @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
