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| ALMC Rally 2008 |
| RALLY NEWS No.4 - End SS4 Creewood - Tuesday @ 16:30:37 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.4 End of stage 4/Sunday 2.20
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 4 Creewood
1st (3) Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Impreza WRC) 20.59
2nd (2) Kenny McKinstry/Noel Orr (Impreza WRC) 21.31
3rd (20) Colm Murphy/Brian Duggan (Lancer N) 22.03
4th (32) Damien Tourish/Domhnall McAlaney (Lancer N) 22.04
5th (7) Pat Donegan/Sean Hayde (Escort) 22.15
6th (5) Mark Courtney/Mick Courtney (Celica) 22.21
7th (6) Tom Holton/Francis Kenny (Celica) 22.22
8th (17) Trevor Mulligan/Lisa Roe (Escort) 22.27
9th (10) John Stone/Lee Carter (Metro 6R4) 22.37
10th (9) Mark Jasper/Don Whyatt (Metro 6R4) 22.38
(8) Maurice Moffett/Enda Sherry (Starlet rwd) 22.38
With the sunshine now bathing the Meath countryside the roads have dried and speeds have stepped up but that hasn’t affected Kevin Lynch’s supremacy at the front of the field. Kevin’s impressive Impreza covered the 13.05km of the Creewood stage in just 6m58s. His closest pursuer was Kenny McKinstry on 7.16. Colm Murphy has stepped up the pace to set 3rd fastest time and move into the lead of the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge contenders. At stage finish Lynch said. “We’re picking it up now, going well”. Kenny McKinstry told us at stage finish near Slane. “There was a real bad noise came into the car not long before the finish. It seems to have gone away but I’m not quite sure what it was. Here’s hoping”. Kenny also commented that although the roads had dried well there was still the occasional damp patch underneath the trees.
Paddy White, the No.1 seed in his Focus WRC, set a very respectable time through that 4th stage despite having to nurse the clutch on his Ford. Colm Murphy admitted that he was on the door handles through that stage. Owen Murphy reported a slight misfire still persisting on his Lancer. Damien Tourish seemed on the surface to have made a really poor tyre choice and maybe that is what affected his time so much. Damien was 11s slower than Colm Murphy.
In the race for 2 wheel drive honours Trevor Mulligan got the finger out on that stage 4 and was 3s up on Maurice Moffett with Pat Donegan a further 4s back. Pat still leads the 2 wheel drive in overall terms but he may have to look to his laurels now.
John Stone in the Metro 6R4 had a good time through that 4th stage, 8s up on Mark Jasper in the similar Metro. Mark Courtney and Tom Holton continue their fantastic battle of the Celicas, Mark just had the edge by 2s through Creewood.
Paul Kiely pushed his luck just too hard and he spun twice and has dropped out of the leaderboard, not by much, but out of it all the same. Emma McKinstry put her Impreza WRC in the ditch briefly at the start of the stage and dropped perhaps half a minute. There didn’t appear to be any real damage although the windscreen surround rubber was flapping about in the wind. Stanley Ballantine reported that on the first run through the stage his Lancer under-steered into the nettles but he had a good run this time. Also having a good run is the overall leader of the Evo Challenge, Alan Carmichael, his time through 4 was 7m42s.
Sean Murphy retired his blue Mk2 Escort when a bearing went on the back axle. More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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