Eugene Donnelly turned in a scorching time on the final Friday stage to hold a 12s overnight lead on this Topaz Donegal Rally. Gareth MacHale in his Focus is 2nd. Eamonn Boland is 3rd, but really there is very little in it. Derek McGarrity and his co driver Diarmuid Falvey were forced to pull their Subaru out of the rally when a power steering pump belt broke and then the pump itself broke and it was not possible to continue. Derek led the rally initially and then was lying 3rd after 4 stages. Damien Tourish continues to lead group N in his Lancer.
When the cars reached service here in Letterkenny Eugene Donnelly took time to tell us. “We have had a great run, I’m still working at the settings but the car and the tyres are all good. I haven’t enjoyed my rallying like this for quite a while but although the car is faultless so far my heart would be in my mouth at times. I don’t want to be too hard on it”. Gareth MacHale turned in a terrific performance this afternoon, fastest through stage 5 and then backed off ever so slightly in stage 6, not wanting to run first on the road on the Saturday stages. Eamonn Boland said all was well with his Impreza and the earlier story about the fuse tripping was nothing to worry about. It controlled the fan for the rear diff and that is really only necessary in very hot climates. Kevin Lynch also had a good run this afternoon and said. “So far so good but if there was more to come I would need a different car”.
Kris Meeke in 6th place seemed to be a few seconds off his customary flying pace through stage 6 and he worriedly told us that he has a sneaking suspicion that the differential is starting to slip and that there is no spare with the car. PJ McDermott in 4th place again had a good run this afternoon. PJ well settled in with his new co driver Killian Duffy and all is well with the car.
In Group N Damien Tourish continues to set the pace and that is despite his Lancer breaking a brake caliper in stage 5. Niall McShea has upped his pace and told us he is settling into the car and although he quite often tests Lancers it is a different ball game from driving in anger on the stages and different as well from an Impreza. Paul Harris has softened the suspension on his Lancer slightly and has found it has made a big difference. Seamus Leonard’s Lancer is still down on power and he too has reset the suspension and said at least the car is not hopping all over the road now. Garry Jennings, with Rory Kennedy, on the notes is having a real good run. John McGlaughlin has lost well over a minute, his Lancer down on turbo boost.
In the Modified section of the rally Phil Collins blotted his copybook ever so slightly when he tried to be the last of the late brakers and he slid his Escort up an escape road and got stuck for about 25s. David Bogie is driving a very controlled rally in his MG Metro 6R4 and he is right in the hunt. Damien Gallagher, Rodney Wilton, Gary McPhillips and Wesley Patterson are all battling for the top 6 places.
More news in the morning: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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