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| Tour Of The Sperrins 2008 |
| RALLY NEWS No.4 - After SS3 - Wednesday @ 11:38:14 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.4 End of stage 3/Fornenst Tamlaght O’Crilly/Saturday 2.15
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 3 Roddy’s Dipper
1st (122) Peadar Hurson/Allan Harryman (Impreza WRC) 18.57.8
2nd (3) Sean Devine/Damien Duffin (Impreza WRC) 19.09.1
3rd (1) Charlie Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Corolla WRC) 19.09.7
4th (2) Connor McCloskey/Francis Regan (Impreza WRC) 19.14.8
5th (9) Seamus Heron/Gerry McVeigh (Impreza WRC) 19.25.1
6th (8) David Bogie/Kevin Rae (Corolla WRC) 19.27.0
7th (14) Cathal Rogers/Eoighan Rogers (Lancer N) 20.30.6
8th (19) Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Escort) 20.33.7
9th (15) Wesley Patterson/Nigel Fraser (Escort) 20.35.1
10th (18) Declan McNaughton/Sean Hayd (Escort) 21.09.5
Connor McCloskey lives just a stone’s throw from stage 3, Roddy’s Dipper, and the young Woodlands Kitchens man gave it an almighty blast to cover the 6.4 miles in less than 5 minutes. There are lots of chicanes, blind crests and jumps in there so it was quite a feat. He was the only driver to break the 5 minute barrier. At stage finish Connor seemed fairly calm and reported that all went well, although his Impreza throttle was ticking open ever so slightly. Charlie Donnelly dropped a few seconds on that stage when his Corolla stalled on the start line, otherwise Charlie said it was “flat out”. Peadar Hurson had a good run. Sean Devine had got some small problem with his Subaru brakes sorted and he was quite happy. Seamus Heron was again just a couple of seconds down, and he said he played it very safe over the big crests, that there was a bit more to come.
David Bogie said. “I was a bit cautious, it was a very fast stage and you have to be very committed over those crests”. David is under strict instructions, both from home and from preparation guru Derek McGeehan, to bring this Corolla back in one piece today, as his Scottish Championship campaign hinges around the car being fit for next weekend’s Jim Clark Rally.
Cathal Rogers reckoned he was fairly cautious through that Roddy’s Dipper stage, set a respectable time, just 3s up on Eoin McErlean and a couple up on Rodney McKnight in a similar Lancer. Cathal said that he found loads of grip in the stage. Wesley Patterson turned in a pretty stunning time in his Mk2 Escort, 5m22s. Adrian Hetherington did 5.24.3 and Seamus O’Connell 5.27.0. Wesley joked at stage finish. “We were more in the air than on the ground!” Adrian Hetherington admitted “We were pushing hard”. Seamus O’Connell’s new Escort is showing signs of being in the wars from the opening stage where he got the puncture. The rear left quarter panel bashed in, Seamus said. “It was on a K left medium right!” John Mulholland in the Skoda Diesel is another going well, although he remarked that on the opening stage at a square right with a bus shelter outside, the Skoda broke away and co driver Desi McGlade was nearly catching the bus back to Belfast!
In the Citroen C2R2 Cup after stage 2 Marty McCormack has extended his lead, Martin Tynan is in 2nd and Barry Evans 3rd. Charlie Beatty has speeded up and he has slotted into 4th behind the 2 Monaghan men and Charlie is just ahead of Graham Kelly. Young Sam Moffett retired his C2R2 on that 2nd stage when he clipped a rock and pulled a steering arm out.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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