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| West Cork Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.9 - After SS10 - Sunday @ 12:20:03 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.9 Service/Sunday 12.20
UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 10 – Rossmore
1st (3) Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Corolla WRC) 1.28.30.1
2nd (2) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 1.28.59.0
3rd (5) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Impreza WRC) 1.29.17.7
4th (6) Phil Collins/Derek Brannigan (Escort) 1.31.48.2
5th (7) Keith Cronin/Greg Shinnors (Lancer N) 1.32.18.9
6th (15) Manus Kelly/Donal Barrett (Escort) 1.34.23.0
7th (17) Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort) 1.34.50.0
8th (20) Leonard Downey/Mark Murphy (Escort) 1.35.53.8
9th (23) Gwyn Thomas/Anthony O'Conaill (Puma) 1.36.18.4
10th (34) Marty McCormack/Liam Moynihan (C2R2 Max) 1.36.28.5
11th (36) Damien McCarthy/Eamonn Hayes (Civic) 1.36.39.0
12th (44) Stanley Ballantine/Donnacha O’Callaghan (Lancer N) 1.36.55.3
John Dalton in his Darrian was fastest through stage 10, Rossmore, 5s up on rally leader Liam McCarthy, to lave the gap between the two at 29s with 6 stages remaining. Third placed Denis Cronin is really struggling with his Subaru gearbox now. Keith Cronin continues to lead group N with some brilliant times. When the leading cars came into service Liam McCarthy told us. “We backed off for the last couple of miles of that last stage. The temperature gauge went up and the water injection for the anti lag stopped.” John Dalton recounted a massive moment over a big jump in the Sam’s Cross stage when he was left staring full on at the tarmac before the car came down with a bang and did a tank slapper. However, John is undeterred and is keeping the pressure on McCarthy in the race at the front.
Denis Cronin started the day just a few seconds behind Dalton but because of this gearbox trouble, which seems to be getting worse, he is losing ground. Phil Collins in 4th place said he is really enjoying the rally but “I’m in a pressure free environment” was his comment when he reached service, meaning that he can’t really catch the cars in front so he is not pushing too hard. Keith Cronin was fastest on the opening stage today and 3rd fastest in Rossmore, and both Keith and his co driver Greg are quite puzzled because on some stages where they are not really pushing they set good times and then when they push the times are not so good. They did say that the rear suspension does not seem to be set quite right but otherwise everything is OK.
Frank Kelly lost a few seconds in stage 9 when a front wheel of his Escort clunked a rock at a square left junction and he thought he might have had a puncture so he backed off. The man who is flying at the moment in the Escort is Donegal man Manus Kelly. He was 6s quicker than Phil Collins through stage 10 and 15s up on Frank Kelly. Leonard Downey’s Escort had a major spin at the last junction in stage 10 and Leonard lost over 30s. Marty McCormack continues to have a good run in his Citroen C2R2 Max. Damien McCarthy and his co driver Eamonn Hayes were a brilliant 9th overall but their Civic is now suffering from gearbox troubles and they are losing time. Stanley Ballantine had two solid times this morning and he said that the car has never handled or performed so well.
Sarah & Amy Moynihan were lying 4th in group N starting today but unfortunately towards the end of the Sam’s Cross stage on the very fast downhill section there are some hidden bumps and it looks like their Lancer has got on the grass and taken a big tumble. The girls are reportedly shaken but OK. The accident then held up the following cars including the front running Citroen Racing Trophy contenders such as Adrian McElhinney and Sam Moffett. We must wait for a scratch time. Moffett told us that he lost some more time at the acute left junction in stage 10. Billy Coleman continues to OO in Frank O’Mahony’s Metro 6R4 and he remarked at the end of stage 10. “It is a sweet little car and the roads, the stages, are very nice”. Co-driver Adrian O’Sullivan was just sitting beside Billy with a broad smile on his face.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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