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| Monaghan Stages Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.1 - Pre-Start - Sunday @ 08:56:35 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.1 Monaghan/Sunday
Niall Maguire in his Subaru heads a full field of 131 cars plus reserves away from the Hillgrove Hotel on this Monaghan Rally, the bulging entry list quite remarkable in these straitened times. For Niall and his co-driver Enda Sherry this is their home event and provides as well a chance for a bit of rallying enjoyment away from the pressure cooker atmosphere of the National Championship. However for Niall there will be a serious side to this 9 stage event as well. Apart from trying to win the rally, it is a chance for him to try a few tweaks and different other little things in his effort to gain an extra fraction of a second per mile, that little bit making all the difference between winning and losing on the National series. Although this Monaghan Rally is on an opt-out year from the National series, it is a counter in several important smaller championships, including the HASS Border, the Irish Citroen Sporting Trophy for C2R2’s and the Excel.
Kevin Barrett will start behind Niall Maguire. Kevin, who sees Monaghan as his second home, is also driving a Subaru Impreza WRC. Glen Allen was to be at 3, but he can’t make it, so next up is Adrian McElvaney in his Impreza WRC. Glen’s co-driver Damien Connolly (Mr Dentman) is now sitting in with Gary McElhinney in the big Legacy at no33. Adrian McElvaney’s last rally was Sligo last year, so he can’t be anything but rusty, and will almost certainly take a few stages to get into his stride. Then next up it’s Sean Gallagher, with his daughter Marie-Claire co-driving, Sean making it a Subaru top four.
Immediately behind Gallagher is a string of the best two wheel drive cars and drivers in the country, starting with Gary McPhillips in his Escort and he carries No.6: Maurice Moffett, fresh from winning the Midlands Rally is at 7 in his Starlet: Rodney Wilton (Escort) is at 8: Adrian Hetherington at 9 and Des Moore at 10, both in Escorts. Des has Arthur Kierans co-driving this time. Arthur was entered in his own Escort to start at 23, but the car wasn’t quite ready.
Behind Moore its Frank Wray in his GpA Mitsubishi Lancer, then Convoy man Danny McBride in his GpN version, closely followed by Donagh Kelly, also in a GpN Lancer. Donagh reckons he will struggle a bit with the pace as he hasn’t done a tarmac rally in years. The rest of the top 20 is made up of various Escorts and a Corolla, with former Monaghan MC Champion Damien Hagan rounding off the top 20 in his Mk2. Further GpN entries seeded down the list include Gary Cairns at 34 in his Lancer, Gavin Harris at 35 in his Impreza N12 and Cathal McGlone at 36, also in an Impreza .
In the Citroen Racing Trophy C2R2 Cup current points leader Adrian McElhinney has moved up from the reserves into the main field. Adrian is No.141 but hopefully he will get started alongside the main pack of C2R2’s headed by young Sam Moffett at No42, Barry Evans (43), Martin Tynan (44), Paul Manton (45) and Mark Kane (46). Mark, better known as a co-driver in the past, has proved pretty quick since he got behind the wheel, although he had a few dramas with the car this week when some parts were late arriving. But then, that’s nothing new in rallying! The Border series and the Excel are both class based, so we don’t really have an overall leader as such. Richard and Laura Moffett were the highest seeded Juniors in their Starlet, but since winning the category on the Midland Rally, the brother and sister pairing have moved into the main field, their Starlet now at 105. Johno Doogan/Pierce O’Callaghan are at J2, spearheading the Juniors. David Moffett/Andrew Spears are at J4 despite last minute gearbox troubles with their Starlet. Just under 10 Juniors are listed to start.
Further news on entry changes from the official programme include: Paul Maguire now co-driving for Jack Maguire. John & James Cairns keep the No.31 but start in the early twenties. Car 136 Peter Rahill (Escort) comes in from reserves to start in late twenties. Car 139 Seamus Hegarty: 142 Colin Flanagan: 140 Shaun Murphy all start in the thirties. Adrian McElhinney in the Citroen C2R2 slots in between Martin Tynan and Paul Manton to make up a bunch of 7 Citroen C2R2s. Finally for now last year’s winner Dessie Keenan is OOing today in his black Escort with Paul Gallagher Fund local auction winner Paul Moore co-driving.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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