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| Stonethrowers |
| RALLY NEWS No.1 - Pre Start - Sunday @ 08:08:39 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.1 Clonmel/Sunday
In National Championship terms today’s stages may not be terribly long, but they are tight and twisty in places, and will allow the drivers little time to relax. This 7th round of the Championship should be a tough test and could well prove decisive in the final run to the season end as regards who captures this season’s National crown. Defending Champion Patrick Elliott has had an up and down season, but victory on the recent Sligo Rally would indicate that he is back in the groove. It could be a real fight to the finish with current points leader Niall Maguire, and with Kevin Barrett not that far away should either of the two make a slip. Patrick Elliott commented this morning. “The weather is a big surprise. Parts of the stages will be very difficult. It is a technical rally and it will suit the fully active cars better than my own. Stage 2 will be fine for me but stages 1 and 3 will be difficult, particularly it is wet. We’ll see how it goes; you can’t have it all your own way. We did a shakedown on Friday and the car felt great now its fingers crossed”.
All three drive Subaru World Rally Cars, so it really is nip and tuck between them, and in the final analysis it could be ‘dropped scores that make all the difference. In the meantime, today we have a mouth-watering rally battle in store over the beautiful Tipperary roads around Ballymacarbry, Curraheenavoher Hill and Deerpark Mountain. There are loads of other interesting facets as well to the rally of course.
The battle for GpN supremacy is really hotting up, with Garry Jennings now having toppled Thomas Fitzmaurice from the top of the GpN points table, but with both Kevin Kelleher and Eamonn Daly showing good form, the GpN odds are still wide open. Dave Weston Jnr is another driver in GpN and it will be interesting to keep an eye on the young Scotsman. . Dave is here in his Impreza to get asphalt experience for the Ulster.
Perhaps one of the most fascinating aspects of the rally is the presence of World Rally Championship driver Matthew Wilson here in Clonmel driving the new Ford Fiesta 1600. For Matthew it is purely a testing exercise of course, but many of the other ‘1600’ drivers will surely be studying Matthew’s times with interest. Brian O’Mahony and James Travers in their Clios, Andrew Bushe, Marty McCormack and Andrew Hockridge in their Citroens, Andrew Fanning in his Puma, are just six who spring to mind. Matthew Wilson is running 7th on the road between Eamonn Daly and Brian O’Mahony. Matthew has done a little testing in the car and said today’s rally is perfect for them with the 3 stage loop, so they can change various things in service.
Another big feature of the rally will surely be the performance of the top rear wheel drive exponents in their Escorts. Mike Quinn is the top seed at 11, and he will face fierce competition from several Welshmen including Tomas Davies and Adrian Evans, with Wexford’s Graham Scallan and Monaghan’s Arthur Kierans, all in Escorts. Jim McKenna rejoins the fray in his RWD Starlet following his Loughgall accident, and it will be interesting to see how he goes. David Percy/John Kinahan have No.147 on their Escort Maxi and will start in the top 20.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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