UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 9 Rossmore
1st (2) Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 1.21.26.0
2nd (4) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Impreza WRC) 1.22.29.7
3rd (3) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 1.23.34.6
4th (10) Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Impreza WRC) 1.25.45.8
5th (14) Sean Flanagan/Liam Brennan (Impreza N) 1.27.29.4
6th (11) Bob Fowden/Jerry Hynes (Impreza) 1.27.37.8
7th (15) Washington James/Llinos J. Davies (Darrian) 1.27.39.0
8th (20) Ed O'Callaghan/Ger Clancy (Escort) 1.27.56.1
9th (36) Damien McCarthy/Eamonn Hayes (Civic) 1.28.26.3
10th (31) Tomas Davies/Paul Wakely (Escort) 1.28.55.1
Tim McNulty was fastest through this opening Sunday morning stage by 2s from Denis Cronin. Daragh O’Riordan was 3rd fastest, 7s down on Cronin. John Dalton was 4th fastest a further 10s back. We have wall to wall blue skies here in Clonakilty although heavy overnight rain left the roads damp. Tim McNulty lost a few seconds with a stall at a hairpin and reckoned his tyre compound was a little hard. Denis Cronin thought there would have been wetter. John Dalton reported it slippery and Daragh O’Riordan felt his choices had gone off. Brian O’Mahony is lying just outside the leaderboard in his Clio and he thought he had made too safe an option in tyre choice.
That opening Sunday stage was delayed by approximately 20m when a girl fell off a wall and knocked down a man. The ambulance was called but thankfully neither was seriously hurt.
Some changes to the overnight positions include. JJ Fleming, who was 10th o/a, has withdrawn his Subaru. JJ damaged the front of the car yesterday in an accident. Kevin Kelleher was briefly shown last night as having moved into the top 10, but then it was discovered that he got a “flier” on stage 6. Kevin was then classified as 14th o/a last night and has been seeded slightly further up the running order this morning on safety grounds. It all became academic when Kevin was forced to pull out because the differential pump was over boosting and sending fuel down into the exhaust which posed a fire risk. Also seeded further up is Brian O’Mahony who was 17th overnight in his Clio S1600. Brian was setting top 6 times in the afternoon following his earlier delays when he clipped a wheel. Another driver re-seeded is John Somers in his Celica. John was 48th overnight. His Celica lost all power yesterday morning.
Some of the overnight class winners included young Damien McCarthy who was able to get his Civic gearbox changed at final service last night. Ed O’Callaghan led cl.13 despite complaining of a misfire in his Escort during the day. John Dalton in his Darrian led cl.14. Adrian Hetherington was 2nd in that class. Adrian is gradually getting his confidence back after a series of accidents in this green Escort. Brian O’Mahony leads cl.6. Paddy O’Dwyer leads cl.9 in his Corsa. Ger O’Connell leads cl.12. Victor Beamish Cl.10. Stephen Carey cl.2. In the Historic Rally Ed Murphy leads from Denis Moynihan both in Mk1 Escorts.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
(Our thanks to Kieran O’Callaghan & Kevin O’Driscoll)
