UNOFFICIAL LEADERBOARD AFTER STAGE 12 Sam’s Cross
1st (2) Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 1.44.02.8
2nd (4) Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Impreza WRC) 1.44.57.2
3rd (3) John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian) 1.46.53.8
4th (10) Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Impreza WRC) 1.48.45.7
5th (11) Bob Fowden/Jerry Hynes (Impreza) 1.51.42.1
6th (14) Sean Flanagan/Liam Brennan (Impreza N) 1.51.54.0
7th (20) Ed O'Callaghan/Ger Clancy (Escort) 1.52.03.0
8th (15) Washington James/L. Jones-Davies (Darrian) 1.52.09.9
9th (36) Damien McCarthy/Eamonn Hayes (Civic) 1.52.53.7
10th (31) Tomas Davies/Paul Wakely (Escort) 1.53.49.6
11th (9) Brian O'Mahony/John HIggins (Clio S1600) 1.53.50.0
Here in Clonakilty there is real heat coming into the roads at last as the sun reaches its zenith and there is not a cloud in the sky. Consequently speeds are rising as well and Tim McNulty was 16s faster on the 2nd visit to the Rossmore stage from earlier this morning and he was fastest by 0.4 of a second from Denis Cronin. John Dalton was 3rd fastest. On stage 12, the second visit to Sam’s Cross, Denis Cronin was over 20s faster than on his first visit and he was quickest this time by 6s from Tim McNulty. Daragh O’Riordan was a further 7s back. Daragh, for the first time on the rally, put a wheel slightly out of line in stage 11 and clicked a rock. Fortunately the tyre did not go down but the wheel was slightly damaged and Daragh was a bit cautious for the rest of the stage.
Tim McNulty reported no problems whatsoever and with a 55s lead can afford now to drive a very controlled rally. Denis Cronin also had a good clean run through those 2 stages, Denis revelling n the Sam’s Cross stage where it takes a lot of driving to set a good time. John Dalton is intent for the moment on just maintaining his 3rd place, the Darrian man safe in the knowledge that there is an almost 2m gap to the car behind.
Sean Flanagan and his Cork body work specialist co driver Liam Brennan, are holding their top 6 place and leading GpN by quite a margin from the similar Impreza of Brian O’Keefe/Derek Power. Sean’s Subaru did have a close encounter with a cow a couple of stages ago but it doesn’t seem to have fazed him too much. Damien McCarthy really woke up on this last loop and was a lot quicker than his first time through the stages. He maintains a solid lead in cl.11 as well as 9th o/a. Class 13 leader Ed O’Callaghan has been the fastest of the Escorts throughout, but his car was reeking of oil when he came into service and it appears there is a crack in the engine sump.
Adrian Hetherington has been battling hard to get on to O’Callaghan’s pace, but it call came to naught anyway when his bright green Escort plunged down a bank in the Rossmore stage. The off road excursion and a punctured tyre cost Adrian over 4m. Brian O’Mahony is less than a second off 10th place. Brian also told us of a huge 6th gear drama in stage 12 that took the wind out of sails. Paddy O’Dwyer is lying 2nd in cl.9 to Fintan Canty and Paddy’s blue Corsa looked slightly the worse for wear following contact with a straw bale chicane. Barry Ryan is lying 20th o/a in his Escort and co driver John Young told us they had gear selection problems this morning. Leonard Downey/Mark Murphy whose Escort is just a couple of seconds behind Kevin O’Donoghue/Joe O’Leary’s similar example, had some brake problems over the last couple of stages which may have cost a few seconds.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
