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| Clare Stages Rally |
| RALLY NEWS No.1 - Pre Start Ennis - Sunday @ 08:02:50 |
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RALLY NEWS NO.1 Auburn Lodge Hotel/Sunday morning
Last year’s winner Tim McNulty will lead the field away in his Subaru WRC for today’s Clare Stages. Co-driven by Paul Kiely as usual, Tim has a chance today to tie up the Dunlop National Championship, even with two more rallies remaining. Of course, in rallying anything can happen and the old ‘many a slip between cup and lip’ definitely applies. Two drivers who could spoil Tim’s Championship party are Sam Moffett and Kevin Barrett, 2nd and 3rd in the points.
Clerk of the Course Dermot Kelleher has laid on a challenging route, with highly technical stages. The difficulty factor will be ramped up by the inclement weather yesterday. Lots of mud has been dragged out from the verges. Tim McNulty commented before the rally. “I don’t mind the wet it might slow some of the other drivers down, but really it is the same for everybody. There are definitely a few tricky places on the rally and you wouldn’t need to take your eye off the ball. My car has been completely rebuilt with this rally in mind and also the Cork 20”. Uniquely, Tim has a chance of winning both the National and the Tarmac Rally Championships, a feat that has never been achieved in Ireland before.
As well as lying 2nd in the overall points Sam Moffett leads the Group N category and the Monaghan man said. "Second in Group N would be OK here, it would be a shame to lose the lead in the championship. The stages are bumpy and there is a lot of mud pulled out, but we’ll try and carry the speed”.
Kevin Barrett starts at No.2 in the entry list and his Triton Showers Subaru has been fully prepared by the McKinstry Motorsport mechanics. Kevin has had a few disappointments this year but when it has gone well for him he has certainly shown good speed on the National series. Kevin commented. “If it stays wet today we’ll certainly give it a go to beat Tim. If it is dry I can’t really see me challenging him, his S12 Subaru has that bit more speed”. Niall Maguire is at 3 and reports no problems with his Impreza. His son Shane starts behind Sam Moffett at No.5 in his GpN Impreza and he reports all well.
Wesley Patterson is the top Escort seed at No.6. Just behind him is Ed O’Callaghan, his Escort totally overhauled for today’s event. Washington James (Darrian): Frank Kelly (Escort) and Mike Quinn (Escort make up the top 10. As well as being a round of the Dunlop National series the rally is a counter in the Top Part West Coast C/ship. Mike Quinn and his co-driver Grainne McEnery will be anxious to extend their lead in that series.
Monaghan’s Josh Moffett with Ciaran Geaney co-driving are late entries in their Lancer. They will carry the number 126 on the car but start higher up 14th on the road between Anthony O’Halloran & Michael Curran. Non-starters from the advertised list include Trevor Bustard: Jonathan Folan: Eamonn Dervan: Stephen Furey: Raymond Drury.
More news later: BRIAN & LIZ PATTERSON www.rallynews.net
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