Mayo rally competitors invade Sligo
The Mayo and District Motorsport club were well represented at Sundays Connacht Mini-Stages Rally based out of Grange in Sligo, with over 10 crews starting the extremely tough event.
Mervyn & Derek Deane in their Ford Escort Mark II were the first Mayo crew home in a fine 8th place overall. They steadily gained places throughout the day climbing from 14th after stage 1 up to their eventual 8th place finish. The dynamic duo of Ciaran Kennedy & Paul McGuinnis brought there class 2 civic home in a excellent first in class and a great 21st overall. The pair were finding it very slippery but were thoroughly enjoying the day. They lost one of the wing mirrors on stage one and they said “if found please return!” Foxford’s Ambrose Gaughan was the next Mayo competitor home in his Toyota Corolla Twin Cam. Ambrose finished 26th overall an incredible result considering he suffered complete brake failure half way through stage 1. Ambrose and co-Driver Derek Molloy managed to bleed the brakes and continued. The went onto prove there pace by catching two cars on stage 2, climbing from a first stage 57th to 26th at the finish, They also brought home some crystal by finishing 3rd in class 9.
Next highest Mayo finishers were Marcus Molloy and David Walsh. They finished in 35th place overall in their Honda Civic. At service Marcus had a big smile on his face and was loving the conditions.
Class 1 competitor Kenneth McHale swapped his drivers seat for a navigators, It proved to be an easy transition for the Knockmore man who was sitting beside Eamon McCafferty in his Ford Puma, ably guided through the tricky conditions Eamon brought the Puma home in 54th overall and First in class.
Only a scant 5 seconds behind was James Culliney, the Bekan man was navigating for Niall Morley they brought their Ford Escort home with a respectable 5th in class and in 55th overall just behind Kenneth McHale & Eamon McCafferty.
The Castlebar duo of Eoin McGreal and Jonathan Rice reported to have a good run the pair were having a laugh at service finding the conditions very slippery but enjoying it nonetheless. They eventually finished in a fine 61st overall and 6th in class 10 in their Chevette. The Honda Civic of Tom Jordon and Peter O’Toole were the next Mayo crew home in 75th overall.
Otto Gropler & Paul McGlinchey had a torrid day it all started badly with a spin on the very first corner, the pair were finding the conditions very challenging. As they came into service the crew were feeling better after a good run over the second stage only hampered by catching a car on the stage which subsequently crashed in front of them. It all wasn’t all bad as the pair manage to resurrect a fine 3rd place in class 5.
Unfortunately it was not all good news for the Mayo competitors as some of them fell by the wayside. One of them was Colin & Michael Loughney in there class 12 Ford Escort Mark II. The crew found the conditions very tricky finding themselves going up two escape roads on the first two stages. The red Escort was lying in a great 16th place overall after stage 1 but unfortunately after stage 3 their fine drive came to an end when the oil filter came off. Another crew to retire due to mechanical problems was Padraic Roche & Chrystal Culkeen when the gearbox cried enough after stage 1.
As the year draws to a close the Mayo and District Motorsport club would like to congratulate all of their competitors who have done excellently throughout the year.
Mayo Competitors Bring Home Trophies On Sligo Rally
Cathal Doyle
Sligo was the destination for a mini-Mayo invasion at the week-end as no fewer than sixteen local rally crews descended on the county for the Sligo Stages Rally, round 6 of the Dunlop National Rally Championship, and round 5 of the HASS Border Rally Championship.
It proved to be a successful cross-border excursion, with many of the drivers and co-drivers recording top three finishes in their respective classes to bring home trophies after a well-enjoyed day’s motorsport.
Among those making their marks were the Ballinrobe crew of brothers Ciaran and David Walsh who claimed 2nd in class 2 and 50th overall, Ciaran in the process cementing his category advantage in the Border series with one round left to run. Also claiming a 2nd in class were Castlebar’s Keith McFadden and his Kilkelly co-driver Brian Harrington who steered their class 7 Renault Clio to 64th overall.
Knockmore / Ballina pairing Kenneth McHale and Derek McCarthy were making one of their first appearances of the year, but the Toyota Yaris crew were back on the pace immediately, taking victory in class 1 and 73rd overall.
The honour of finishing highest placed Mayo crew went to Castlebar’s Gerry Casey and Peter O’Toole from Claremorris who steered their Ford Escort Mark 2 home in 36th position overall, and 6th in class 13. Putting in a fine drive also were Ambrose Gaughan from Foxford and Derek Molloy from Lahardane, finishing 49th overall and 3rd in class 9 in their Toyota Corolla. Derek’s brother Marcus was not far behind, the older Molloy and co-driver Keefe Kilcoyne from Westport taking 54th spot and 12th in class 11.
Another crew to claim a class award were Brendan Corcoran from Castlebar with co-driver John Fitzpatrick who finished third in class 2 and 66th overall, while Tubbercurry pairing Pat McGuinness and Paul Kennedy claimed yet another award for Mayo & District Motorsport Club with 3rd in class 12 and 72nd overall. And in class 7, Crossmolina’s John Duffy and co-driver John Egan, who were debuting a new Honda Integra, recovered well after losing significant time on the second stage with a high speed spin, taking 3rd in the category and finishing 76th overall. Rounding off the Mayo competitors to bring home glassware from their day’s rallying were the Killala / Castlebar pairing of Otto Gropler and Chrystal Culkeen who took third in class 5 and 83rd overall.
Also bringing their car home safely in 87th position were the Suzuki duo of Fergal Loughney and David Breen from Killala, while among those who didn’t get to see the finish flag was Bekan’s Sean McHugh who had multiple former national champion Paul McLoughlin from Claremoris alongside him for the first time. Despite setting good times, their BMW M3 Compact suffered a variety of problems eventually succumbing to a broken suspension arm on the fifth stage.
Other non-finishers included Killala’s Michael and David Loughney, Adrian Fahy and Aidan Fahy from Ballinrobe, Eoin McGreal and Jonathan Rice from Castlebar and Belmullet’s Ciaran Kennedy and Paul McGinnis.
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| Locals On Form On Donegal Rally Last week-end’s Donegal International Rally saw some strong performances from a number of Mayo competitors. In the National section of the rally James Culliney from Bekan and his Knock co-driver Eddie McLoughlin recorded a highly commendable 3rd in class 12 in their Ford Escort Mark 2. Gearbox problems on the opening day left them in a lowly 16th in class but thanks to some excellent work from their service team headed up by Colm Loughney and Niall Morley, the Mayo crew put in an excellent fightback to recover to 8th in class by the end of the day. They continued to progress through the field over the remaining two days to bring the Escort back to Letterkenny in 24th position overall. Meanwhile Shane Buckley from Ballyhaunis recorded his best result of the season taking second in round 4 of the Fiesta SportTrophy Challenge. This highly competitive one-make series has attracted some of the most promising up and coming competitors in Ireland and abroad. Having suffered some bad luck on earlier rounds, Buckley and co-driver Thomas Maguire didn’t put a wheel wrong in Donegal. Despite a slow time on the opening test where they dropped over twenty seconds to eventual winner Craig Breen, they were quickly in their stride setting two fastest times on their way to the runner’s up spot. Also recording a good result was Paul McGee from Carrowmore-Lacken who co-drove Stephen Wright to fourth in Donegal. With two rounds of the Fiesta SportTrophy remaining, Shane Buckley has moved into third place overall in the series, and will be hopeful of catching second placed competitor Mark Donnelly on the next round on the Ulster International Rally in August.
Duffy Flies Mayo Flag on Rally Poland |
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Gaughan and Molloy Fly Flag For Mayo on Cavan Stages Rally
by Cathal Doyle
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Ambrose Gaughan from Foxford and his Lahardane co-driver Derek Molloy claimed one of the best results of their rally careers to date, with second in class 9 on Sunday’s Cavan Stages Rally. Competing in a Toyota Corolla the pair had a trouble-free run to finish 53rd overall from a starting position of 146, recording a great result against some very strong opposition. |
| Other Mayo competitors in action at the week-end did not fare quite as well. Ciaran Walsh and Aidan Gannon are battling for class 2 honours in the HASS Border Rally Championship with fellow locals Brendan Corocran and Shane O’Brien. However neither of the Honda Civic mounted rivals were to finish the Cavan Stages, mechanical woes and off-road excursions accounting for their respective retirements. At least for both crews the double non-finish keeps their championship battle wide open going into the second half of the season. Internationally it was one of the busiest week-ends in the motorsport calendar, with events ranging from the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 to the Sardinia round of the World Rally Championship vying for attention. Competing in the latter event (which was won by Ford’s Jari-Mati Latvala, breaking Sebastian Loeb’s string of successes in the process), was top Mayo co-driver Killian Duffy. The Crossmolina man was once again navigating for the up and coming Ahmed Al Mansoori in the Team Abu Dhabi Ford Fiesta ST. Unfortunately it wasn’t a successful event for the UAE / Irish pairing, a series of problems leading to their eventual retirement on the second day. Meanwhile Killian’s erstwhile driver Aaron MacHale was having to do without his regular note-caller as he took part in the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland, round four of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. The Mayo & District Motorsport Club member still managed to being his Ford Focus WRC home in fifth position overall behind event winner Eugene Donnelly, scoring valuable championship points in the process. |
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Walsh & Gannon Claim Valuable Championship Points on Mourne Rally
Ciaran Walsh and Aidan Gannon moved a step closer to class success on the 2009 HASS Border Rally Championship with a hard fought third place on Saturday’s Mourne Rally.
The Ballinrobe driver and his Tubbercurry co-driver had a trouble free run on the Newry based event, reporting the stages slippy but enjoyable.
The result moves the Honda Civic crew into the lead of class 2 of the series with 2 rounds remaining in Sligo and Donegal.
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Pre-event News: Press Release: Tues. March 3rd Despite these recessionary times, the rally has attracted a near capacity entry, with in excess of 130 competitors due to take the start. The Mayo Stages Rally is once again part of three major series – the Dunlop National Rally Championship, the Border Rally Championship – which this year welcomes a new title sponsor in the form of Donegal based Henderson Auto Sport & Spares (HASS), and the 205 Challenge. Clerk of the Course Jonathan Rice and his experienced team of officials have spent the last number of months hard at work preparing for this major sporting occasion. The result is a mouth-watering selection of stages that will test competitors to the limits, while showcasing some of the most beautiful scenery in the country. Using roads over the Sheeffry Hills and Partry Mountains in the south of the county, a total of eight stages run over three tests provide a total of 118 km stage mileage, enough to ensure plenty of thrills and spills before a winner is declared back at rally headquarters on Sunday evening. Thanks To Sponsors Mayo & District Motorsport Club would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the sponsors who have supported the running of this rally, in particular the stage sponsors Casey Autoworld Castlebar and Ballina, West Tyre of Ballinrobe, and Carney’s Quarry of Aughagower. A Full Days Rallying Leading Runners Behind Gareth are a trio of Subaru WRC drivers who look set to fight it out for championship honours this year. Leading the challenge will be reigning National Rally Champion Patrick Elliott. The Cavan man has never won in Mayo but in the past year has become the man to beat at National level. Victory on the opening round of the championship in Birr two weeks ago underlines his determination to claim back-to-back championships. Running at three is former multiple champion Niall Maguire. The popular Monaghan driver has already won in Mayo in 2002 and 2004, and would dearly love to claim a hat-trick of victories. Behind Niall is Kildare’s Kevin Barrett, sure to be close by to pick up the challenge for victory should the leading drivers falter. The Group N battle for showroom specification cars also promises plenty of action with Anthony O’Halloran from Clare hoping to build on his recent strong result in Birr. He faces strong opposition from the likes of Gary Jennings, Sean Flanagan and last year’s winner Danny McBride. Meanwhile the Modified runners will be putting on a show as always, with the Escorts of Trevor Mulligan and Russell Woods leading the fray. Local Competitors To The Fore But that’s just a sample of the many local competitors taking part; full details of all the crews, stage times and locations are included in the rally programme which will be on sale from Friday evening at all major service stations and shops in the Castlebar and Westport regions. Press Release: Fri March 6th Meanwhile, Maguire knows that he cannot afford to allow Elliott dominate to the extent he did in Nenagh. The former triple national champion lost time with suspension related problems on the first pair of stages and a puncture on the sixth test ended any hopes of reeling in Elliott. Maguire will again be co-driven by fellow Monaghan man, Enda Sherry. The Dunlop title-chasing duo of Elliott and Maguire are the respective second and third seeds with Gareth MacHale heading the entry in the Opel Corsa S2000 car. The Dubliner had intended to compete in Nenagh but wasn’t in possession of all the necessary homologation papers. Maynooth’s, Kevin Barrett in the McKinstry prepared Subaru WRC occupies the number four berth, he was fourth in Nenagh, like Elliott and Maguire, he is also aware that it will take a few events to raise the pace of the series. Having led the Group N category after the first stage in the opening round, Fermanagh’s, Garry Jennings (Mitsubishi) will be very determined on making up for the disappointment of retiring on the second stage with a throttle sensor issue. Indeed, he is quite capable of securing a top three finish in Mayo. Clare’s, Anthony O’Halloran, also in a Mitsubishi, currently second in the Patterson’s RallyNews Group N category, had a steady run in County Tipperary and will be keen to stay the pace. Meath’s, Sean Flanagan (Subaru) has regular co-driver, Brian Duggan back on the pacenotes and they are seeded at number seven. Forced to retire some two kilometres from the finish of the final stage in Nenagh, Brian O’Mahony (Renault Clio S1600) aims to get back amongst the points in Castlebar. The Cork driver, a former Irish national Class 6 champion and Irish and British S1600 champion, dominated the two-wheel drive element in Nenagh, it will be interesting to watch his progress in Mayo. His co-driver is Kiltimagh native, John Higgins. Elsewhere, the Mayo entry also includes Eamonn Daly (Mitsubishi), John Cairns (Subaru), Trevor Bustard (Mitsubishi), local Mayo driver, Tom Moldoon (Mitsubishi), Jack Maguire (Escort Cosworth), Gary McElhinney (Subaru Legacy), Raymond Conlon (Corolla) and Anthony Hand (Escort). The S1600 Citroen Saxo of Andrew Bushe and the Mitsubishi of Paul Elliott are also on the entry list.
Post Event News: The opening stage, Big Maum, fell victim of the weather when a hailstorm made the conditions treacherous and the organisers decided it wasn’t safe to run in competitive mode. On the second test, Barnaderg, Elliott set the pace, 13 seconds clear of Maguire with Gareth MacHale a further ten seconds behind in third. Elliott was also quickest on the third stage, despite an overshoot that cost him some ten seconds. He arrived at the Westport service halt with a 16 second advantage. Maguire admitted he struggled in the conditions while third placed MacHale was acclimatising to the Opel Corsa S2000. Kevin Barett in fourth had to back off towards the end of the third test amidst a heavy hail shower. Garry Jennings (Mitsubishi) was untroubled in fifth with local driver, Tom Muldoon (Mitsubishi) some 20 seconds adrift in sixth place. Reserve entry, Thomas Fitzmaurice (Mitsubishi) was next in a top ten that also included the Mk. 2 Escort of Anthony Hand; Danny McBride (Mitsubishi) and Jack Maguire (Escort Cosworth). Elsewhere, Brian O’Mahony (Renault Clio) lost time with fuel problems, he was 13th. overall while Trevor Mulligan onboard an errant handling Ford Escort, was down in 46th. place. On the first run over Big Maum, S.S. 4, Elliott added a further three seconds to his lead with Maguire and MacHale completing an unchanged top three. Kevin Barrett moved to within six seconds of MacHale. Meanwhile, Jennings lost a few seconds when he experienced fuel problems at the start of the test. Elliott spun on the fifth test and lost the front bumper of his Subaru, he was fortunate not to have experienced any further damage in the 360 degree spin. At service, he had no explanation, ” I really don’t know why it happened, I touched the brakes approaching a left hand bend and it just spun around. I didn’t see any oil, I was really very lucky and I reckon I only dropped about ten seconds.” The resultant damage caused handling problems through Stage 6 and Maguire, who was fastest on both stages, cut the deficit to three seconds. MacHale, in third, reckoned the suspension was too stiff for the Mayo roads, he was also losing time on the fast sections of the stages. The Dubliner was a minute and 31 seconds off second spot and just a mere second ahead of Kevin Barrett, who remarked on the difficult nature of the stages. Jennings remained in fifth – his Mitsubishi tended to flood at the start of the stages. Danny McBride also in a Mitsubishi, was next – 25 seconds further behind. O’Mahony made strong progress to move into seventh in a top ten rounded off by Fergal Costello (Mitsubishi), Thomas Fitzmaurice (Mitsubishi) and Jack Maguire (Escort Cosworth). Local hero, Tom Muldoon retired his Mitsubishi with a broken differential while Sean Flanagan (Subaru) lost several places with a spin on almost every stage. On the penultimate test, Elliott gained a precious second on Maguire to lead by four seconds. He added two more seconds on the final test that gave him a six second winning margin. “Niall (Maguire) and myself had the wrong tyres for the final stages, we had full wets and the roads were dry. It was far from being a foregone conclusion, I had to battle hard against him (Niall). It was a hard rally to win and I suppose I didn’t make it any easier on myself either.” said a delighted Elliott at the finish. Maguire took second and Barrett increased his pace to snatch a late third place. Elsewhere, MacHale was fourth on his debut in the Opel Corsa S2000 while Jennings took top points in the Patterson’s RallyNews Group N category. Danny McBride (Mitsubishi) overcame mechanical problems to claim sixth. Brian O’Mahony (Renault Clio S1600) took seventh and top points for the inaugural rally.ie award for two-wheel drive competitors. Thomas Fitzmaurice (Mitsubishi), Paul Elliott (Mitsubishi) and Russell Woods (Escort) filled the remaining places in the top ten. The latter pair were separated on a tie-break with Elliott getting the verdict by virtue of being fastest on the final stage. Anthony O’Halloran (Mitsubishi) and Sean Flanagan (Subaru) improved on the final stages to take eleventh and twelfth respectively. Fergal Costello crashed his Mitsubishi out of seventh place on the final test. Mulligan (Escort) finished sixteenth.
Results for Top 10 places: 1 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC) 55m 22s, |
| After an extended break of over two months, the Dunlop National Rally Championship resumed with Sunday’s Circuit of Munster Stages Rally. The Limerick based rally was won by Niall Maguire, the Monaghan Subaru driver taking his third successive victory of recent weeks after championship rival Patrick Elliott put his similar car of the road on the final stage. Mayo honours were upheld by Sean McHugh, who, with his Sligo co-driver Niall Burns, finished an excellent 27th overall as well taking second in class 14. |
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Since identifying a rear suspension problem with his BMW M3 Compact earlier this year, the Bekan man has been recording ever better results in a class which features some of the most rapid competitors in the country. Other Mayo crews in action in Limerick included Castlebar’s Gerry Casey and Peter O’Toole from Claremorris, but alternator problems with their Ford Escort meant they exceeded their maximum lateness and were excluded from the results. Killalla’s Otto Gropler and Castlebar co-driver Chrystal Culkeen also failed to finish after putting their Ford KA off the road on the opening stage. |
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Eighteen year old Justin Ryan from Headford Co. Galway was recently crowned the Mayo & Districts Motor sport Club young Driver Champion. Justin who is studying Arts in N.U.I Galway managed to clinch the title by one point on the final round of the four round series based in Harringtons Quarry Swinford. Round three, was to be a pivotal day in Justin’s championship as he showed his true speed finally getting comfortable in the car. He finished an incredible third in class and 21st overall, this was to put him joint second in the championship just one point behind his neighbour Alan Higgins going into the final round. |
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