Stages Rally 09
Defending Dunlop champions, Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru WRC) won the TF Royal Hotel & Theatre Mayo Rally, the second round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship. They finished six seconds ahead of Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Subaru WRC), in terms of the Dunlop championship, Elliott now leads Maguire by four points. Kevin Barett/Sean Mullally (Subaru WRC) took third place after they reeled in the Opel Corsa S2000 car of Gareth MacHale/Barry Goodman on the closing stages.
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,
2 Niall Maguire/ Enda Sherry (Subaru Impreza WRC) 55m 28s,
3 Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru Impreza WRC) 57m 37s,
4 Gareth MacHale/Barry Goodman (Opel Corsa S2000) 57m 45s,
5 Gary Jennings/Martin Brady (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 58m 32s,
6 Danny MacBride/Jonathan Gallager (Mit. Lancer Evo 8 Gp N) 60m 22s,
7 Brian O’Mahony/John Higgins (Renault Clio S1600) 60m 41s,
8 Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 61m 31s,
9 Paul Elliott/Brian Doherty (Mit. Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 61m 32s,
10 Russell Woods/Martin Byrne (Ford Escort Mk II) 61m 32s.