New National autotest champion Stephen Ferguson carried on his winning ways on Sunday last as Monaghan Motor club hosted the final round of the Hewison National Autotest championship in the ideal surroundings of Wright’s Quarry, Swanns Cross. As always Brendan Flynn stepped in as CoC with 3 very demanding tests as the sun shone brightly over the venue with 19 drivers on the start list. Ferguson in a mini special posted 8 fastest times out of the 12 tests to take the win from Robin Lyons who won class A in a mini with Eamonn Byrne second and Christopher Byrne 3rd. Ferguson’s win promoted regular navigation competitor Sam Johnston to a class win also in a mini special with Patrick Power 2nd and Paul “Felix” Phelan 3rd. Class C was won by Simon Echlin while Mark King took the class E honours. In the popular and ever competitive club members category, Richard Cassidy pulled out all the stops to win by 2.5 seconds in his micra ahead of Andy Mackarel in his starlet special with Martin Tynan 3rd in their micra, one of four drivers to put this car through its paces! Declan Tynan was 4th with Ciaran Tynan 5th. Michael Carbin fought with the handbrake on his Peugeot throughout the day but managed 6th with Michael Tynan taking 7th in Mackarel’s starlet. An enjoyable day for all these guys but even more importantly some valuable points gained for the club championship. Well done to Brendan on another flawless event. He would like to extend his thanks to the generosity of David Wright for the use of his premises, the Northern Standard who sponsored the event, Aghabog GFC for refreshments and venue for prize giving and to all the marshals who turned up and anybody else who helped out in any way
Circuit of Kerry Stages Rally
Experienced Monaghan navigator Enda Sherry guided Enniskillen man Darren Gass to an excellent win on the recent Circuit of Kerry stages rally last Sunday in his Impreza WRC by a slender 4 seconds. Things didn’t go their way for the entire day however as a fuel problem on stage 7 lost them 20 seconds to move Kevin Barrett into the lead but a super time on the penultimate stage meant they regained the lead where they remained through the final stage. This victory was made all the sweeter by the fact that Darren made a late decision to enter the event, his first since Cork last year, which sets him up nicely for the Circuit of Ireland on Easter weekend. Barrett finished 2nd ahead of teammate Niall Maguire and Barry Goodman both in WRC Imprezas. Shane Maguire also made the trip South but seems to have left his luck at home as an uncustomary visit to the scenery ended his assault on stage 3 although to Shane’s defence brake failure seems to have been a contributing factor. Smithboro man Anthony Hand with Laura Furey on the notes took his Escort out for a trial run ahead of the Monaghan stages and didn’t disappoint as he led the field home in the junior category of the event, 29 seconds ahead of their nearest rivals. A good clean run reported by Anthony who is now contemplating an attack on the National Junior championship.
Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally
With the final week approaching ahead of the biggest event in the clubs calendar its all shoulders to the wheel as final preparations are put in place by CoC Conor Maguire and his band of merry men and women! The weather is the only thing not in his control in the lead up to the big day on 17th April. The entry list certainly hasn’t disappointed in what could be described as possibly one of the strongest in many years, surely a testament to the high regard this event is held among the top rally drivers in the country. A full entry of 140 cars has been received with local men Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry leading the event off from the ideal surroundings of the Hillgrove Hotel as number 1 seeds ahead of Tim McNulty and Paul Kiely with another Triton Showers backed Subaru 3rd in the form of Kevin Barrett and Sean Mullally. Derek McGarrity and James Mc Kee are at 4 with Billy Coleman award winner Robert Barrable and Damian Connolly rounding off the top 5 fresh from their win in Cork. Adrian McElvaney makes a return to the Monaghan stages at 6 with Paul Kelly on the notes with Daragh O’Riordan at 7, all of the above in class 8 WRC spec cars. Colm Murphy and Don Montgomery lead the group N challenge, a class that sees an incredible 17 group N entries with Brendan Cumiskey, Sam Moffett and Shane Maguire all sure to be in contention for class honours. Gary McPhillips and Mark Tierney head the two wheel drive category in their powerful class 14 Escort at no. 11 but an array of Escorts behind are sure to entertain the crowds. Daniel Mc Kenna and Andrew Grennan are at 12 with the likes of Declan Boyle, Rodney Wilton, Manus Kelly and Wesley Patterson all inside the top 20. Washington James is sure to set the stages alight in his famous Darrian at no. 18. With large crowds expected for this event, a counting round of the Motorsport Ireland Dunlop National Rally Championship and Sligo Pallets Border Championship, anybody willing to help out in any way are asked to come forward and make themselves available. No fewer than 150 marshals are required for the 3 stages alone. Full preview of 2011 Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally will be in next week’s edition.
Top 25 Seeded Entry List
1/ Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 8 2/ Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 8 3/ Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 8 4/ Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Impreza WRC) 8 5/ Robert Barrable/Damian Connolly (Fabia S2000) 6/ Adrian McElvaney/Paul Kelly (Impreza) 8 7/ Daragh O’Riordan/ Tony McDaid (Impreza) 8 8/ Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Impreza) 4 9/Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (Impreza) 8 10/ Liam McCarthy/Dennis O Mohoney (Corolla) 15 11/ Gary McPhillips/Mark Tierney (Escort) 14 12/ Danial McKenna/Andrew Grennan (Escort) 14 14/ Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Escort) 14 15/ Rodney Wilton/Conor McMahon (Escort) 14 16/ Manus Kelly/Donall Barrett (Escort) 14 17/ Wesley Patterson/Martin Mc Garrity (Escort) 14 18/ Washington James/TBA (Darrian) 14 19/ Brendan Cumiskey/TBA (Lancer) 4 20/ Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (EVO) 4 21/ Shane Maguire/Charlie McEnery (Impreza) 4 22/ Stuart Darcy/Eamonn Walsh (EVO 8) 4 23/Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fiona Foley (EVO 9) 4 24/ Trevor Bustard/Kenny Bustard (EVO 9) 4 25/ John Stone/Rob Fagg (Fabia) 8
Marshal’s Training Night
All marshals willing to help out at this year’s event are kindly asked to attend a short training night on Friday 15th April (Friday night before the event) in the Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan at 8.00pm sharp. This is necessary to maintain a high standard of safety on our event, which is imperative for the future of the sport. All sector marshals already appointed are expected to attend along with his or her respective teams, as well as anyone else available to marshal on the day.
County Monaghan Motor Club 