Armagh’s Darren Gass and Andrew Cullen won the 2011 Aer Lingus Motor Club Stages Rally on Sunday last based at the City North Hotel on the M1 motorway. This event was a counting round of the Reis MSA British Rally Championship and saw no fewer than 14 crews make the trip across the water to test their skills on Irish soil. Last years welsh winners Damian Cole and James Morgan had to settle for 2nd on this occasion in his Focus WRC with English men Simon Mauger and Brian Cammack 3rd in their rapid class 14 escort. With a three stages three times format this event took in a wide area around the Slane and Collon areas with centralised service in Drogheda. Overnight rain coupled with scattered showers left tyre choice a lottery and indeed caught out many drivers on the first stage alone with 3 travelling British crews not making it off the first stage for one reason or another. Pre event favourite Robert Barrable and Monaghan’s Damian Connolly hit trouble on the first stage also with a broken spark plug forcing their early retirement. Gass took the early lead with fastest time’s on the opening two stages in his ex-Niall Maguire S10 Subaru WRC. As usual Monaghan was well represented with a number of crews making the short trip South to tackle the roads of Louth and Meath. Josh Moffett with regular Ardee man Domhall Lennon on the notes had a fantastic run all day, posting top 5 times and eventually finished 5th over-all, taking the competitive group N class for their efforts. Maurice Moffett with daughter Laura on the notes had an enjoyable day in the starlet and were 3rd two wheel drive car home in 6th over-all and 2nd in class 14. Next up were Stephen Wright and Martin Connolly in 8th over-all. A great run for this crew and once again Stephen proves he has come to grips with the EVO 6 on tarmac following some recent excellent results. Raymond Conlon acquired the services of Declan Tynan as navigator and they surely enjoyed their day with a top 10 finish and a class 13 win to boot. They did survive a late scare however with a burst oil pipe towards the end of the last stage almost ending their rally but luckily they got to stage finish before having to stop. Next up were Jack Maguire and Emmett Sherry in their class 13 escort, a steady run from this crew resulting in 12th overall and 2nd in class 13. Martin McPhillips had young Aghabog lad Macartan Kierans on the notes in the McPhillip’s Engineering backed twin cam and scorched their way through the stages to take a 22 second class win and 14th overall. Barry McKenna and Raymond Knox continued their recent good form to finish 15th overall and 4th in class 13 in the McKenna Agri backed escort. Martin and Ciaran Tynan finally had a run of luck to finish in 18th overall and 4th in group N, gaining some valuable experience in their new EVO 8. Suzanne Wright was navigating for Co. Downs Barry Greer in a class 6 fiesta and finished a creditable 21st overall and 2nd in class. Cathal Sheridan and Darren O’Brien took their class 10 nova home to 2nd in class and 35th overall. Stephen Rushe and Gary Reid had led class 10 after the first loop of stages but a bad stage time on ss4 dropped them back down the leader board to eventually finish 3rd in class 10. Johno and Padraig Doogan also made the trip South but unfortunately for them they came home with the title of only Monaghan crew not to finish. At the top Darren Gass had done enough through the opening loop of stages to ensure he could nurse his Subaru home to take the win, trading stage wins with Damian Cole throughout the day. Once again well done to all club members who finished and thanks to the club members who turned up to marshal on the day. Top 10 Result’s on 2011 ALMC Stages Rally 1 Darren Gass/Andrew Cullen (Impreza WRC) 69m 41s 2 Damian Cole/James Morgan (Focus WRC) 70m 11s 3 Simon Mauger/Brian Cammack (Escort) 72m 27s 4 Jay Stanley/Paul Williams (Escort) 73m 39s 5 Josh Moffett/Domhnall Lennon (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 74m 08s 6 Maurice Moffett/Laura Moffett (Starlet) 74m 35s 7 David Armstrong/Damien Fleming (Escort) 74m 47s 8 Stephen Wright/Martin Connolly (Lancer Evo 6) 74m 57s 9 Paddy McVeigh/Stephen O’Hanlon (Impreza Gp N) 75m 02s 10 Raymond Conlon/Declan Tynan (Corolla) 75m 22s
Monaghan Grass Surface Autocross
Sunday next 24th July sees Monaghan Motor Club host their annual grass surface autocross. For the second year running Shane Maguire takes on the role of CoC and with his team of helpers is sure to set out a demanding route. The venue is ideally located on the shores of Hollyrood Lake just outside Ballinode adjacent to Shane and Niall’s house. Competitors are urged to send in their entry as soon as possible as the club need an idea of start numbers to aid the smooth running of the event. Regulations and entry forms are available on the club website at http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net . Prize giving will follow the event in Maggie’s Bar, Ballinode. Once again the proceeds of this event will be donated to charity and this year Shane has picked the Co. Monaghan Branch of the Alzheimer’s Society. This is a very worthy charity that provides an excellent service and is based at the Drumkill Day Care Centre in Threemilehouse. Your support on the day would be greatly appreciated.
County Monaghan Motor Club 