Stonethrowers Stages Rally
Tipperary Motor Club hosted their annual Sepam Stonethrowers Stages Rally on Sunday last. With a three stages three times format the scene was set for a classic battle among the front runners as wet weather conditions made the task all the more difficult. Derry’s Conor McCluskey in an impreza led a field of 103 starters off into the Tipperary countryside. Kerry men Alan Ring and Eamonn Daly, both in Evo’s were next on the road. McCloskey meant business from the start and by first service pulled out a massive 47 second lead over the struggling Evo’s. This lead meant he could coast to the finish eventually taking a 49 second win from Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy in second. Robert Barrable with Monaghan’s Damian Connolly calling the notes opted to leave the Skoda Fabia at home and take their older Citreon C2 but were equally as impressive taking 3rd overall, loosing out on 2nd overall on the last stage by a mere second.
Fresh from some recent excellent results Josh Moffatt and Domhall Lennon started the day seeded in 14th but punched in some great times to rapidly climb the leader board and eventually finish up in 5th overall and first in class 4. Indeed they had a second fastest stage time on ss4 behind the flying Barrable. Emyvale’s Barry McKenna acquired the services of Scotstown’s James McCarville and continued his run of recent high finish’s to take 16th overall and 4th in the highly competitive class 13. Conor Foley and Matthew Brennan took their Mark I escort home to 43rd over-all and 4th in class 12. Thremilehouse man Damian Sherry with Mark Deery calling the notes were having a great run, lying in 35th overall after stage 5 but hit trouble on 6 relegating them to 67th over-all. Damian’s luck must surely return shortly. Shane Maguire teamed up with James O’Reilly to make the trip to Tipp but his event finished on ss5 with a broken shaft in the gearbox while lying in 4th overall despite a spin.
The junior category was won by Galway’s Damian and Joseph Boyle with Kerry men Darren Young and Kenneth Quirke 2nd and Wexford’s Leon Galvin and Gerard Foley 3rd.
2011 Sepam Stonethrowers Rally Top 10
1 Connor McCloskey/Francis Regan (Impreza WRC) 58m 20s
2 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 59m 09s
3 Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly (Citroen C2) 59m 10s
4 Mark Donnelly/Barry McNulty (Clio) 59m 26s
5 Josh Moffett/Domhnall Lennon (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 59m 34s
6 Craig Breen/Martin Brady (Fiesta) 59m 42s
7 Shay Power/Derek Gibbs (Escort) 59m 51s
8 Paddy O’Dwyer/Davy Byrne (Nova) 59m 55s
9 James Coleman/Michael Haley (Escort) 60m 19s
10 Kieran Daly/Darragh Mullen (Citroen C2R2 Max) 60m 23s.
Monaghan Loose Surface (Gravel) Autocross
All roads lead to the McElvaney Pitwood quarry complex this Sunday 14th August as Monaghan Motor Club run their annual gravel surface Autocross. The McElvaney Pitwood quarry is located between Baileboro and Virginia. This event is a counting Round of the trader’s club championship and should see many good class battles. Coc for the event Enda Sherry urges all club members to show there support for this event and asks competitors to phone or post their entry as early as possible. Standard forestry tyres are permitted for this event but no mud rough-cut tyres are allowed. Scrutiny starts at 10 o’clock with practice run starting at 11 o’clock sharp.
Night Navigation Classes
Its that time of year again and with the night navigation season less than two months away Monaghan Motor Club will once again be holding night navigation classes in the coming weeks. Maybe you are out of the sport for a few years and are making a big comeback or if you are only starting off and want to learn the discipline of night navigations well then these classes are for you. Watch this space for further details but it is anticipated that these classes will start around Thursday 18th or 25th August.
County Monaghan Motor Club 