Local Cork crew Owen Murphy and James O’Brien took top honours in their local Cork Forest Stages Rally on Saturday last. This was the fourth round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Championship and attracted almost 50 entries to this popular forest complex on the outskirts of Mallow. Murphy and O Brien were pushed all the way by the hard charging Colin Britton, navigated by our very own Arthur Kierans who were only 6 seconds in arrears after six tough stages. This result leaves Britton and Kierans leading the Irish Forest Championship with three rounds remaining. Third over-all were Pat O Connell and Mark Wiley with only 7 seconds separating the top three crews. Incidentally the top three were all in similar spec EVO 9’s. Fourth over-all went to Martin Cairns who had Patrick Brides on the notes. Patrick making the switch from the back wheel drive starlets of the Moffatt’s to sample the gravel in a four-wheel drive Impreza. Next up were Enda Mc Nulty and Paul Sheridan in the trusty Impreza. Following some teething problems in the new Mc Nulty escort this crew returned to the forest in the group A impreza to good effect and won their class and 5th over-all. Next up was the Mc Aree Evo of Vincent and JP Mc Aree.
The Ballinode/Carrickmacross cousins had mixed fortunes in Cork as they dropped over 30 seconds on the opening test with an overshoot and stalled engine which refused to re-start. Once they got going they quickly climbed the leader board, setting fastest stage time on the last stage to eventually finish in 6th. A great resulted considering they were 19th after stage 1. This result leaves the Mc Arees in 4th over-all in the forest championship with three rounds remaining so still very much in the hunt. Swann’s Cross brother and sister team of Stephen and Suzanne Wright finished in 8th over-all and gained some valuable points towards their forest championship campaign. The Wrights’ consistency is paying dividends as they are currently second in the Valvoline championship with 3 rounds remaining.
The two wheel drive battle was hard fought with Fivemiletown’s Shane McGirr and Jackie Elliott taking class 5 honours in the McGirr Oils backed starlet and 9th over-all to boot. The MC Blinds backed escort of Michael Conlon with new navigator Damien Fleming were second two-wheel drive car across the line and 11th over-all after an enjoyable day in the sticks. David Smith and Austin Hamill took a step into the unknown as they were competing in an EVO, a small step up from Davids trusty 106! However they quickly came to grips with the driving style of the four-wheel drive and set some good times throughout the day to finish a creditable 24th over-all and 6th in class. So with 3 rounds remaining in Tipperary, the Dogleap and the bushwhacker,
Monaghan have 3 crews in the top 4 over-all positions so best of luck to all over the remaining rounds.
CORK MC JIM WALSH CORK FOREST RALLY TOP 10
1/ Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 10s 2/ Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 16s 3/ Pat O’Connell/Mark Wiley (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 17s 4/ Martin Cairns/Patrick Brides (Impreza) 33m 43s 5/ Enda McNulty/Paul Sheridan (Impreza) 33m 47s 6/ Vincent McAree/J P McAree (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 58s 7/ Gerard Lucey/James Lucey (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 34m 00s 8/ Stephen Wright/Suzanne Wright (Lancer Evo 6) 34m 16s 9/ Shane McGirr/Jackie Elliott (Starlet) 34m 46s 10/ Niall Henry/John Rowan (Impreza Gp N) 34m 52s
Co. Cavan Motor Club Stages Rally
All roads lead to Baileboro this weekend for Cavan Motor Clubs annual stages rally. This is the 3rd round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally championship and is sure to attract a bumper entry. With the weather looking promising it is sure to be a great days entertainment as many crews battle it out for border championship points heading to the half way stage. Once again the day will not proceed without the help of hundreds of marshals. Monaghan Motor Club is committed to providing as many as possible and would ask all members to make themselves available if possible. Please contact 086 3627000 or e-mail the club website on monaghanmotorclub@gmail.com should you be available to marshal and participate in the safe running of our neighbouring motor clubs annual stages rally.
County Monaghan Motor Club 