Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins notched up another Drumlin night navigation win on Saturday night last with a three penalty winning margin over the novice pairing of Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin. CoC Sean McCaffery laid on a challenging 120 mile route covering a wide area surrounding Latton, Ballybay and into the outskirts of Monaghan town. A near full entry of 48 starters left the Latton GFC complex at 9.30pm to tackle this marathon event. Time point 9 was the first of three on plot and bash which saw all but 14 crews missing the time point completely, missing their slot right and ending up at the next time point only 100 yards further up the road. It was more or less plain sailing from there up to mid point petrol halt as Ashley McAdoo and Francis Keenan were clear leaders on a clean sheet. Next up at mid point were Andy and Liam, down 1 penalty with Daniel McKenna and Stephen Hagan 3rd on 2 penalties. Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly were leading the semi-experts ahead of Donegal’s Ciaran Coyle and Kevin Gallagher. The novice class was very close throughout the night with Arthur and Mac Kierans tied with Tynan/Keenan at midpoint and lying 4th o/a. Its fair to say the beginners would always struggle on this marathon Drumlin event but Jonathan Treanor and Seamus McTigue were on the ball and lying 6th overall, only down 5 penalties through the first half with Trevor O’Connell and Ruaidhri Nash in 2nd beginner.
The second half of the event headed east from Monaghan town towards Clontibret and things started to tighten up considerably with a number of plot and bash sections proving difficult for most competitors. Time points 26 & 27 were in the Scotch Corner area with only 2 crews managing to get both time points without time penalties. The second of these tp’s was a quick spin through Maurice Moffatt Engineering premises with numerous double visit penalties incurred. Time points 28 to 40 saw the event move South of Ballybay with lanes coming thick and fast and the odd farmyard for good measure. Tp’s 41 & 42 were also tulip diagram plot and bash sections with only 1 crew managing to clean it and numerous wrong approaches to tp42.
First car was back in Latton at approx 2.45pm after a long night and the soup and sambo’s were well earned by all competitors. With results taking some time to verify it finished up with Andy and Liam taking the overall win which in turn resulted in Andy Mackarel being crowned 2012 Monaghan Motor Club traders champion. Andy and Liam also win the 2012 Gary Nesbitt club Navigation championship. Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin had a fabulous run all night to finish in 2nd over-all and indeed could of had the win but for a plot and bash section being scrubbed. This result promotes them to the head of the National Navigation leader board after 3 rounds. Donegal men Ciaran Coyle and Kevin Gallagher were the only other crew to incur time penalties which was good enough for 3rd o/a.
With Mackarel/Higgins taking the overall win, Daniel McKenna and Stephen Hagan received 1st expert award ahead of the ever trying Trevor Farrell and Noel Hall in 2nd with Richard Cassidy and Paul Phealan 3rd expert. Coyle/Gallagher were 1st semi-experts ahead of Ashley McAdoo and Francis Keenan who had led at mid-point. 3rd semi-experts were Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly with two wrong approaches costing them dearly. Tynan/Clerkin were miles ahead on the night in the novice class with Arthur and Mac Kierans 2nd which was enough to give the Aghabog duo a novice class win in the Gary Nesbitt club championship. 3rd novice on the night went to Donegal’s Paul Reid and Ciaran Geaney. Andrew Stewart and Robert Howard brought their 205 home to a beginners class win ahead of Cathal McKenna and Darragh Kelly in 2nd. Derek Mackarel’s navigation skills are rapidly improving as Noel Lappin drove him to 3rd beginner on only his 2nd event.
So thats it from the Drumlin for another year, well done to Sean Mc Caffery as CoC and Martin McGuigan along with their many helpers. Sean would like to thank his entire team for their help, Latton GFC for there ideal facilities, residents, marshals, results teams and everybody who helped out in any small way.
As this was the final round of 2012 club navigation championship, all competitors are asked to keep an eye out on club website over next fortnight for final results and please make the effort to support our annual awards ceremony where all navigation awards will be presented on Saturday 1st December in the Hillgrove Hotel, Monaghan.
Co. Monaghan MC Drumlin Navigation Trial Top 12
1/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 5 marks
2/ Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 8m
3/ Ciaran Coyle/Kevin Gallagher (Subaru Impreza) 11m
4/ Daniel McKenna/Stephen Hagan (Subaru Impreza) 20m
5/ Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 23m,
6/ Ashley McAdoo/Francis Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 39m
7/ Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 39m
8/ Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 42m
9/ Patrick Connolly/Daire Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 43m
10/ Colin Duffy/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 48m
11/ Mickey Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 52m
12/ Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody (Subaru Impreza) 62m
Monaghan Motor Club Annual Awards Ceremony and Ladies Night
Saturday night, 1st December 2012 will see Monaghan Motor Club host their annual awards ceremony and ladies night. Following on from last years success this is sure to be a great night as we honour all of our award winners throughout our eight events during 2012 as well as navigation championship winners and our 2012 traders club champion, Andy Mackarel. Once again there will be a special emphasis on the ladies, most of whom are the unsung heroes of our sport. There will be spot prizes galore and all members are asked to support with tickets available from committee members.
Gerry McNamara Award
This perpetual cup will be awarded at Monaghan Motor Clubs annual awards ceremony in the Hillgrove Hotel on Saturday 1st December. All club members are urged to nominate a person for the Gerry MacNamara Memorial Award for 2012. The award is presented to a person who consistently works for the club or for motorsport in general. Competitors are eligible for the award but it will not be presented for event results. We would encourage you all to contribute by recognising those who work for the good of the club. Please send your nomination with your reason for the nomination to Malcolm Totten before Friday 16th November. Malcolm can be contacted at: totten@eircom.net
County Monaghan Motor Club 