This Saturday night, 1st December 2012 see’s Monaghan Motor Club host their annual awards ceremony and ladies night. Following on from last years success this is sure to be a night not to missed as we honour all of our award winners throughout our eight events during 2012 as well as Gary Nesbitt navigation championship winners and our 2012 traders club champion, Andy Mackarel. Once again there will be a special emphasis on the ladies, all of whom are the unsung heroes of our sport. MC for the night is our very own club member and mister Northern Sound himself, Sean McCaffery. Dinner will be served at 8pm sharp with awards ceremony and disco following afterwards.
Club navigation points will be available on website shortly at http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net
There will be spot prizes galore and all members are asked to support with tickets readily available from all committee members. Hope to see you there!
Midlands Night Navigation Trial
Midlands Motor Club held the first of their two night navigation trials on Saturday night last. Drumlish, Co. Longford was the venue and in keeping with tradition it was a frosty night in the Midlands. Coc was Colin Duffy, who along with Sam Johnston and their team laid on a tight, intricate route which caused major problems for all competitors. Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins continued on from their Drumlin win with a convincing victory, 144 penalties off their nearest rivals. Michael and Ciaran Tynan were 2nd after a disappointing result on the Drumlin with Joe & Greg Shinnors from Cork taking 3rd over-all and picking up a valuable points haul towards their National campaign.
Crews were under severe pressure as early as time point 5 with a plot and bash section through one of the many bog lanes, dropping a minimum of 3 penalties. Time points 6 and 7 were on trace plot and bash and once again the terrain left many crews floundering as it became apparent that time points would have to be skipped. By time point 7 the route had passed over some lanes three times with convoys of cars on the same lanes heading to their various time points. By tp20, which was at the now infamous Fearglass chapel only 4 crews managed to navigate the
anticlockwise tulip to the time point without incurring wrong approach or double visit penalties. By petrol halt it was Andy and Liam already well out in front on 19penalties from the Shinnors brothers in 2nd on 41 penalties. Local men Packie Duffy and Nigel McCloughry were in 3rd overall at the petrol halt in Drumlish.
Anything the first half lacked, the second half certainly made up for it with lanes coming thick and fast once again, and proving impossible to meet the times. Only two crews within the 31 starters managed to make tp34 and 35, albeit with some considerable time lost and through the next 6 time points to the end it was a case of get whatever time points you can! A huge sigh of relief to get to the end of this demanding event which saw 11 non-finishers from 31 starters! Andy and Liam were out on their own on this event which leaves them with two wins from two in the Border Championship. Michael and Ciaran Tynan were best of the rest and had to skip an incredible 10 time points throughout the night but it paid off with 2nd overall and an expert class win. The Shinnors brothers were forced to skip 10 time points alone through the 2nd half but once again their perseverance paid off with 3rd overall and 2nd expert. 3rd expert went to Trevor Farrell and Noel Hall.
Locals Packie Duffy and Nigel McCloughry won the closely fought semi expert class ahead of Ashley McAdoo and Francis Keenan. Ciaran Coyle and Kevin Gallagher had done enough to secure 3rd, despite being off and having to skip 5 time points in a row to get back on time. On a tough night for novice and beginners there was only 3 crews to finish in the novice class as Arthur and Mac Kierans lifted the winners trophy. Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin, who were seeded No.1 on the road following their recent results in the National had a troubled night and skipped the entire 2nd half but made the controls and took 2nd novice. Eoghan Corr and Brendan Treanor were 3rd novice, only 2 penalties off Tynan/Clerkin. Local Roscommon men Gerry Kelly and Seamus McTigue were sure to find the going tough also but were convincing winners of the beginners class. Peter and Shane Farrell were 2nd beginners ahead of Shane Sorohan and James Canning.
So that’s it for the first half of the navigation season, indeed the second half will be much more intense with 4 rounds of the Border series within 7 weeks and 6 navigations including the national series within 8 weeks.
MIDLAND M C NAVIGATION TRIAL TOP 12
1/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 121marks
2/ Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 265m
3/ Joe Shinnors Jnr/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 295m
4/ Pakie Duffy/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Impreza) 317m
5/ Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 320m
6/ Ashley McAdoo/Francis Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 332m
7/ Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 344m
8/ Gerry Kelly/Seamus McTigue (Subaru Impreza) 367m
9/ Ciaran Coyle/Kevin Gallagher (Subaru Impreza) 372m
10/ Arthur Kierans/Macartan Kierans (Toyota Celica) 374m
11/ Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 419m
12/ Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody (Subaru Impreza) 427m
Donegal Mini Stages Rally
Well done to Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly who were 4th overall on last weekends Donegal Mini Stages Rally and won the Group N class. Sam had been 2nd fastest on the opening test but the local men’s knowledge seems to have been a major factor as they were relegated to 4th throughout the remaining 5 stages. The event was won by local man Martin Doherty and Damien McCauley in and EVO9 ahead of the entertaining Declan Gallagher and Ronan Murrin in the class 13 starlet with Columba Henna and Ryan Moore 3rd o/a in their twin cam.
Other locals to make the trip include Patrick Brides navigating for Gareth McMonagle to finish 3rd in class 11 in their civic. Jonny Treanor was in the navigators seat with Simon Devlin in a class 11 twin cam and finished 36th overall.
DONEGAL M C CLOSED MINI STAGES TOP 5
1 Martin Doherty/Damien McCauley (Lancer Evo 9) 43m 26s,
2 Declan Gallagher/Ronan Murrin (Starlet) 43m 54s,
3 Columba Heena/Ryan Moore (Corolla) 43m 59s,
4 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Lancer Evo 9) 44m 06s,
5 Stuart Darcy/Eamonn Walsh (Lancer Evo 6) 44m 21s,
County Monaghan Motor Club 