It was a day to remember for Shane Maguire and Stephen Thornton as the pair led from start to finish to take an impressive Group N win at the Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally. With championship leader Josh Moffett not starting the event the Maguire International pair knew a good result could have great benefits to their championship ambitions.
It was a close fought battle over the first two tests with Maguire and Dublin’s Neil and Gerard Tohill separated by 4.6 seconds however after stage 3 Maguire had increased his advantage by 27.2 seconds with Gus Kearney and Eddie O’Neill just 6.4 seconds further back. Stage 4 saw Maguire extend his lead even further. The Monaghan man said he made the right decision by putting extra cuts into his tyres as he extended his lead to 42.6 seconds. After the second loop Maguire had extended his lead to 57.7 seconds while Kearney had taken second off Tohill. The final loop saw the Maguire International pair increase their lead yet again. The pair took victory by 1:28.5 from Gus Kearney and Eddie O’Neill while Neil and Gerard Tohill finishing a further 1:26.6 behind in third.
Mickey Conlon and Ciaran McPhillips had a great event in class 13 also. The pair took the lead from Cavan’s Gary Kiernan on stage 3 and from there were involved in a great battle with Killkenny’s James Coleman. Conlon and McPhillips led the class for the second loop but a road penalty left them 1.4 seconds behind Coleman after stage 7. It was all out attack to the end and the pair managed to snatch the class win on the last stage by just 2.1 seconds. The crew also got 5th overall and second in the modified section for their efforts. Barry Treanor and Michael Brennan had a great run to second in class 11R in their Mk2 Escort. Paul Sheridan was in the navigators seat for Tyrone’s Vivian Hamill but the pair only managed three stages before retiring. Barry McKenna and Mac Kierans were competing in class 13 but failed to complete stage 1.
The event was won overall by Darragh O Riordan in his fiesta WRC, followed by James Stafford in the infamous Darrian, with Welsh man Steve Wood 3rd overall in a WRC subaru.
Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally Top 10
1 Darragh O’Riordan/Tony McDaid (Fiesta WRC) 63m 43s,
2 James Stafford/Amy Ryan (Darrian T90 GTR) 64m 28s,
3 Steve Wood/Keith Moriarty (Impreza WRC) 65m 45s,
4 Kevin Barrett/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 65m 58s,
5 Mickey Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips (Escort) 67m 12s,
6 James Coleman/Liam Brennan (Escort) 67m 14s,
7 Pat Donegan/Alan Keena (Escort) 67m 32s,
8 Jonathan Pringle/Martin Byrne (Escort) 67m 41s,
9 David Condell/Eugene McGrath (Escort) 67m 54s,
10 Mickey Curran/Enda Gerety (Escort) 68m 15s.
Monaghan Motor Annual Endurance Trial
All roads lead to Monaghan this weekend for the Monaghan Motor Clubs annual endurance trial. The event which is based out of the Four Season’s Hotel promises a fantastic day’s motorsport. Entries are still being accepted and entry forms can be downloaded from the Monaghan Motor Club Website, http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net Any enquiries can be directed to CoC of the event, Ronnie Hawe on 0868277779. Scrutineering will take place in Sams Bridge (Across from the Four Seasons) at 7.30 a.m. with the event starting at 10.00 a.m. As always, marshals are in very short supply so please if anyone is interested or available please contact Ronnie as soon as possible and be at the Four Seasons before 8.30am Sunday morning.
McKenna And Wright All Set For Ulster
Daniel McKenna will start the Toddsleap Ulster Rally tomorrow knowing that a good result will bring him another step closer to his first British Rally Championship title victory. The Scotshouse driver goes into Round 4 of the BRC with a 20 point lead over his nearest rival Welshman Osian Pryce.
McKenna, who had a pre – event test in his Citroen DS3 last week says that despite his lead in the championship he will still be approaching the event in a sensible fashion. The BRC section of the event was won by Pryce last year but depite this McKenna is in a confident mood stating that he has more experience on this type of terrain.
Stephen Wright will also be tackling the event in his Peugeot 208 R2. The Newbliss man has been impressing in the Belgian Rally Championship this year and it will be his first Irish event since the Laois Heartland Rally back in June . Wright says the competition in the R2 category will be stiff and he’s relishing the challenge.
Despite his time away from Irish events he’s confident he has a good set up for the car ahead of the event. Emmett Sherry will be challenging him in the R2 category, navigating for Calvin Beattie.
County Monaghan Motor Club 