County Monaghan Motor Club

 

James McCarville scored one of his best overall results to date with 2^nd overall on last weekend’s Donegal Mini Stages Rally. McCarville joined forces with young Ryan Loughren and the pair held a strong 2^nd place throughout the day. After five stages in extremely tricky conditions, they were just 16 seconds adrift of rally winner, Jonathan Pringle.

 

Morning snow showers had cleared by the time the event got under way. Stage 1 was cancelled due to communication issues but the remaining five stages ran as planned. A snow shower on the final stage saw an inch of snow on the road testing drivers and navigators to the limit. Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan were expected to be in the hunt for overall honours but they were sidelined on stage two after an off road excursion. Raymond Conlon/James O’Reilly faired better finishing 15^th overall and 3^rd in class 13. Mac Kierans guided Alan Smyth to 27^th overall and 1^st in class 11F. Andrew Grennan guided Vivian Hamaill to 34^th overall and 8^th in class. Arthur Kierans was sitting with Brendan McDaid but a long delay on the final stage dropped them from 12^th overall to last place.

 

Skibbereen Night Navigation

 

Skibbereen Motor Club played host to Round 5 of the National Night Navigation Championship. A number of Monaghan crews made the trip south. Pakie Duffy & Evin Hughes were the top local finishers in 3^rd overall which strengthens their lead in the National Night Navigation Championship. Peter Farrell & Shane Farrell had a brilliant run on a tricky event to 7^th overall and 1^st in the Semi-Expert class. Mac Kierans travelled the length of Ireland to compete on the event with Conor Boylan and was rewarded with 13^th overall and 4^th in class. Aiden Sherry/Oisin Sherlock finished 16^th overall and 5^th Novice. Caolan & Ryan Treanor retired early on with mechanical problems.

 

The next round of the National & Border Navigation Championships is the Midland NavigationTrial on Saturday 13^th February.

 

Galway International Rally

 

The opening round of the Irish Tarmac Championship, two day Galway International Rally takes place this weekend 7 & 8^th February. New for 2016 is the introduction of the latest R5 category of rally cars as the premier championship class for this rally. A number of these new cars have been sourced by Irish drivers and they feature strongly among the entries, with Ford Fiestas, Citroen DS3s and Skoda Fabias being the most popular versions.

 

There is plenty of Monaghan interest in what is a star-studded top 20. Josh Moffett and Jason McKenna are seeded behind three times British Champion Keith Cronin at No 9 in their Fiesta R5. Sam Moffett and Karl Atkinson are at 11 with Stephen Wright and James Fulton at 12 in similar cars. Enda Sherry navigates for Aaron McHale in a Fabia S2000 at 17, while Eugene Meegan and Sarah Whelan are at 22 in a BMW M1. Seamus Connolly and Gary McCrudden continue to campaign the venerable Corolla Twin Cam at 47 in class 11R.

 

World Rally Car drivers include former rally winner Tim McNulty from Meath in a MINI WRC, Declan Boyle from Donegal and Roy White from Clonmel in two Fiesta WRC cars. The number 1 seed is Gary Jennings from Enniskillen driving a Subaru WRC.