County Monaghan Motor Club

Sam Moffett continued his recent good form in the Tool Dynamics Supercar Championship which took place at the Mondello race track in Co. Kildare at the weekend. The Monaghan man took overall honours in both Race 1 and Race 2, fending off fellow rally driver, Peter Barrable in his 2000cc machine. This is Sam’s third win in the championship which he is contesting for the first time.

O’Reilly & Moffett impress in Wales

Round 5 of the 2016 British Rally Championship took place at the weekend in Mid-Wales. The Nicky Grist Stages Rally took place over two days consisting of a mixture of Forest stages and Tarmac Roads of the Epynt Military Range. James O’Reilly stepped in at the last minute as navigator with Scotland’s David Bogie in a Skoda Fabia R5. The pair had previously competed together in Carlow. They were on the pace from the start holding and early 2^nd place but dropped to 7^th after a delay on stage 4 and climbed back to 5^th overnight. A charge on day two over the Epynt roads resulted in their climb to 4^th overall by the finish. Josh Moffett/John Rowan put in a solid performance in their Ford Fiesta. The Clontibret driver took 5^th overall securing some useful BRC points. The BRC resumes with the Ulster Rally in August which is also a round of the Irish Tarmac Championship.

Sligo Stages Rally

Round 4 of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship also took place at the weekend. The Sligo Stages Rally was on an opt-out year of the National Championship and attracted a small but competitive field. Former winner, Shane Maguire and Mac Kierans were the highest finishing Monaghan crew. The pair took 8^th overall and 3^rd in Group N in their Lancer. Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden finished an impressive 10^th overall and 2^nd in class 11R, just losing out to Donegal’s Johnny Jordan after a day long battle for class honours.

Gary Cassidy & Paul Kelly took a superb 18^th overall and 2^nd in class 11F in their Honda Civic. Stephen Wright & Arthur Kierans were expected to be the favourites for the rally but lost any hope of victory when they slipped off the road on the opening stage. They dominated the rest of the day reeling off six fastest times, recovering from last to 38^th overall and 2^nd in class. Pauric Connolly/Jack McKenna brought their 106 home 47^th overall and 3^rd in class 10. On a tricky day for all crews taking part, a number of Monaghan men failed to make the finish including Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan, Alan Smyth/Emmet Sherry and Steven Corey/Vinnie Boyd.