County Monaghan Motor Club

Ballinode’s Conor Foley collected another Tarmac Championship victory as he guided Donegal’s Donagh Kelly to overall victory on last weekend’s West Cork Rally. This was Kelly’s 4^th straight win on the Clonakilty-based event. It was the second round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and attracted the usual R5 brigade. Josh Moffett, guided by James Fulton, claimed 2^nd place and top championship points with his brother Sam finishing 4^th overall.

 

Kelly/Foley set the pace from the off taking advantage of their WRC car compared to the lesser powered R5 machinery. Sam Moffett, continuing his fine form from Birr, slotted into an early 2^nd place. Karl Atkinson was navigating on this occasion. The day concluded with a rare night stage, where fog was an added challenge. Overnight Kelly/Foley were over 30 seconds in the lead with Moffett/Atkinson in 2^nd place. Monaghan’s Damien Connolly was navigating for Robert Barrable. The pair gave the Hyundai I30 R5 its Irish debut. They didn’t take long to settle into their new car and held 3^rd overnight just 14 seconds off Moffett. Josh Moffett/James Fulton were just five seconds back in their Fiesta. Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans held a steady 6^th place.

 

The race on day 2 was between Barrable/Connolly and Moffett/Fulton for 3^rd place. The gap was down to just two seconds when major drama happened on Stage 13. This stage certainly was a case of ‘unlucky 13’ as three of the top six crews all clipped a rock puncturing tyres. Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson missed out on top championship points having to stop and change the wheel. Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly suffered the same fate but a broken brake disc meant they were unable to continue. Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans were also forced to retire after hitting the same rock.

 

Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley avoided all the drama to ease home to a 1min 16 sec win. Josh Moffett/James Fulton profited most to climb to 2^nd place securing top points for the Irish Tarmac Championship. Alaister Fisher/Gordon Noble took 3^rd with Moffett/Atkinson a disappointed 4^th. Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane finished in 7^th place while Darragh Kelly guided Aaron McHale to 8^th overall. Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn finished 9^th. This meant that there was a Monaghan man in six of the top 9 finishers.

 

There was small number of Monaghan crews in the National rally. Maurice Moffett/Martin Connolly were in 20^th place until their event came to an end on the ‘unlucky’ Stage 13. Andrew Grennan switched to navigating for Adrian Hetherington this weekend. They were a strong 3^rd overall overnight but retired on Sunday’s opening stage. Barry McKenna/Emmet Sherry & James McCarville/Michael Gibney also retired here. McCarville/Gibney had been leading class 11R at that point.

 

West Cork Rally Top Ten

 

1 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 55m 35s,
2 Josh Moffett/James Fulton (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 57m 20s,
3 Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 57m 43s,
4 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 59m 06s,
5 Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Skoda Fabia R5) 2h 01m 51s,
6 Tomas Davies/Eurig Davies (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 02m 32s,
7 Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane (Skoda Fabia R5) 2h 03m 16s,
8 Aaron MacHale/Darragh Kelly (Citroen DS3 R5) 2h 06m 16s,
9 Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 06m 34s,
10 David Guest/Paddy Robinson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 08m 36s.

 

The Tarmac Championship continues with the Killarney Rally of the Lakes on the May Bank Holiday weekend.

 

 

Boylan/Kierans Take First Win as Duffy/Hughes Clinch National Title

 

 

Rockcorry was the venue for last weekend’s Monaghan Navigation Trial. The event was the final round of the National & Border Navigation Championships. COC Sean McCaffrey laid out a challenging 80 mile route taking crews from Aghabog to Lough Egish with multiple farm lanes and challenging roads along the way.

 

The National & Border Championships were down for decision between Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes & Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes. Plot & Bash at TP2 and TP4 would prove decisive. A clever switch of the approach and departure references for this timepoint caught out all but three crews including both championship hopefuls. Mac Kierans/Conor Boylan sorted the trick and dropped 1 penalty here. Beginner’s Andrew Gould/Trevor Cassidy and Conor Brannigan/Kyle Brannigan also correctly deciphered the trick which caught out every Expert and Novice crew.

 

The majority of the crews were down 15-20 penalties at this point. The next section of the event was fairly straight forward. More plot & bash was to come at V2 and TP28 which were both within a half a mile of each other on herringbone tulip diagram. All crews dropped time here with Kierans/Boylan remaining in a clear lead. Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes had climbed to 2^nd place just ahead of Duffy/Hughes but there was more drama at TP34 which was again on plot & bash. A wrong approach here dropped Mackarel/Hayes to 7^th.

 

When the results were counted it was Kierans/Boylan who were clear winners on 8 penalties. Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes finished in 2^nd on 24 penalties. This result was enough for them to retain their National Championship title. Aiden Sherry/Oisin Sherlock recorded their best result to date to take 3^rd overall and 1^st in the Novice class. They also won their class in the National Championship. Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan edged out Ashley McAdoo/Laurence Keenan for 4^th overall on a tie-break.

 

In the classes, Matt & Enda Hume won the Semi-Expert class. Mark Deery/Patrick O’Leary were 2^nd Novice with Colm Mohan/Conor Mohan 3^rd. Emmet McCooey/Christopher McMahon took victory in the Beginner’s class from Aaron Dixon/Dylan Lennon and Andrew Gould/Trevor Cassidy.

 

Results

1 Mac Kierans/Conor Boylan (Subaru Impreza) 9 marks,
2 Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 24m,
3 Aidan Sherry/Oisin Sherlock (Subaru Impreza) 32m,
4 Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 33m,
5 Ashley McAdoo/Laurence Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 33m,
6 Mark Deery/Patrick O’Leary (Subaru Impreza) 35m,
7 Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 41m,
8 Keith McConnon/Micheal McCluskey (Subaru Impreza) 42m,
9 Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 49m,
10 Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 55m,
11 Emmet McCooey/Christopher McMahon (Subaru Impreza) 60m,
12 Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill (Subaru Impreza) 79m.

 

 

Four Seasons Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally Launch

 

The 2017 Monaghan Stages Rally is set for Sunday 23^rd April. The rally moves to new headquarters this year in the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan town which hosts the rally for the first time since 1994. The Hotel has hosted the Endurance Trial for the last number of years.

 

The official launch will take place on Friday 31^st March in the Four Seasons Hotel at 8pm.

Clerk of the Course Thomas Treanor is planning to host a Rally Forum with plenty of DVD’s and rally cars on display. There will also be a raffle for a free entry among those present on the night.

 

The event is a counting round of the Triton National Rally Championship and Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship and is sure to attract a strong entry. Regulations and Entry forms are available from the club website. More information will be available in the coming weeks.