I don’t apologise, I wasn’t missing an opportunity to use that pun…
Josh Moffett returned to winning ways at last weekends Four Seasons Hotel Ronnie Hawe Monaghan Stages Rally. Josh teamed up with former navigator Jason ‘Wee Pete’ McKenna to take a start to finish victory over older brother Sam navigated by Keith Moriarty. Josh and Jason last teamed up in 2016 where they won the Monaghan and Cork 20 Stages Rally’s and also finished 2nd on the Lakeland Stages Rally.
Organisers, competitors, marshals and spectators woke up to excellent conditions Sunday, starting off on what was to be a wonderful day’s sport. Huge crowds lined the stages following the long layoff of stage rallying in the county and the lovely weather conditions.
The action got underway at 10:30 with the twelve kilometre Scotstown stage. On the opener the battle of the Moffett brothers began with Josh setting the stage winning time, just 1.3s faster than Sam. Gass finished the stage in 3rd, 7.1s down on Josh’s time. Fourth fastest was Robert Barrable/Paddy Robinson. The battle continued on SS2 Killeevan, with Josh once again going fastest to extend his lead. Sam went second fastest, 1.4s slower than his brother to go 2.7s behind. Gass maintained his 3rd position despite Barrable going faster in the stage. On the closing stage of the opening loop at Stranooden, Josh set his third fastest time from three stages to go into first service with a 5.1s lead over Sam. Gass was in third, 25.1s back with Barrable still in 4th but just 0.6s off a podium position.
During the middle loop, Sam was unable to make any inroads on Josh’s lead despite setting a stage winning time on SS6. Josh set fastest times on both SS4 and SS5 to extend his lead to 7.2. On SS4, Barrable took 5.2s out of Gass to go into 3rd overall, however the podium position would last long, as Barrable would get a puncture on the gravel strewn SS6 and drop back into 4th position 13.6s off Gass who regained his 3rd position just before second service.
On the final loop, Josh was still in fine form and once again set the fastest time on SS7 and SS8 to hold a 12s lead with just one stage to go. Barrable reduced his deficit to Gass to 8.8s over the same stages. Unfortunately, SS9, the final stage of the event had to be cancelled due to a start control timing system malfunction after the 00 cars went through. Results were declared final after SS8.
J Moffett/McKenna emerged victorious after a closely fought battle all day with S Moffett/Moriarty. Gass/McNulty finished in 3rd and Barrable/Robinson finished 4th. Brendan Cumiskey/Darragh Mullen finished 6th OA and 3rd class 5. Dessie Keenan/Enda Sherry had to settle for 2nd 2wd and 10th OA after a massive battle with Damien Tourish/Domhnall McAlaney throughout the day. Keenan/Sherry did lead the 2wd after the opening loop but couldn’t hold on as Tourish made a huge push in the middle loop to eventually beat them by 9.4s.
Niall Maguire/Conor Foley finished 12th OA and 7th class 5. Early 2wd leaders Richard Moffett/Darragh Kelly had to settle for 15th OA and 4th class 14 after an overshoot on SS3 which included the car failing to restart, dropping them around 30s. Raymond Conlon/Damien Fleming finished 17th OA and 2nd class 13. Johno Doogan made a last minute switch to his R5 Fiesta and he along with navigator Ciaran Marron finished 24th OA and 9th class 5. Justin Smith/Gregory McQuillan finished 26th OA and 1st class 12. Arthur Kierans/Shane Farrell finished 27th OA and 6th class 13. Mickey Conlon/Ciaran McPhilips finished 32nd OA and 3rd class 12. Paul Maguire making his debut navigated brother Shane to 33rd OA and 2nd class 4. Gerard McQuaid/Gary Quinlan finished 35th OA and 8th class 13. Derek Mackarel/Conor Boylan finished 37th OA and 2nd class 20. Anthony Hand/David McCrudden finished 38th OA and 1st class 11R. Stephen Wright/Damien Connolly had an eventful day, which included a puncture and the car falling off the jack. They recovered to finish 39th OA and 10th class 5. Paul Mc Phillips navigated Aaron McIntyre to 41st OA and 2nd class 11R. Trevor Burke navigated Mervyn Deane to 45th OA and 9th class 13. Martin Tynan/Declan Tynan finished 48th OA and 3rd class 4. Oisín Sherlock navigated Philip Greenlee to 52nd OA and 8th class 14. Cathal Sheridan/Ryan Farrell finished 66th OA and 1st class 10. Mickey Brennan/Mark Sheridan had been leading class 10 until a puncture on SS7 dropped them to 2nd, and 68th OA. Paddy O’Reilly/David Fitzsimons finished 69th OA and 14th class 13. Barry McKenna/Martin McGarrity finished 72nd OA and 15th class 13. Nigel Brennan/James Sherry finished 73rd OA and 6th class 11F. Jason McConnon/James McEneaney finished 78th OA and 5th class 2. James O’Reilly navigated Declan Boyle to 93rd OA and 2nd class 7 after making a return under rally2 following an early retirement. Gerard McGivney/Donal Crossan finished 95th OA and 19th class 13 after returning under rally2.
Michael Carbin/Dean O’Sullivan retired with mechanical trouble on SS1. David Moffett/Martin Connolly had a troubled day and eventually retired after SS6. Kaine Treanor navigating for Chris O’Callaghan retired on SS2 with mechanical trouble. Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden unfortunately crashed out on SS5 while 3rd in class 11R. Gavin McGivney/Kevin Cole retired on SS6. Padraig Doogan/Anthony Smith retired on SS2 while 2nd in class 9. Jack Maguire/Keith McConnon retired on SS2.
In the Historic section, Emmet Sherry navigated Tommy O’Connell to 1st OA in their Ford Escort with over a four minute gap back to 2nd OA. Brendan McAree/Peter Farrell finished 3rd OA in their Porsche 911.
In the Junior section Mark Fox/Bradley Maguire took a famous win. It was only Mark’s third ever start and it was Bradley’s first time calling notes. Not a bad way to finish their first ever Monaghan Rally. Aaron McElroy navigated Ben McIntyre to 2nd OA. Garry Cassidy/Killian McArdle had a last minute change of car and moved from class 13 into the Junior section. Unfortunately, they had mechanical trouble on SS1 but made a return on SS4 under rally2 to finish 4th OA. Jack McKenna/Ben Taggart retired on SS2 with an overheating issue in their Honda Civic.
At the prizegiving in the Four Seasons Hotel, COC Conor Maguire thanked Frank McKenna and his team for sponsoring the event which was an outstanding success. The event was highly praised by competitors for the demanding stages and the excellent organisation. Conor extended his thanks to Eoghan Corr, who originally picked the stages for the cancelled 2020 event, Monaghan County Council, Monaghan Municipal District, Civil Defence and An Garda Siochana for their assistance. A special word of thanks goes out to the residents along the route for their welcome, co-operation and support. The rally would not have run without the work of over 200 volunteers and marshals, to whom the organisers are most grateful.
Top 10 Results:
1st Josh Moffett/Jason McKenna (Hyundai i20 R5) 50:59.5
2nd Sam Moffett/Keith Moriarty (Ford Fiesta WRC) 51:11.5
3rd Darren Gass/Barry McNulty (Citroen DS3 Rally2) 52:23.0
4th Robert Barrable/Paddy Robinson (VW Polo GTI R5) 52:31.8
5th Seamus Leonard/John McCaffrey (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 53:16.6
6th Brendan Cumiskey/Darragh Mullen (VW Polo GTI R5) 53:40.1
7th Paul Barrett/Kevin Reilly (Ford Fiesta R5) 53:40.5
8th Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 53:46.5
9th Damien Tourish/Domhnall McAlaney (Ford Escort Mk2) 53:47.0
10th Dessie Keena/Enda Sherry (Ford Escort Mk2) 53:56.4
Corbeau Seats Rally
Conor Mohan navigated Eamonn Kelly to 2nd British Championship Junior and 8th overall on the opening round of the 2022 British Rally Championship. The two day, fourteen stage rally based around Clacton-on-Sea was a tightly contested event in both the Main Field and Junior section. Kelly/Mohan did lead their category after SS12, but stage wins on SS13 and SS14 by Norwegian Ola Nore Jr dropped them to second, just 2.3s off the win.
In the Main Field, Osian Pryce/Noel O’Sullivan took a 5.4s win over four time BRC winner Keith Cronin with Mikie Galvin navigating.
PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com
County Monaghan Motor Club 