Killian McArdle stood on the top step of the podium in Laois, as he and driver Eddie Doherty took the win at the Laois Heartlands mini-stages. The pair left the event’s Portlaoise HQ seeded second on the road and opened the day with a third fastest time behind Chris O’Callaghan and Barry Meade’s similar MKII Escorts. A fastest time on the second stage and a retirement for O’Callaghan put them within two seconds of the lead. Barry Meade would retire from the lead after an awkward one-wheel landing over a big jump, and Doherty/McArdle capitalised with another fastest time to inherit a 4.3 second lead over Declan Gallagher’s Starlet.
Two more fastest times on stages four and five had the crew entering the final stage with a seven second buffer to Gallagher. The Milkman responded with a last-stage effort but it wasn’t enough as he’d finish 3.3 seconds behind.
The two crews were in a league of their own, with Frank Kelly finishing third overall, over 48 seconds further back. Alan Smyth had Monaghan’s Gary McCrudden on their notes in his Class 14 Escort. They finished fourth overall on what was a very hot day of rallying. Michael Carbin and Dean O’Sullivan were one place further back and first Class 20 in their Mitsubishi Evo.
Ashling McArdle guided Des Lyons to second in Class 11F and 25th OA. Thomas Treanor was on the notes for Graham Kelly and the Escort G4 crew finished just ahead of James McCarville and Conal McNulty.
Mohan maintains JWRC momentum in Italy
Conor Mohan and Billy Coleman Award winner Eamonn Kelly contested the Junior element of Rally Italia Sardegna. They endured a tough and demanding rally on their way to sixth in the category. The Sardinia-based rally was one of the most difficult of the season so far, changeable weather conditions and extremely rough roads made it one of the most demanding rallies of the season so far. The Donegal driver, the class winner in Croatia in May, was almost lost for words after he was asked to describe the conditions he faced during the rally.
“Glad to get to the end, it’s been a tough event, it is very hard to describe how crazy it is, but I enjoyed every bit of it,” he said. “It’s crazy, it was a savage challenge and I never done anything like that before.”
Kelly is sixth in the championship standings after Italy, the third of five rounds. Mohan is fifth in the co-driver classification. Next up is Estonia in July but with double points on offer in the final round in Greece, the series remains wide open.
William Creighton and Liam Regan took the win in the category to extend their championship lead, with the result meaning that a Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver has won every Junior round so far this year.
County Monaghan Motor Club 