Author: monaghanmotorclub

Monaghan Motor Club hosted the final rounds of both the National and Squealing Pig Border navigation championships on Friday night last. New Coc for this event was Barry Garvey and with his driver Kevin Keenan as assistant, this was sure to be a test of navigation skills around the north Monaghan countryside. Local man Damien Connolly used his knowledge of the area to full effect and recorded a 14-penalty win along with his Donegal driver Gary McElhinney. Prior to the event Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins were marginally in front for the over-all border championship honours and duly obliged by finishing 2^nd here to lift the 2011/12 Squealing Pig Border navigation championship. Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes’ persistence paid off when their 3^rd over-all result here ensured they were crowned 2011/12 National Night navigation champions. The Smithboro/Ballybay pairing put a bad start to the campaign behind them and knuckled down with a string of top three finishes’ to lift this years national title.

With 49 starters and an 11pm start hopes were high for all competitors of a good end to the season. From the off it was apparent that this event was going to be tricky as the leading crews departed into the unknown from time point 1, a maze of lanes behind McAree engineering in Ballinode! All but two crews drop time here as the event then headed towards Tydavnet and then back west towards Scotstown and the first of two visits to the farm lanes known locally as “yankees” with four time points here throughout the night. Early leaders Bob Moyna and Shane Maguire miss time point 8 altogether but results sheets suggest this local crew only drop one time penalty right up to time point 25. Bob obviously getting into the swing of handling the ex-Carbin Legacy! Carbin and Hughes took over as leaders from tp 8 where they remained until tp31 when a dropped minute relegated them to 2^nd behind Andy and Liam.

Moving North to the very tip of Monaghan the lanes came thick and fast around the Glaslough area, another visit into Mac McKennas with every make of car, van and lorry making the exit very difficult to spot. Then it was south again nearer to Ballinode with 3 slots into time points around Kevin Keenan’s parish. The narrowest of turns into a slatted shed and twist left and right around girders then out around the machinery to a time point, almost impossible to make these times. Even the calves in Keenan’s farm were trying to make their escape! Noel Hall drops time like everyone else but had he not stopped to put two nice wee calves in the boot he may have avoided having to skip time points later on! The final four time points saw most crews forced to skip some, if not all of them in a bid to make the finish before going over maximum. Time point 43 and Control C were once again back in the maze of lanes around Moyna’s behind McAree Engineering in Ballinode. A serious test of man and machine and with final control outside “maggies” in Ballinode it was a welcomed sigh of relief from everyone. A great event to finish off the year and yet again many more new lanes to remember for the years ahead.

With Andy and Liam forced to skip tp 42 and take a wrong approach to 43 along with approximately 34 others as time simply evaded them it was Damien Connolly and Gary McElhinney who had just enough time to visit everything and claim the over-all win. The Connolly/McElhinney win promoted Mackarel and Higgins to expert class winners ahead of the newly crowned national champions Carbin and Hughes. Michael and Ciaran Tynan managed a better run this time out to take 3^rd expert and 6^th over-all. Competition was fierce once again in the semi-expert class but Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly managed a slender 3-penalty win and 4^th over-all ahead of Midland’s men Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston. Both these crews forced to miss tp 41 and 43 as they were over their maximum 15 minutes. Bob Moyna and Shane Maguire kept the pressure on throughout the night but they too were forced to skip but nevertheless 3^rd in semi and 13^th over-all a good run for these guys. Novice class winners Niall McKenna and Adrian Treanor had a tremendous run considering they only contest selected events and 8^th over-all and the novice class win is a great return on this tricky event. Fintan Clerkin with Martin Tynan driving are moving up the leader board with every event and take 2^nd novice and 10^th over-all on this event. 3^rd novice went to Arthur and Mac Kierans. On a tough night for any beginner it was Corks Matt Shinnors with Catherine Levis on the maps who took a 14 penalty win from Conor Meehan and Brendan Keenan. Aaron Duffy and Michael McCluskey topped off a good season with 3^rd beginner.

So that’s it, another navigation season over and with many a story to be told from the past six months, the poti-lamps and romers are back in the cupboards until October at least. Well done to Barry and Kevin on an excellent testing event, thanks to all the marshals who turned out, not only on Friday night but also throughout the course of the season. Keep an eye on club web site and papers for updates on upcoming prizegiving nights for both championships. Well done to our new national navigation champions, Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes as well as new border champions Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins.

Monaghan MC March Navigation Top 12

1/ Gary McElhinney/Damien Connolly (Subaru Impreza) 35 marks

2/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 49m

3/ Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 58m

4/ Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 63m

5/ Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 66m

6/ Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 76m

7/ Daniel McKenna/Stephen Hagan (Subaru Impreza) 77m

8/ Niall Kelly/Adrian Treanor (Toyota Celica) 82m

9/ Karl Reid/Aidan Friel (Subaru Impreza) 91m

10/ Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 92m

11/ Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 98m

12/ Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Legacy) 99m.

Semi-experts:

1/ Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly

2/ Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston

3/ Bob Moyna/Shane Maguire 101m

Novices:

1/ Niall Kelly/Adrian Treanor

2/ Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin

3/ Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry

Beginners:

1/ Shane Dalton/Michael Reilly (Subaru Impreza) 202m

2/ Matt Shinnors/Catherine Levis (Opel Kadett) 216m

3/ Conor Meehan/Brendan Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 230m

Squealing Pig Border Navigation Prize Giving

Keep free Friday 13^th April for the annual Squealing Pig Bar & Restaurant Border Navigation Championship Prizegiving. Proceedings will kick off at 8.00pm sharp in the Squealing Pig with meal followed by prizegiving. Final border championship points will be available shortly so keep an eye out; you may just be a winner. If not come along anyway to support this popular championship with a guaranteed night of banter and reminisce about the season gone past.

 

Marshals Required

Monaghan MC are urgently looking for marshals for Midland Stages Rally on this Sunday 25th March & for the Circuit of Ireland on Easter weekend, particularly Easter Saturday. Anybody available and willing to help please contact 047-81139 after 7pm or e-mail Monaghan Motor Club at monaghanmotorclub@gmail.com

 

In an exciting finish to the 2012 Mayo Stages Rally, Monaghans Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry (Subaru WRC) got back to winning ways with a nine second advantage over good rivals Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally in a similar spec car. The Mitsubishi of Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan was a further 44 seconds behind in third. Pre-event Dunlop series leaders, Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Subaru WRC) made a great recovery, 85th after the opening stage to finish fifth behind Roy White and James O’Brien in their unique MG ZR Rover S2000. The two-wheel drive battle was won by Camillus Bradley in a class 14 escort.

            On this the opening round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship it was last year’s winner, Barrett who led after the opening test. Seamus Leonard posted a time five seconds quicker but he was late at the stage arrival control as he tried to solve a misfire on the road section, incurring a three minute penalty. Pre-event Dunlop series leader, Thomas Fitzmaurice (Subaru WRC) spun and lost almost two minutes and ended the first stage down in 85^th place. Brian O’Mahony who started the event at number 3 lost some ten seconds at the stage start when his Subaru stalled twice and lost even more time when he encountered the stricken Subaru of Fitzmaurice. With all these events unfolding around them it was Maguire/Sherry and Barrett/Mullally who kept their noses clean and were in a great battle for the over-all lead. Level on time going into the final loop of three it was Barrett who drew first blood with a two second advantage but Niall and Enda responded with a faster time on the final two tests to take a deserved win, much to the delight of the Maguire camp. Kevin and Sean did have a scare late on as a puncture threatened to drop them out of the leader board but thankfully they managed to make the end of stage 8 with only a small time loss of around 5seconds. This win moves Niall and Enda into the over-all lead in the Dunlop National Rally Championship after 2 rounds. Well done lads and hopefully the start of a good season ahead.

            Not to be outdone by Rally winners there were many other local crews giving a good account of them selves in their respective class battles. Cavan’s Jonathan Pringle and Martin Byrne were on the limit throughout the day to win the competitive class 13and 10^th overall. Drive of the day could be awarded to Anthony Hand and Emmet Sherry. This crew have not been out much over the last eighteen months but this wasn’t apparent as they set some great times all day to take the class 11 honours and an excellent 12^th overall in their immaculate escort. Defending border champions Arthur and Mac Kierans showed they mean business again this year with a convincing class 12 win and 14^th over-all. Next up were Jack Maguire and Stephen McElroy who finished in 19^th overall and 4^th in the highly competitive class 13. Mickey Conlon and Paddy McCague got off to a slow start by his own admission but set some good times on the final loop of stages to finish 5^th in class 13 and 22^nd over-all. Mickey’s rally prep team were under the cosh over this past fortnight as this car was a mere bare shell without even a roof skin only a week prior to the event! Young Ryan Loughran with James Mc Carville on the notes were setting top times all day in class 11 but eventually had to settle for second behind Hand/Sherry. Justin Smyth and Gregory McQuillan had a good start to their season by finishing 2^nd in class 9 behind Donegal’s Barry Mc Gill and Derek Henna. No doubt this Lisnalong crew will be aiming to go one better next time out.

            Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes continued their good run of late in their Peugeot 205 to take the class 10 win and finished 33^rd overall. Seamus Connolly and Gary Mc Crudden had a number of problems to overcome throughout the day and eventually finished 4^th in class 11. David Smith and Austin Hamill also battled with mechanical issues during the day but finished 4^th in class six in their Peugeot 106.

Barry McKenna and Raymond Conlon teamed up for the first time but unfortunately their efforts weren’t fruitful on this occasion as they had a number of mechanical issues during the day but got their class 13 escort to the finish. Shane Maguire and Martin Mc Garrity’s bad run of luck continued as they had mechanical trouble and incurred time penalties. Their problems hit after a fifth fastest time on the opening stage. 

            Unfortunately, as always not every crew that cross the start ramp make it through unscathed as Josh Moffett and James O’Reilly found out the hard way with a small off on the opening test. Kieran (Bilko) McCarra and Darren McCague were on a serious run in their newly built Honda, lying in 12^th over-all after seven stages but they too visited the scenery on the penultimate stage to end their assault on the class victory. Laurence Sherry and Jonathan Treanor were in trouble as early as scrutiny on the Saturday evening as they lost 5^th gear but managed to get the box out, gear fixed and back in only to loose 2^nd and 5^th gear on the second stage. If this wasn’t enough they got a new gearbox in at service only to encounter even more mechanical issues over the final loop. Only thing this crew can take away from Mayo is a broken box and the fact that when things were going well they were matching and beating the best in class 9! David Smyth and Gareth Quinlan also had their share of troubles in Mayo as their twin cam retired on ss5 as mechanical gremlins set in.

 

Mayo Stages 2012 Top 10

1 Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 71m 30s

2 Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 71m 39s

3 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 72m 23s

4 Roy White/James O’Brien (MG ZR S2000) 73m 08s

5 Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Impreza WRC) 73m 26s

6 Trevor Bustard/Kenny Bustard (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 73m 57s

7 Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (Impreza WRC) 74m 06s

8 Camillus Bradley/Crawford Henderson (Escort) 74m 40s

9 Paul Barrett/Peter Ward (Escort) 75m 13s

10 Jonathan Pringle/Martin Byrne (Escort) 75m 20s

 

Motorsport Safety Team Group N Production class:

1 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan

2 Trevor Bustard/Kenny Bustard

3 Paddy McVeigh/Stephen O’Hanlon

 

Rally.ie Two wheel drive class:

1 Camillus Bradley/Crawford Henderson

2 Paul Barrett/Peter Ward

3 Jonathan Pringle/Martin Byrne

 

Monaghan MC Navigation Trial

This Friday night 16^th March see’s Monaghan Motor Club host the final round of this years National and Squealing Pig Border navigation championships. Coc’s Barry Garvey and Kevin Keenan are sure to have a challenging route in store for competitors with plotting in Urbleshanney Hall, Scotstown starting at 8.30pm. All marshals available for a time point are asked to be at HQ by 9pm latest, all help is needed!

 

Marshals Required

Monaghan MC are looking for marshals for Midland Stages Rally on 25th March & for the Circuit of Ireland on Easter weekend, particularly Easter Saturday. Anybody available and willing to help please contact 047-81139 after 7pm or e-mail Monaghan Motor Club at monaghanmotorclub@gmail.com

Cavan Motor Club under the guidance of CoC Ashley McAdoo and Francis Keenan held their second navigation trial of the year on Saturday night last from Gallonreagh House in Maudabawn. With over-all and class honours still very much up for grabs in this years National and Squealing Pig Border Championships confidence was high amongst the expert and semi-expert competitors of an outright win. However the local novice crews had other ideas and it was Ciaran McElroy and Damian McCabe who led the field home albeit on the same penalties as local rivals Darren O’Brien and Thomas Wedlock. Both crews dropped their first penalties at time point 7 but the event winners Mc Elroy/Mc Cabe just edged in front on the furthest cleanest ruling as O’Brien/Wedlock dropped a further penalty at the next time point. Some may think that this result would be considered an upset but both these navigators are on serious form of late and are never far outside the top 5 on recent events. Veterans Richard Cassidy and Paul Phelan brought the trusty vectra home to a 3^rd over-all finish to silence some of their critics in the more powerful four wheel drive impreza’s.

Ashley and Francis were sure to use every trick in the book to catch out unsuspecting navigators and indeed they were at it as early as time point 1! Any navigator who plotted the shortest route to the first time point instead of using the tulip diagram provided would find himself or herself passing through time point 2, which was a plot and bash therefore picking up double visit penalties. This trick has never been used in recent times and Michael/Ciaran Tynan were first to fall foul of it along with seven other crews, the start of a bad night for this supposedly expert navigator! Time points 8 and 9 were also plot and bash with a lot of time loss for all crews. A well thought out route to be traversed saw the seconds tick by in an effort to reach tp7 without going into tp8 & 9 along the way, classic Ashley McAdoo tricks. Once again it was the expert crew of Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes who were setting the benchmark and held a commanding lead right up until tp23. Number 1 seeds Gareth Beagan and Stephen Thornton were also on a bad run missing tp 9 and taking an early clock in at tp16 whilst Andy Mackeral and Liam Higgins found themselves on a wrong approach to tp20. Event leaders Carbin/Hughes dropped back through time points 24 and the ITC section. Trevor Farrell and Noel Halls over joy at seeing Mackeral/Higgins take a wrong approach at 20 seems to have cost them the event win also as they never went to tp 21 at all! All in all none of the regular experts were having a good night.

The midlands crews could also fall into this category as Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston took a wrong approach at tp20, as did Packie and Colin Duffy. This was a plot and bash section with the approach and departures turned around, which affected no fewer than 10 crews. Back down the field the local novices were quietly but quickly getting round all the time points and keeping their noses clean so to speak. Ciaran McElroy and Damian McCabe ended the night as worthy winners with Darren O’Brien and Thomas Wedlock also using their local knowledge to good effect but still had to work out the entire plot and bash sections with minimal time loss.

Cassidy and Phelans 3^rd over-all merited them expert class winners ahead of Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes with Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins one penalty adrift in third. Monaghan’s Damien Treanor and Johnathan McGovern had a great result with a semi-expert class win but this could possibly have been the drive of the night had it not been for a wrong approach at tp20 also costing them the over-all win. Kelly/Johnston headed back to the midlands with 2^nd semi-expert with upcoming CoC’s Kevin Keenan and Barry Garvey 3^rd semi. With McElroy/McCabe taking the over-all win O’Brien/Wedlock had to settle for the novice class award with Donegal’s Karl Reid and Kieran Geaney taking 2^nd novice, also victims of a wrong approach at tp20. Dermot McGroary and Eamonn Doherty rounded off the top 3 in novice with a good run to 11^th over-all. The beginner’s class was a close affair with Aaron Duffy and Michael McCluskey coming out on top ahead of the midlands team of Shane Dalton and Micheal Reilly. 3^rd beginners went to Trevor McConnell and Ruaidri Nash.

Once again another great event run by Cavan MC and well done to Ashley and Francis and their many helpers in the Maudabawn area. All roads lead to Monaghan for the final round of this years National and Squealing Pig border navigation championships. Almost all of the over-all and class awards are still up for grabs so there is a lot to play for on Friday 16^th March in Ballinode, Co. Monaghan with first car away at the later time of 11pm.

 

Cavan MC Night Navigation Top 12

1/ Ciaran McElroy/Damien McCabe (Subaru Impreza) 13marks

2/ Daren O’Brien/Thomas Wedlock (Subaru Impreza) 13m

3/ Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 14m

4/ Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 23m

5/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 24m

6/ Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 25m

7/ Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 26m

8/ Karl Reid/Ciaran Geaney (Subaru Impreza) 29m

9/ Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 30m

10/ Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 32m

11/ Dermot McGroary/Eamonn Doherty (Subaru Impreza) 46m

12/ Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey (Subaru Impreza) 48m

 

Breen back with a bang

Craig Breen and Gareth Roberts made a winning return to the Irish Rally scene on Saturday last with a dominant 3minute 21second win on the Carrick-on-Suir Willie Loughman Memorial Forestry Stages Rally. Craig in his S2000 fiesta was fastest on all 6 stages of the event, with the final three stages run under the shadow of darkness and a 9pm finish. Gary Jennings’ recent good form continued with 2^nd over-all and taking maximum points on this, the second round of the Valvoline Irish forestry championship following his win in the Donegal Forests.

There were three Monaghan crews in contention and they all finished inside the top seven finishers. Vincent and JP McAree finally got the finish they deserved after some disappointing results on recent events. 3^rd over-all on this occasion sees the McAree EVO 9 back in contention for the forestry championship after finishing 2^nd over-all last year. A great drive by Vincent and hopefully a sign of things to come for the McAree’s this year. Arthur Kierans was once again in the hot seat for Colin Britton also in an EVO 9 and they managed to come in 4^th over-all. Unfortunately for this crew a top three finish eluded them as they picked up a 2-minute penalty for late departure out of service. Nevertheless a good result and points haul towards their forestry campaign. Brother and sister pairing of Stephen and Suzanne Wright were back at it again in their older spec EVO 6 having opted out of the local fivemiletown forestry event the weekend before to finish 7^th over-all on his occasion. Unfortunately for the Swanns Cross pairing they could have finished much higher up the leader board but a small off on the first stage accounted for over 3 minutes time loss which would have easily seen them finish inside the top 5. Following a 2^nd over-all finish in the Donegal forests Stephen is obviously a little disappointed but is still very much in contention in this year’s championship.

 Kerry Men Tops in Birr

 Kerrymen Thomas Fitzmaurice and Fionn Foley took a 17 second win on last Sundays Birr Stages Rally. This event was the first round of the Dunlop National championship with 130 starters in the main field. Fitzmaurice and Foley took six of the nine fastest stage times in their S11 Subaru with their main opposition coming from Cork’s Brian O’Mahony and John Higgins, also in a WRC Subaru. Monaghan’s Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry kept the pressure on at the front throughout the day with top three stage times on all nine stages but eventually had to settle for 3^rd over-all, a valuable point’s haul at this early stage in the campaign.

Greasy and mucky conditions left the narrow roads around Abbeyleix in south Co. Laois very testing for all competitors and it was a mixed day of fortunes for the travelling local crews. Billy Coleman award winner Sam Moffett along with regular navigator James Reilly were on a great pace once again in their EVO to finish 8^th over-all and 3^rd in Group N. This Group N production class was won by Dublin’s Robert Barrable with Dermot O’Gorman on the notes in the Skoda Fabia, followed by Limericks Colm Murphy and Don Montgomery in 5^th over-all. Unfortunately Sam had all the luck in the Moffett team as brother Josh with Domhall Lennon on the notes were cruelly forced into retirement with mechanical trouble on the final stage while lying 11^th over-all. A new pairing for the 2012 season in the form of Shane Maguire and Martin McGarrity finished in 11^th over-all and forth in class behind Sam.

Jim McKenna and Thomas Treanor had the all-new class 14 escort out for its second run after Galway and once again consistently climbed the leader board throughout the day to finish 21^st over-all. Paddy O’Reilly and Jim Casey had a day of dramas in the G5 escort but eventually finished in 34^th over-all. Michael Carbin and Barry Garvey took their peugeot 205 to the Laois roads and had a fine run all day to take a convincing class 10 win and 39^th over-all. Tyrone’s Ryan Loughran was once again partner by James McCarville in the class 11 escort but they battled mechanical gremlin’s through the early stages but managed to finish 42^nd, setting some good stage times through the latter stages. Stonebridge man Peter Deery got a late call up to sit with Tipperary’s Liam Graham and they finished in 73^rd over-all in a class 11 civic.

Mickey Conlon had a weekend to forget as he failed to finish the first stage with an off resulting in retirement, this following a non-finish the previous day in fivemiletown forest when a front hub became dislodged.

 

Birr & District Motor Club Top 10

1/ Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Impreza WRC) 75m 59s,

2/  Brian O’Mahony/John Higgins (Impreza WRC) 76m 16s,

3/ Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 77m 00s,

4/ Robert Barrable/Dermot O’Gorman (Skoda Fabia S2000) 77m 16s,

5/ Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Impreza Gp N) 77m 34s,

6/ Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 78m 36s,

7/ Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort) 78m 47s,

8/ Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 79m 01s,

9/ Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Escort) 79m 18s,

10/ Mike Quinn/Grainne McEnery (Escort) 79m 31s.

 

Rally.ie 2 wheel drive class

1/ Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan,

2/ Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle,

3/ Mike Quinn/Grainne McEnery.

 

Historics

1/ P J O’Dowd/John Young (Sunbeam) 52m 35s,

2/ Denis Collins/Tommy Commane (Escort) 53m 55s,

3/ Philip McKibbin/Padraig Brick (Cortina) 55m 30s.

 

Juniors

1/ Richard Moore/Richard Cleary (Civic) 58m 26s,

2/ Christopher Snow/Sean Brunton (Civic) 58m 37s,

3/ Damien Boyle/Joseph Boyle (Civic) 58m 42s.

 

Jennings Wins Omagh MC Spring Rally

Gary Jennings’ dominant start to 2012 was replicated once again on Saturday last with a convincing win on the Omagh MC Spring Rally based around the gravel forests of Fivemiletown. The Kesh man added this win to an over-all win on the recent Donegal Forestry along with a group N win and 4^th over-all in Galway recently. Once again Gary with Enniskillens Barry McNulty on the notes hired a group N Subaru for this event. Aghabog’s Arthur Kierans was navigating for Colin Britton and finished a fine 2^nd over-all, only 16 seconds adrift of Jennings. With this weekends Carrick on Suir forestry stages on Sunday next, both crews should be hot on the pace and Britton will be looking to go one better on the second round of the Irish Forestry series. Omaghs Mark Donnelly and Tommy Nugent finished 3^rd over-all, only 24 seconds off the pace after the eight-stage event.

            Regular pairing of Enda McNulty and Paul Sheridan had to settle for 5^th over-all but once again showed great pace as only 37 seconds separated the top 5 placings. As per usual the two-wheel drive battle was fierce as Frank Kelly once again showed he is the man to beat on the gravel, finishing 7^th over-all. Despite being in a less powerful car, Fivemiletown’s Shane McGirr and Niall Connolly set some blistering times throughout the day and were only 4 seconds off Frank Kelly in the end. Seamus O’Connell and Sean Magee rounded off the top three in the two-wheel drive category in 12^th over-all as regular escort contender Adrian Hetherington was forced into retirement with gearbox trouble.

            Brendan Comiskey and Conor Foley had a steady run throughout the day to finish in 11^th over-all. Jon Armstrong with Monaghan’s Emmet Sherry on the notes had a fantastic run through the Fermanagh Forests to finish 13^th over-all and class winners in the Fiesta ST. This being Jon’s first real stages event, and even set a third fastest stage time along he way. Next up was the fun seeking pairing of Andy Mackarel and Raymond Conlon in the EVO 4. Following on from lasts years run in the V6 calibra, Andy decided on the Evo for this year and they had an enjoyable run to 14^th over-all.

            Unfortunately that’s where the luck ran out for the local crews as Vincent and JP McAree once again tried their luck in the northern forests but to no avail. Having set an excellent pace on the first stage the Ballinode/Carrickmacross cousins were forced into retirement with engine malfunction. Mickey Conlon had Jackie Elliott in the passengers seat but disaster struck on the 3^rd stage when the front right stub seems to have broken, loosing a wheel and forcing them into retirement whilst on a good pace also. Scotstowns Jonathan Treanor partnered Donegal’s Andrew McLoone in his high powered escort but their day was also short lived as they slid off on a mucky section of corners and with no spectators around to push they were there for the day.

 

Cavan Motorclub Night Navigation

All roads lead to Gallonreagh House, Maudabawn outside Cootehill this Saturday night for the penultimate rounds of both the National and Squealing Pig border navigation championships. CoC for the event is Ashly McAdoo and any marshals available for a time point are asked to be at HQ before 8pm. Full report next week

Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes made their trip North to Churchill in Donegal worthwhile when they came home with the over-all win on Donegal Motor Clubs counting round of the Squealing Pig border navigation championship on Saturday night last. There were 11 Monaghan crews amongst the 28 starters and indeed it could be fair to say that the event was dominated by Monaghan crews as they took all three podium places. CoC and regular navigation competitor James Greenan and his team laid on a fantastic route which took competitors into North Donegal through some famous Donegal International stages such as Garrygort and over Loughsalt mountain.

            This event had some 80 miles of tough competitive terrain, which had it all, jumps, crests, through rivers, across mountains and over fields. Event winners Carbin and Hughes didn’t have it easy by any means and only won the event by the narrowest of margins from Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins. Early leaders Garreth Beagan and Stephen Thornton were in control up to time point 27 but they slid off a narrow gravel lane onto a steep hill where they found themselves stuck. Unfortunately for them they were forced to drop 4 time points, which put them out of contention. Michael and Ciaran Tynan finished 3^rd over-all on the night, a welcome result considering they had 3 non-finishes on the past few events although they had no 2^nd gear for the last 30 mile. Donegal men Conor Harvey and Kevin McDaid took 3^rd in the expert class and 6^th over-all. Once again the midlands competitors weren’t very far away as Packie and Colin Duffy took the semi-expert class honours and 4^th over-all, closely followed by Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston in 5^th. Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly rounded off the top 3 in the semi class. Cork woman Muireann Hayes confirmed her dedication to the sport of night navigation as she made the long trip North to Donegal and came away with the novice class win, driven by Monaghan’s Stephen Wright. Midlands’s men Shane Dalton and Nigel Cloughrey were 2^nd in novice ahead of Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin in 3^rd.

            Trevor McConnell and Ruaidhri Nash topped the beginner’s class ahead of Ivan Simms and Charlie Gallagher. Other locals to make the trip included Arthur and Mac Kierans but their luck had to run out sometime when their gearbox gave up at time point 12. Shane Maguire and Enda Sherry were also another crew not to finish and ended up doing taxi back to HQ for Maudabawn men Damian O’Reilly and Thomas Wedlock who ended up sliding off into a bog. James McCarville and Fintan Sherry also left their luck in Monaghan as their clutch gave in. Dara Kelly was navigating for Donegal local Caolan Gaffney but they ran out of road heading to time point 16. Well done to James Greenan, Aidan Friel and all their helpers in Donegal for a challenging and competitive event.

So with two rounds of the Squealing Pig border navigation championship left, things are very much still wide open for over-all and class honours with Andy and Liam holding the advantage but anything can happen over the final two rounds. Next up is Cavan on 3^rd March, running from Gallonreagh House in Maudabawn. Regs and entry form on Cavan Motor Club website.

 

Donegal Motor Club Navigation Top 10

1/ Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 5 marks

2/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 6m

3/ Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 13m

4/ Packie Duffy/Colin Duffy(Subaru Impreza) 25m

5/ Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 28m

6/ Conor Harvey/Kevin McDaid (Subaru Impreza) 42m

7/ Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 45m

8/ Stephen Wright/Muireann Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 51m

9/ Sean McKenna/Gary Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 66m

10/ Shane Dalton/Nigel McCloughery (Subaru Impreza) 72m

 

Ferguson Wins Hewison Autotest

Monaghan Motor club held their annual club autotest on Sunday last. Once again Wrights Quarry at Swanns Cross was the ideal venue and CoC Brendan Flynn set out some difficult and demanding tests for both Hewison and Clubman competitors. The weather conditions were ideal as the slippey concrete surface dried out throughout the day. Top Hewison competitor and reigning champion Stephen Ferguson added another win to his trophy collection in Monaghan with a 7 second winning margin in his mini special. These high-powered pocket rockets are indeed a sight to behold as they handbrake and slide around the tight tests set out. This win leaves Stephen almost certain to retain the hewison autotest championship. Sam Bowden in a more familiar looking mini was 2^nd with David Thompson 3^rd in a nova. Prize giving followed the event in Aghabog Gaa complex where Stephen thanked the club for a well-organised event in an ideal location. There were 5 other class awards up for grabs on the day amongst the hewison competitors with Sam Bowden winning class A. Class B was won by Robin Lyons in a mini special with Trevor Ferguson winning class C . David Thompson was the winner of class D and Jamie McMillan won class E&F.

            There were 11 starters for the clubman’s class with separate tests to the hewison competitors. Coc Brendan Flynn certainly upped the ante this year with 3 separate tests, all of which were more complex than previous years. Winner on the day was Andy Mackarel in his “slightly” modified Toyota starlet to leave him with two wins on the opening two rounds of this years traders club championship. Daniel McKenna swapped his high powered escort for the slightly more reserved Nissan micra but still managed to make the Scanbitz/Halls Cows backed micra slide round the tests to take 2^nd over-all. Last year’s winner, Richard Cassidy was 3^rd in his micra, which was co-driven by Stephen Wright. Kieran McCarra made a return to the autotest this year having won it in the past and finished a creditable 4^th. Ciaran Tynan was double driving the scanbitz micra and took 5^th over-all with Stephen Wright in 6^th. Young Mac Kierans got behind the wheel for the first time and without doubt showed great car control on the first time of trying to finish in 7^th. Garreth Beagan finish in 8^th place, double driving Andy’s starlet with the Peugeot 205 of Michael Carbin finishing 9^th followed by Robert Moyna in 10^th also in the 205. Mark Hamill was also a first timer at the auto test and enjoyed his day in the corsa to finish 11^th.

            Once again, well done to all the award winners and to Coc Brendan for a well run event. Brendan would like to take the opportunity to thank all hewison and club members for their support. To David Wright of Wrights Quarry for the use of his premises, which is popular with all the competitors. Also a big thank you to event sponsors, the Northern Standard for their continued support. Brendan would also like to thank the many marshals who turned up on the day, the rain may have stayed away but it was a cold day to be standing around nonetheless. Also a big thank you to Aghabog GAA and the ladies who made the soup and sandwiches, they were much appreciated! Thanks also to Cora doing results and to anyone else who helped out in any way prior to and on the day of the event. 

 

Hewison Autotest Championship Top 5

1/ Steven Ferguson (Mini Special) 641.8secs

2/ Sam Bowden (Mini) 648.2s

3/ David Thompson (Nova) 678.8s

4/ Robin Lyons (Mini Special) 678.8s

5/ Guy Foster (Mini) 681.1s

Traders Club Members Class

1/ Andrew Mackarel (Starlet) 376.62secs

2/ Daniel McKenna (Micra) 379.39s

3/ Richard Cassidy (Micra) 395.77s

4/ Kieran McCarra (Corsa) 401.78s

5/ Ciaran Tynan (Micra) 402.45s

6/ Stephen Wright (Micra) 404.12s

7/ Mac Kierans (Micra) 404.24s

8/ Garreth Beagan (Starlet) 410.43s

9/ Michael Carbin (Peugeot) 413.50s

10/ Robert Moyna (Peugeot) 422.07s

11/ Mark Hamill (Corsa) 455.75s