Author: monaghanmotorclub

 Cavan Motor Club kicked off the 2011/12 Squealing Pig Border Navigation campaign in earnest on Saturday night last.  Cootehill man Mervin Wedlock once again took on the role of CoC, ably assisted by Dominic “Bart” McArdle. Tullyvin Community Centre was the ideal venue for the event as 47 starters prepared for a tricky trial through the windmill strewn mountain lodge countryside. Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins came out on top of a very close battle as 4 penalties separated the top 9 crews. Arthur Kierans was re-acquainted with regular navigator Ashley McAdoo and finished 2^nd over-all. Garreth Beagan and Stephen Thornton proved their win last time out was not a fluke as they took 3^rd over-all ahead of the upcoming drumlin navigation trial which sees them take on the role of CoC’s. 

            Lanes came thick and fast from the off and as early as time point 2 only eight crews were on clean sheets. The now infamous Kinkades lane accounted for the majority of this time loss. The event then moved South towards the mountain lodge area over the famous “nobbys jumps”. The fast flowing gravel lane out to tp5 past under 3 windmills, an amazing sight as spot lights lit up these massive structures for split seconds at a time. Tp 6 was a slot left around a farm, which saw only six crews manage to make the time point in the allotted time. Results sheets suggest time points 9 and 10 also saw many top crews drop precious minutes. A slot left off the lane to tp10 was hard to find and the majority of crews slipped past this resulting in massive time loss. Only 6 crews managed to visit these two time points without incurring penalties. By time point 11 event winners Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins were in the lead but only on furthest cleanest from Garreth Beagan and Stephen Thornton with Arthur and Ashley in 3^rd. Packie and Colin Duffy were leading the semi-experts ahead of another midlands crew Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston. Novice pairing of Donal McArdle and local lad Thomas Wedlock were in top form and would have been leading the event by mid-point but picked up stop sign penalties to drop them out of contention. James McCarville and Fintan Clerkin were flying in the novice class and only down 2 penalties by mid point with Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly a point behind. Cootehill father and son team of Gerry and Aaron McIntyre were having a great run in the beginner’s class with a commanding lead on only their second event by mid point.

            The second half of the trial moved northeast again towards the Drung and Lisnageer areas before a final run over “nobbys jumps” and back to Tullyvin.  Most expert crews managed to complete the second half on clean sheets although Garreth Beagan and Stephen Thornton dropped a minute at the last time point to drop them from 2^nd to 3^rd. This promoted Arthur and Ashley to 2^nd with Mackarel/Higgins cleaning the second half also to take the clear win by 1 penalty. Trevor Farrell and Noel Hall had a consistent run through the Cavan lanes to finish on 2 penalties and 3^rd in expert class. Once results sheets went up it became apparent that a number of crews had passed by “No” board, which merits an automatic 100 penalties, which re-shuffled the leader board a little. Midlands men Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston came out on top in the semi-expert class. James Logue and Hugh Kelly had a great run to 2^nd in semi ahead of Packie and Colin Duffy. The latter’s night could have been much better as they finished with 4 time penalties but were awarded the dreaded 100 as they were adjudged to pass a “No” board.

            In the novice class Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly had a tremendous run to finish on 3 penalties, another crew to clean the second half. Darren Quinn and Nigel Cloughery finished the event on a respectable 7 penalties, 5 of these at tp10 alone to take 2^nd in novice ahead of Ciaran McElroy and Damian “junior” McCabe on 11pens.

The beginners class had a bit of a re-shuffle through the second half as the McIntyre Subaru missed 4 time points to drop them out of the top three. Connor Meehan and Brendan Keenan took the class win, a wrong approach at tp2 accounting for 15 of their 27penalty total. Fintan Sherry and Darragh Kelly made a big mends for their wrong approach and missed time point as they only dropped 4 minutes through the second half to take 2^nd in beginners class. Declan Tynan decided to try out the passenger seat for this event with cousin Martin driving and managed to take 3^rd beginners.

So that’s it from Cavan for the time being, well done to Mervin and Bart on an enjoyable event. Next up in the Squealing Pig border championship is the Monaghan Drumlin on 12^th November while Cork MC host the next round of the National championship on 5^th November.

 Cavan MC Navigation Trial Top 12

1/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 1 mark

2/ Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo (Subaru Impreza) 2m

3/ Garreth Beagan/Stephen Thornton (Subaru Impreza) 2m

4/ Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 2m

5/ Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 3m

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

7/ Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 4m

8/ Kevin Keenan/Daire Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 4m

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

10/ Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Legacy) 7m

11/ Ciaran McElroy/Damien McCabe (Subaru Impreza) 11m

12/ Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 11m

 GSMC Mini Stages RallyWell done to JP McAree who was navigating for Jack Newman on last weekends Garda Siochana Mini Stages Rally. They finished 12^th over-all and 3^rd in the competitive class 11 in their Honda civic. Barry McKenna and Seamus Connolly also made the trip South to Baltinglass, Co Wicklow and had a great run to 17^th over-all in their blue class 13 escort.

Aghabog’s father and son team of Arthur and Macartan Kierans were crowned 2011 Sligo Pallets Border Rally Champions on Saturday last. Donegal Motor club hosted the final round of this popular championship from the Oceanfront Golf & Spa Resort in Redcastle on the Inishowen Peninsula. 125 starters in the main field braved the elements of a wet October morning, many of whom were in pursuit of class awards in the border and national championships. Tim McNulty and Paul Kiely had already claimed the national championship with 2 rounds remaining and choose to sit this one out. Top seed’s Gary Jennings and Rory Kennedy in their group N EVO 9 revelled in the wet conditions and pulled out a 12 second lead after the first stage. Jennings’ nearest rival’s were Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry who took 4 fastest stage times but despite this Jennings had done enough to take the rally win by a mere 5 seconds. The two-wheel drive battle was equally as entertaining but it was the red escort of Gary McPhillips and Donegal’s Gary McNern who led their challenger’s home in style. A winning margin of 48seconds and more impressively 3^rd over-all showing just how hard this crew were trying on the slippery Donegal stages.

            15 Monaghan crews in all were on the starters list for this popular event known as the Donegal Harvest stages Rally. With Maguire/Sherry and McPhillips/McNern in the top 3 over-all it was a mixed day for the remaining crews. John McQuaid and Seamus O’Connor closed their season in style with an excellent 11^th over-all amongst some tough opposition. Shane Maguire and Ciaran Geaney battled numerous mechanical gremlins throughout the day and rectified a turbo problem in service, which cost them valuable time on the middle loop. They managed to soldier on however and finished 13^th over-all and 2^nd in group N behind the hard charging Donegal EVO of Trevor and Kenny Bustard. Michael Conlon and Aidan Boyle had a massive battle with Frank Kelly and Liam Brennan, trading stage times throughout the day but had to settle for 2^nd in class 13 on the day.  Michael and Aidan are however class 13 champions in the border series.

            Next up and success story of the day must surely go to Arthur and Macartan Kierans. The Sharkey Motorsport, KES engineering backed white escort has performed impeccably on each outing of this year with 4 class wins and a maximum 40 points. Arthur and Mac are this years Sligo Pallets Border Rally Champions finishing 20^th over-all on the day amongst more powerful machinery. Prior to the event the Aghabog men had to win their class and they duly obliged, winning by almost 3 minutes from James Cassidy and John Norris. Great to see the border rally championship trophy back to Monaghan once again and well done lads. Arthur and Mac would like to thank everyone who helped them achieve this success, especially Sharkey Motorsport and their service crews. Rumour has it the celebrations are on-going in the Aghabog area!

            Young Ryan Loughran once again had James McCarville on the notes and they had an enjoyable run to 34^th over-all and 4^th in class 11.  James did report some close calls with the bales but they managed to keep it together and get the finish. Balinode’s Barry Garvey teamed up with Donegal’s James Greenan in the ex-Stephen Wright corsa to take 2^nd in class 9 and 51^st over-all.  David Smith and Austin Hammil had a mixed day to eventually finish 56^th over-all and 4^th in class 6. A bad stage time on ss2 cost them dearly but they still managed to take 3^rd in class 6 in the border series. Barry and Jonathan McKenna were another crew to battle with the elements but are sure to be happy with a finish considering the treacherous conditions. Aaron McQuaid and Aidan Coyle finished off their border campaign in style despite a last stage scare. Prior to this event they were leading the border campaign but the Kierans’ class win would always demote them to 2^nd in the series. They managed another class win on the day but a puncture on the final stage nearly derailed their good work. Luckily for this crew they had amassed a good lead in the class, which allowed them to stop and change the puncture. 2^nd over-all in the border championship for this crew so well done lads. Sean and Fintan Sherry also ended their season on a high with 2^nd in class 10 in Donegal. With McQuaid/Coyle taking 2^nd over-all in the border, Sean and Fintan move up to take a well deserved class 10 win in the championship as their efforts throughout the year finally pay off.

            Darren and Gary McKenna were having a good run in class 11 through the Donegal hills and were lying in 3^rd before they were caught out on a slippy left hander where they clipped a fence and were forced into retirement. Martin McPhillips and Ciaran Tynan were also in contention in class 11 but their day was short lived when the clutch gave in on the way to stage 4.

As the 2011 season draws to a close well done to all the award winners in Donegal, especially to our new Border champions, Arthur and Mac Kierans. Also to Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry and Gary McPhillips/Gary McNern who were both in the top 3 over-all. Gary would like to thank his service crew for their efforts throughout the year and on Saturday last, especially Francis, Cathal, Emmett and Declan and also to the tea ladies Debra, Jennifer and Siobhan. This years Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship Prizegiving will take place on Saturday 5^th November in the Sligo Park Hotel.          

Donegal Harvest Stages Rally Top 10

1 Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 70m 45s

2 Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 70m 50s

3 Gary McPhillips/Gary McNern (Escort) 72m 22s

4 Manus Kelly/Donal Barrett (Escort) 73m 10s

5 Brian Brogan/Mac Walsh (Escort) 73m 45s

6 Trevor Bustard/Kenny Bustard (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 73m 50s

7 Camillus Bradley/Crawford Henderson (Escort) 74m 02s

8 Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Escort) 74m 02s

9 Rodney Wilton/Conor McMahon (Escort) 74m 16s

10 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Escort) 74m 29s

Doogans are crowned Junior Rally Champions

Last weekends Donegal Harvest Stages Rally was also the final round of the 2011 junior rally championship. Carrickmacross men Johno and Padraig Doogan were leading the series going into this final round but they still had to finish this event to lift the title. With weather conditions nothing short of monsoon a finish was easier said than done! Chris Snow and Sean Brunton took the rally win on the day ahead of David Moffatt and Patrick Brides in their starlet. Moffatt and Brides did think they had done enough to win the junior section but scratch times were enforced after the event for certain stages which unfortunately relegated them to 2^nd over-all. Johno and Padraig Doogan seemed to do all in their power to unravel their years good work with an off on ss1 followed by an even bigger one on ss3. Thankfully they survived both scares to finish in 4^th over-all and take the title of 2011 Irish junior Rally Champions. Well done lads and another success story for Monaghan rally circles.

Birr Night Navigation Trial

Saturday night last saw the national night navigation campaign kick off in earnest. Birr and District Motor Club were hosts with well known midlands man Eoin Longworth taking up the reigns as CoC. A wet and windy night greeted a depleted entry of 27 starters for this event. Donegal’s Harvest stages Rally possibly accounting for some of the regular national navigation competitors. However Eoin laid on a demanding route centred around the Roscrea area, which included many time points through the local forest complexes. Cork novice pairing of David Beamish and Muireann Hayes took a surprise win on the night on 38 minute’s. 2^nd over-all on the night went to Colin Fitzgerald and Daire Hayes on 52 minute’s. A good night for the Hayes household as Muireann and Daire are brother and sister. 3^rd over-all went to midland men Packie and Colin Duffy with Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston 4^th. Monaghan’s sole representatives were Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes but they had a difficult night in the forests and eventually finished in 11^th over-all. 

Cavan Night Navigation Trial 

Cavan Motor Club will kick off the 2011/12 Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championship this Saturday night. Tullyvin Community Centre outside Cootehill is HQ with Mervin Wedlock and Bart McArdle in charge of the maps as CoC’s. Route cards are available from 6.30 and anybody available to marshal are asked to be there by 8pm. Full Report next week.

 

Monaghan Motor club kicked off the night navigation season in earnest last Saturday night around the Corduff area of South Monaghan. This was a counting round of the trader’s club championship and Gary Nesbitt navigation championship. 45 crews started the event with 30 of these accounting for novices and beginners; such is the popularity of the sport in this region at present. Francis Keenan was Coc and laid on a tremendous route that included 34 time points and 2 via’s which straddled the borders of South Monaghan and Cavan. Number 2 seeds Garreth Beagan and Stephen Thornton were on the ball from the start and led from time point 10 to the end. Last years border champions Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes were 2^nd, despite finishing on the same penalties as Beagan/Thornton with the furthest cleanest rule applied. Michael and Ciaran Tynan were 3^rd with Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins 4^th.

            Straight forward plots for the first 9 time points allowed all crews to settle back into a routine after a 6 month lay-off. Tp 10 and 11 were plot and bash with all crews dropping time through tp10 to 16. Beagan and Thornton took the lead as the event became very tricky to navigate with numerous farm lanes to every time point. Kevin Keenan and Barry Garvey were having a good run in the semi-expert class and lead by mid point. Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly picked up where they left off last year and were in front in the novice section. Macartan Kierans seems to have been studying the maps over the summer as he had a great run in the beginner’s class over the first half, lying 9^th over-all at mid-point.

            The second half of the event saw most crews hold fort in the class positions. Time points 17 to 23 were around the very southern tip of county Monaghan where the lanes were no less plentiful. Out in front Beagan/Thornton were not relinquishing their lead at any cost and held their nerve over the final 10 tp’s, only dropping 3 minutes through the 2^nd half. Carbin and Hughes went on to take 2^nd over-all, also on 8 minutes in their new Subaru Impreza and were the only crew to clean the second half of the trial. Michael’s old Subaru legacy is now in the unsafe hands of Bob Moyna and Shane Maguire as it bared a few scares after Saturday’s event! Michael and Ciaran Tynan held on for 3^rd after dropping 4 minutes at tp10 but still keep their title chances alive, as did Andy and Liam in 4^th. Richard Cassidy and Paul Phelan were lying 2^nd over-all at mid point but a rare mistake sees them clock in early and get a massive 50 penalties to undo all their good work. Keenan and Garvey took the semi class ahead of Midlands men Chris Kelly and Sam Johnson. This crew missed tp17 and could have been as high as 5^th over-all. No doubt Sam will set the record straight before the end of the season.

            Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly are surely climbing the navigation ranks and it probably won’t be long before they are pushing for a win. They finished 6^th o/a and took a novice class win on this occasion, a wrong approach being their downfall to tp 28. Damian Ward and Laurence Keenan had a fabulous night to finish 7^th over-all and 2^nd novice ahead of Michael Conlon and Thomas Wedlock in 3^rd. Dermot Keenan and Martin Swinburne shone through in the beginners class, two missed time points and a wrong approach costing them dearly. Damian Hagan and Macartan Kierans took a double visit at tp23 and picked up 30 penalties to relegate them to 2^nd beginner. They could easily have been as high as 6^th over-all.

So that’s the first event of the new navigation season done and dusted with the cobwebs surely blown off after a tough but fair event. Well done to Francis Kennan, Darren Babbington, Ashley McAdoo and all who helped them run a successful event. The top four over-all results of this event are made more interesting by the fact that any one of these crews can claim the navigation championship on the Drumlin in mid November. The traders championship couldn’t be any closer either as Michael Carbin and Michael Tynan are now tied for the lead with Andy Mackarel only 2 points in arrears. This years Drumlin navigation is looking like a battle royale! Next event is Cavan Motor Club on 15/16^th October. This is the first round of the Squealing Pig Border Navigation championship and reg’s are available on www.cavanmotorclub.com  Points for traders and club navigation championships are available on www.monaghanmotorclub.net

 

Monaghan Night Navigation Top 12

1/ Garreth Beagan/Stephen Thornton (Subaru Impreza) 8 marks

2/ Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 8m

3/ Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 11m

4/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 12m

5/ Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey (Subaru Impreza) 32m

6/ Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 33m

7/ Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 38m

8/ Damien Ward/Laurence Keenan (Toyota Sprinter) 41m

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

10/ Rory Coyle/Ciaran Coyle (Subaru Impreza) 47m

11/ Michael Conlon/Thomas Wedlock (Subaru Impreza) 60m

12/ Dermot Keenan/Martin Swinburne (Honda Accord) 64m.

 

Cork 20 International Rally

Tim Mc Nulty and Paul Kiely clinched the Irish tarmac title last weekend in Cork to add to his already impressive trophy cabinet, which includes the 2011 Dunlop national title. Tim did enough to finish 2^nd behind the hard charging Darragh O’Riordan, also in a WRC Impreza. Gary Jennings took a convincing 3^rd place in his Group N Evo 9. In the national rally it was Jason Ryan in a civic who stormed home over the last few stages to take a memorable win from David Armstrong in an escort. Alan Tracey was 3^rd over-all in a corolla.

            Unfortunately there were sad stories for all the Monaghan men who made the long trip South. Robert Barrable and Damian Connolly were seeded at 4 but their rally got off to the worst possible. The lamp pod on their Skoda became unattached through the night stages on Saturday and they were forced to stop and take it off. They did continue in the rally and set some top 5 times but withdrew after stage 6 as the car had to be re-prepared to leave for Rally Scotland on Wednesday. Sam Moffatt and James O’Reilly retired their Evo 9 after the Saturday stages while lying a creditable 4^th over-all. Raymond Conlon and Darren McCague were top seeds in the national category and were revelling in the night stages but were caught out as heavy fog descended. Raymond slid off the road for a period of time as visibility in the thick fog was at a minimum. Indeed the poor weather conditions meant the organisers were forced to cancel 4 stages but thankfully it lifted and the rally re-commenced after stage 8 which paved the way for O’Riordan to take a memorable win.

Donegal Harvest Stages Rally

Best of luck to all the local crews making the short trip Northwest to Redcastle in County Donegal for this weekends final round of the Sligo Pallets border Rally Championship. With many class battles and indeed the top 3 over-all awards to be decided around the Inishowen Peninsula it’s sure to be a competitive weekend. Enniskillen’s Gary Jennings in a Subaru WRC will lead off 125 entrants ahead of Maynooth’s Kevin Barrett at 2 with Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry heading the Monaghan brigade at 3. Gary McPhillips and Gary McNern are top two-wheel drive seeds at 4 ahead of Rodney Wilton. Shane Maguire and Conor Foley lead off the group N class at 11 with Michael Conlon and Aidan Boyle at 15 in their black escort. John McQuaid and Seamus O’Connor are at 24 with Arthur and Macartan Kierans at 33 in their pinto powered escort. Darren and Gary McKenna are at 36 in their corolla just ahead of Martin McPhillips with Ciaran Tynan on the notes, also in a twin cam. Barry and Jonathan McKenna are at 45 in their class 13 escort. Once again James McCarville is on the notes for Ryan Loughran at 55 with Sean Agnew and Seamus Connolly at 72 in their C2R2. Aaron McQuaid and Aidan Coyle lead off the class 10 challengers at 84 with David Smith seeded at 86 in his 106. Sean and Fintan Sheery are also set to make the trip to Donegal and start at 101 with Christopher and Michael Brennan at 123 in their civic. David Moffatt and Patrick Brides head the junior rally in the starlet ahead of Johno and Padraig Duggan at 2 in their escort. As things stand before the final round Aaron McQuaid and Aidan Coyle lead the series ahead of Cootehill’s Damian Reilly with Enda Sherry 2^nd navigator. Niall Maguire holds 3^rd place in the driver standings but with dropped scores to be counted following this weekends results a host of other crews are in with a shout. Arthur and Mac Kierans will be chasing a class win, which could also see them take the championship win amongst others. Once again best of luck to all and full report next week.

Bushwhacker Forestry Stages Rally 

Omagh Motor Club held their annual Bushwhacker Forest Stages Rally on Saturday last. This event has proven very popular over the years with its fast flowing, Finland type gravel stages. This year’s event had the added bonus of being a counting round of the Valvoline Southern Forestry championship. Series leader Owen Murphy had to finish the event in the top 3 southern contenders to confirm his championship win. Conor McCloskey and Francis Regan took a memorable win in their Impreza from the hard charging Donnagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan in an EV09. Kenny McKinstry and Kenny Hull rounded off the top 3 in their WRC spec impreza. The entertainer of the day award surely went to Frank Kelly who won the 2 wheel-drive category and showed a tremendous pace through the fast flowing Fermanagh Forests.

            Monaghan’s Paul Sheridan once again teamed up with Enda McNulty in an impreza and were on the pace throughout the day to eventually take a well earned 5^th over-all and 2^nd in class 9. Vincent and JP McAree started the event with one thing on their mind, to keep the pressure on southern championship leader Murphy. They certainly gave him a good run for his money and finished highest registered Southern Forestry competitor in 6^th over-all and 1^st in class 2. Unfortunately for the Ballinode men their efforts still wasn’t enough and Owen Murphy and James O Brien survived a few scares throughout the day to finish in 10^th over-all and lift the 2011 Valvoline Irish Foresty Rally title. Dublins Robert Barrable and Monaghans Damian Connolly were late entrants and slotted in at number 2 on the road. This crew seemed to get off to a poor start but gradually worked their way up the leader board to take 7^th over-all and 3^rd in class 9. Michael Conlon and Paddy McCague had a fraught day through the stick’s with alternator problems resulting in a massive 2-minute loss on ss6. Their stage times suggest however that they were really on a great pace through the remainder of the stages and would surely have been inside the top 5 two-wheel-drives.

            Unfortunetly there are always a list of none-finishers in every rally and the Monaghan men didn’t escape this one either! Arthur Kierans was re-united with Colin Britton in a group N impreza but there luck never shone. They encountered turbo problems through the first loop but a broken gearbox eventually ended their day through the middle loop. Stephen & Suzanne Wright’s luck eventually ran out on Saturday when the rear diff eventually cried enough in their usually trusty EVO 6. Any Cox and Emmett Sherry had another frustrating day in the woods with a broken prop shaft. 

 Monaghan Motor Club Night Navigation Trial

Saturday night next 1^st October see’s Monaghan Motor club open the night navigation season. This event is the penultimate round of the traders club championship and with a single point separating Michael Tynan, Michael Carbin and Andy Mackarel this years championship seems to be going to the wire. Coc for the event is Francis Keenan, ably assisted by Darren Babbington with the Community Centre in Corduff, Carrickmacross as their HQ. Route card 1 is out at 6.30pm with first car away at 9.01pm. Marshals are required and are asked to be in the Corduff Community Centre by 8.00pm latest

Night Navigation Classes

Following yet another successful year in running night navigation classes, Monaghan Motor Club would like to convey their sincere thanks and appreciation to Damian Connolly for presenting these classes. Damian has injected a lot of time and effort into the preparation of notes for these classes and received a very positive response from participants. Thanks must also go to Sean MacDermotts GAA for the use of their facilities and for the many people who turned up each night to lend a helping hand.

 Munster Night Navigation Championship

Congratulations to Ashley McAdoo and Arthur Kierans who received their awards for 1^st over-all in the 10/11 Munster Night Navigation Championship on Saturday night last. Ashley and Arthur made the trip to Cork to attend the prize giving ceremony. This championship consisted of five rounds and with 3 wins and a 2^nd place this crew once again showed they were a dominant force throughout last season. Well done also to Macartan Kierans who took 3^rd in the beginner’s class on his first year of trying.

 Cavan Autocross

Michael Conlon once again showed he is the man to beat around Cavan’s Hutcross quarry with a 4 second win in his escort from Darren O’Brien in a civic. Dry conditions for the first run quickly changed to wet and slippy as torrential rain fell upon the Latton track. Nonetheless Michael survived a spin on the 2^nd loop to punch in another fastest time on the 3^rd loop and claim the win. Other Monaghan men to fair well were Richard Cassidy in his astra who finished joint 6^th over-all and 1^st in class 5. Shane Marron took a class 2 win and 9^th over-all with Justin Smyth just behind in 10^th. Francie McKenna was 12^th and 3^rd in class 2 in his 205. Conor Maguire also slid his immaculate Mk1 escort around the Latton track and finished 14^th over-all and 5^th in class 3.    

 

McNulty secures Dunlop National Title

Tim McNulty and co driver Paul Kiely took top honours on last weekends Clare stages rally. They finished 53s ahead of Niall Maguire/Barry Goodman in a similar Impreza and critically McNulty’s closest rivals Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally were 3rd in their Subaru over 2m back. McNulty’s win clinches the Dunlop National Rally Championship for the first time, even with 2 rounds still remaining. Tricky conditions greeted competitors, as the drying roads were still wet and greasy in sheltered areas, thus accounting for a lot of the 36 non-finishers in the main field.

            Despite the distance eleven Monaghan crews made the journey south with very mixed fortunes. As mentioned Niall Maguire had a steady run and kept the pressure on McNulty throughout the day. Maguire/Goodman briefly held the lead after stage 4 but encountered brake trouble through stage 6 forcing him to use the handbrake on a number of occasions just to get slowed up. Nonetheless 2^nd over-all a good result for the Balinode man. Sam Moffett and James O Reilly were next up with another group N win and 6^th over-all. They had a good run all day with no troubles to report. Shane Maguire and Conor Foley had to settle for 2^nd in group N in Clare. They got off to a poor start losing a minute on stage 1 & 2 with tyre trouble as Shane used this event to experiment with new tyres. Shane is currently joint first in the West Coast Rally Championship with 1 round remaining after this event. 

            Gerard McQuaid and Gareth Quinlan had a good run through the Banner county to finish 5^th in class 11. Seamus Connolly once again teamed up with Sean Agnew in the Citroen C2R2 and had a steady run to 2nd in class 6. Josh Moffett with Donegal’s Ciaran Geaney on the notes were on a serious pace through the early stages and were leading group N and 5^th over-all. Unfortunately all their hard work became undone over a series of jumps as the car got out of sorts and they spun off the road on stage 5.  Hopefully we will see this crew out again soon. John McQuaid/ Seamus O Connor was another crew off to a flying start and were 12^th over-all after the first 2 stages. Unfortunately the greasy conditions caught them out on ss3 and they slid off the road and into retirement, thankfully no real harm done. Aaron McQuaid and Aidan Coyle’s mixed season continued when their rally came to an end on stage 2 with engine failure. Ryan Loughran with James Mc Carville on the notes were up to 4^th in class 11 until a slight off put an end to their day on ss4.

            In the junior rally Cork’s Cal McCarthy and Eamonn Dullea took the over-all win. Johno & Padraig Doogan had to settle for 2^nd over-all as a puncture on the penultimate stage cruelly cost them the rally win. David Moffett and Patrick Brides were 3^rd over-all after the first stage but mechanical gremlins set in and forced their retirement on ss2. JP McAree was once again in the hot seat with Ashbourne’s Jack Newman but they too fell foul of the conditions and became beached on a wall. No real damage done but they were unable to get back on the road. This coupled with intercom problems mean’t a day to forget for this quick crew.

 

Clare Motor Club Stages Rally Top 10

1 Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 71m 38s

2 Niall Maguire/Barry Goodman (Impreza WRC) 72m 31s

3 Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 74m 05s

4 Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Escort) 74m 27s

5 Mike Quinn/Grainne McEnery (Escort) 74m 47s

6 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 74m 58s

7 Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort) 75m 15s

8 Anthony O’Halloran/Charlie McEnery (Manta 400) 76m 00s

9 Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Starlet) 76m 03s

10 Shane Maguire/Conor Foley (Impreza Gp N) 76m 49s.

 

Monaghan Motor Club Night Navigation Trial

Winter must surely be upon us as Saturday week next 1^st October see’s Monaghan Motor club open the night navigation season. Coc for the event is Francis Keenan, ably assisted by Darren Babbington and their eager team. The event will be based around the Corduff area of South Monaghan and anybody available to marshall on the night please come along. More information in next weeks edition.

Night Navigation Classes

 

Everybody attending this years night navigation classes are asked to take note that the final class will be held on this Friday night, 23^rd September at 8pm in Sean MacDermotts centre, Threemilehouse. No class tonight (Thursday 29). The final class will incorporate a re-cap of all topics covered, analysis of the trial run and also take in a quick summary of stages rallying from a navigators perspective. Anybody who missed out on these classes or would like an overview of stages rallying are welcome to attend also.