Author: monaghanmotorclub

Mayo Motor Club kick started the 2011 Sligo Pallets Border Rally campaign in earnest on Sunday last with a compact 3-stage loop in the Claremorris area of Co. Mayo. With weather forecasts of freezing temperatures and a light scattering of snow on Friday night, tyre choice was a bit of a lottery and grip levels were virtually non-existent. The stages suffered throughout the day with rain leaving junctions very slippery. It was Maynooth’s Kevin Barrett and Sean Mullally who held their nerve in the tricky conditions to record a 51 second victory over close rivals Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry with Omagh’s Seamus Leonard in 3^rd, all driving Subaru WRC’s. The two wheel drive category was a close affair with Camillus Bradley and Crawford Henderson taking a 17 second win from Donegal’s Declan Boyle with Trevor Mulligan in 3^rd a further 3 seconds adrift. 

            No fewer than fourteen Monaghan crews made the trip west and it was a case of mixed fortunes with only five of these making it to the finish ramp. Adrian McElvaney and Damian Connolly started this event at number 4 in their Subaru WRC, this being Adrian’s first event in almost 2 years but their run was short-lived with gearbox trouble on the 4^th stage forcing their retirement while lying 5^th overall. 

Michael Conlon and Aidan Boyle had a good steady run to 10^th o/a and 2^nd in class 13. Jack Maguire with Emmett Sherry on the notes were 14^th o/a and 4^th in class 13. Local Mayo man James Culliney had Andrew Grennan on the notes and they finished 23^rd o/a and 3^rd in class 12 despite a 2-minute time loss on stage 3. Martin McPhillips and Nicola McKenna had a difficult day on the slippery stages and finished 55^th o/a.

            Raymond Conlon and Darren McCague’s day ended at first service with gearbox trouble while Sean Agnew and Seamus Connolly retired within 3 miles of the start of stage 1 with mechanical issues. Aaron McQuaid’s season didn’t get off to the best start as he broke a drive shaft on ss1 while Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes’ engine gave up the ghost on the finish line of stage 8 whilst lying a comfortable 2^nd in class 10. David Smyth and Austin Hamill battled the elements all day with a range of problems including a burst brake pipe but a visit to the scenery on stage 6 resulting in loosing a wheel was the final nail in their coffin while Ciaran King and Mickey Brennan left their Civic in the hedge on a square left corner with Barry Treanor and Colm Connolly not even making it out to stage 1 as mechanical gremlins set in. Stephen Rushe and Liam Fleming didn’t make it through ss8, again with mechanical trouble.

            Next up for the Border Championship is our own Monaghan Stages Rally on 17^th April. Entries are now open and forms can be downloaded from the club website. www.monaghanmotorclub.net

 Autotest

 The recently postponed Monaghan Motor Club autotest has been re-scheduled for Sunday 3^rd April at Wrights Quarry, Swann’s Cross. Entry forms available on club website.

 Cavan Motor Club Night Navigation Trial

 Saturday next sees the final round of the 2010/11 National and Squealing Pig Border navigation championships take place with HQ at the Errigal Country House Hotel in Cootehill. Monaghan’s Domnic McArdle has taken on the role of CoC assisted by Mervin Wedlock with entry forms available on the Cavan motor club website. There is a two way battle for the National title between Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo and Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes with Ashley needing to finish in the top 8 to ensure he regains the title for a 4^th consecutive year. The Border Championship is a much tighter affair with 4 crews in with a shout of winning once dropped scores are accounted for. Andy and Liam hold a small advantage but Michael and Evin, Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston, Michael and Ciaran Tynan are all in with a shout of an overall championship win and mathematically a host of other crews can also win should results go their way, so the competition will be fierce on Saturday night. Anybody willing to marshal should be at the hotel by 8 o’clock.

 

Saturday night last 5^th March saw the penultimate round of both the National and Squealing Pig Bar and Restaurant Border navigation championships take place from St. Mellans GAA Centre, Truagh. CoC Donal McArdle and his team set out a compact and challenging route, which seemed to go down a treat with all competitors. At the finish, things were tight at the top with three crews finishing on a total of 2 penalties. It was the semi-expert pairing of Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes who took their second overall win this year ahead of expert crews Michael/Ciaran Tynan and Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall, also on 2 pens.

             As an entry of 42 cars departed HQ at 9.01, the route looked pretty straight forward on the maps but things couldn’t be taken for granted.  Midlands men and two times winners this season Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston found this out as early as time point 4 where they miss-plotted a plot and bash timepoint to rule themselves out of the podium places. Tp 9 was next to cause trouble (or head scratching) for all crews with a lane around well known stages driver Mac McKenna’s house, garage and fields! It was very tricky to find the route with every make of car and van imaginable blocking the obvious paths out. Only five crews managed to clean this section, none of them experts and by tp 15, the results sheets suggest that James McCarville and Fintan Clerkin held the event lead from Dessie Keenan and Enda Sherry with Jason McKenna and Matthew Mc Kenna 3^rd.

            Tp16 was next to cause all crews to drop penalties once more, a familiar lane through a section of the Bragan forest meant at least 1 penalty dropped. The event then headed even further north over the fog covered Bragan mountain and it straddled the border towards Aughnacloy into new territory with lanes and narrow roads coming thick and fast. Crossing the N2 at Blackwatercottage and southwards again past Emyvale to the final time point onto the main road at Corracrin school, surviving crews gave a welcomed sigh of relief after a very enjoyable but intense event.

            Results sheets were awaited with anticipation as any one of 4 or 5 crews seemed in with a shout of the win. Keenan and Sherry undid all there good work with a wrong departure at tp 33 whilst Arthur and Ashley ran into car trouble late on forcing them to miss the last time point which dropping them back as far as 13^th overall, meaning the national title will go down to the wire in Cavan in a fortnight.

 In the end Michael and Evin took the overall win with Michael and Ciaran Tynan sharing the expert class honours with Trevor and Noel while Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins took 3^rd in the expert class. Darren Babbington and Francis Keenan took the semi-expert class with Damian Treanor and Johnathan Mc Govern 2^nd. Local knowledge paid off for Jason & Matthew McKenna who took a convincing novice class win ahead of Dessie and Enda with Gerry Cassidy and Paul Sheridan 3^rd. Colin and Packie Duffy must be considered one of the most consistent crews of the year with another fine performance to win the beginners section, but more importantly with another top 5 finish, an overall win is surely not far away. Darren Quinn and Nigel McCloughry  were 2^nd beginnesr with Damian Hagan and Macartan Kierans taking 3^rd on the furthest cleanest rule from Niall Kelly and Adrian Treanor.

            Well done to Donal Mc Ardle and Raymond Conlon along with their band of helpers on a well run and entertaining event. So with just one round left, all is still to play for in the Squealing Pig Border championship in Cavan on Saturday week as 6 points separate four crews after a dropped round is considered while Arthur and Ashley must finish within the top 8 to ensure they retain the National title. 

           Monaghan Motor Club Navigation Trial Results

 1 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Legacy) 2 marks,

2 (tie) Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) and Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 2m,

4 Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy (Subaru Impreza) 3m,

5 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 3m,

6 Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 3m,

7 Garreth Beagan/Stephen Thornton (Subaru Impreza) 4m,

8 Jason McKenna/Matthew McKenna (Subaru Legacy) 7m,

9 Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill (Ford Mondeo) 7m,

10 Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry (Toyota Sprinter) 13m,

11 Dessie Keenan/Enda Sherry (Subaru Impreza) 17m,

12 Gerry Cassidy/Paul Sheridan (Subaru Impreza) 23m.

Semi-experts:

1 Darren Babington/Francis Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 23m

2 Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 27m

3 Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 42m

 Novices:

1 Jason McKenna/Matthew McKenna

2 Gerry Cassidy/Paul Sheridan

3 Kevin Keenan/Martin Connolly (Subaru Impreza) 36m

 Beginners:

1 Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy

2 Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry

3 Damien Hagan/Macartan Kierans (Subaru Impreza)

 Willie Loughman Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally

 

Two young Monaghan crews made the journey South for the second round of the National Forest rally championship last weekend. Cousins Vincent and JP Mc Aree had an excellent result to finish 2^nd overall in what would be considered a strong entry list. This is easily their best finish to date with 3 fastest stage times for good measure in their Evo 9. Brother and sister team of Stephen and Suzanne Wright brought their Evo 6 home to a fine 6^th place overall on only Stephen’s second gravel event in this car and he seems to be adjusting to the loose very well following on from his 8^th overall finish in Fivemiletown. The rally was won by Owen Murphy & James O’Brien in an Evo 9.

 Mayo Stages Rally Preview

 

Sunday next sees the opening round of the ever popular Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship and in keeping with tradition, Mayo Motor Club play hosts to the first round as the McWilliam Park Hotel in Claremorris takes on the role of Rally HQ once again. There are four WRC cars on the entry list with Maynooth’s Kevin Barrett and Sean Mullally heading a very strong field as Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry head the Monaghan attack at no. 3 with Adrian McElvaney and Damian Connolly listed at no. 4 also in a WRC Subaru. Raymond Conlon and Darren McCague are at 16 in their twin cam with Michael Conlon and Aidan Boyle just behind at 17. Jack Maguire and Emmet Sherry are at 23 with Martin McPhillips and Nicola McKenna 57. As always class 10 is very competitive among the Monaghan men with Aaron McQuaid and Aidan Coyle starting at 68, Michael Carbin with regular night navigation partner Evin Hughes next up at 69 with Barry Treanor and Colm Connolly hoping to pick up where they left off in class 10 last year at 86. Full report next week and competitors are urged to contact club PRO with an update on how they get on at  tynaneng@gmail.com before Monday evening 6pm.

 

Autotest 

The recently postponed Monaghan Motor Club autotest has been re-scheduled for Sunday 3^rd April at Wrights Quarry, Swann’s Cross. Entry forms available on club web site.

 Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally

 

With preparations at an advanced stage for the running of the annual Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally on 17^th April regulations and entry forms are available to download from the club web site at www.monaghanmotorclub.net. This years rally is both a counting round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship and the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship, so competitors are urged to send their entries in early to avoid disappointment.

 

Clontibret’s Sam Moffett and navigator James O’Reilly were the best placed Monaghan crew on the opening round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship based in Abbeyleix on Sunday last 27^th February. The pair had an encouraging run in their Evo 4 to finish 5^th overall and 2^nd in the Group N category. Last year’s Group N champion Shane Maguire had to settle for 3^rd in class and 9^th overall in his Subaru. Dunlop championship regular Niall Maguire was off the pace on this rally and a major time loss on the last stage relegated him to a lowly 18^th overall in his WRC Subaru.

It was a much more positive outcome for Conor Foley and Damien McKenna, who drove their Mk1 Escort to a memorable win in class 10. David Moffett also recorded a win in the Junior category in his Starlet. Non-finishers were Maurice Moffett (class 13 Starlet) and Gerard McQuaid/Gareth Quinlan (class 11 Escort). The rally was won by Tim McNulty who had a comfortable margin of 59 secs over current National champion Melvyn Evans, both driving WRC Subarus.

ROUND 1 DUNLOP NATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP TOP TEN:        

1 Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Impreza WRC) 74m 02s,

2 Melvyn Evans/Patrick Walsh (Impreza WRC) 75m 01s,

3 Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Impreza Gp N) 77m 12s,

4 Steve Simpson/Frank Curtin (Impreza WRC) 77m 39s,

5 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 78m 13s,

6 Tommy Doyle/Liam Moynihan (Renault Clio) 78m 50s,

7 Liam McCarthy/Denis O’Mahony (Corolla WRC) 78m 52s,  

8 Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Escort) 78m 58s,

9 Shane Maguire/Charlie McEnery (Impreza Gp N) 79m 16s,

10 Ian Barrett/Eoin O’Flaherty (Impreza Gp N) 79m 27s.

Omagh MC Fivemiletown Spring Rally

 

A host of Monaghan Motor Club members made the short journey North on Saturday to Fivemiletown for Omagh Motor Club,s annual Spring Forestry Rally. This popular and compact route takes in three short but challenging stages between the Fivemiletown and Knockatallan area with a further stage coming close to the border with Clones and Carnrock. First car on the road and last year’s winner Ian Cochrane ended his hopes of back to back wins on the 2^nd stage when he slid his Evo 9 on its side into a drain on a fast left hand corner. This paved the way for Donegal man Donagh Kelly to take victory in his EVO 9 ahead of Strabane’s Martin Cairns in his Subaru S9 WRC with Mark Donnelly and Martin Brady taking 3^rd on the podium also in an Evo 9. Frank Kelly won the hotly contested 2 wheel drive category ahead of local man Shane McGirr while their main rival Adrian Hetherington crashed out heavily on the first stage, thankfully both crew members were unharmed.

Best of the locals were Stephen Wright and Ciaran Geaney who finished a magnificent 8^th overall and 2^nd in class on what was Stephens’s first real gravel outing in his new EVO 6. Stephen reported an enjoyable day, gaining confidence with every mile. Next up were Michael and Ciaran Tynan in their EVO 5, finishing 14^th overall, a puncture on stage 6 their biggest concern of the day. Emmet Sherry managed a late call up to navigate for new kid on the block Amy Cox in her G3 as the 19 year old raised many eyebrows to finish an incredible 21^st overall on her first ever forestry event. Cootehill men Mervyn Wedlock and Damian McCabe brought their immaculate G3 to the sticks for the first time and set some good times finishing 30^th overall. The unusual partnership of Andy Mackarel with Raymond Conlon on the notes were next up in Andy’s equally unusual 3ltr V6 rear wheel drive Opel Calibra finishing 37^th overall and content with getting this powerful machine to the finish ramp without any major issue. Johnny McKenna navigated Donegal’s Paddy Walker to 41^st overall and 4^th in class in a Peugeot.

Other travelling Monaghan men who hadn’t as much luck include Michael Conlon and Aidan Boyle in the black MC Blinds Escort who suffered electrical problems while David Moffett and Andrew Speares had back axle trouble in their Starlet. Suzanne Wright was in the passengers seat with Barry Greer in an EVO 4 but their day out was short lived with a blown turbo on the first stage.

Monaghan Night Navigation Trial

 

This Saturday night 5^th March sees the penultimate round of both the Squealing Pig Border and National night navigation championships hosted by Monaghan Motor Club. CoC for the event is Donal McArdle with St Mellans GAA club, Truagh as the venue. Route card 1 is out at 6.30 with first car due to leave at 09.01pm. As always marshals are required and should assemble at the venue no later than 8.00pm.

 

Autotest

The recently postponed Monaghan Motor Club autotest has been re-scheduled for Sunday 3^rd April at Wrights Quarry, Swann’s Cross.

 Donegal Motor Club hosted the fifth round of the Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championship on Saturday night last 19th February for the first time in a long number of years and it would be fair to say that they didn’t disappoint. Experienced navigator and indeed stages driver Conor Harvey and his team took up the challenge and laid on an excellent 110 mile route taking in every forest lane and mountain track that South Donegal had to offer. The local men would always be hard to beat on home turf and indeed it was Charlie McMonigle and Aidan Friel who led the pack home on 3 penalties with previous round winners Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston 2nd o/a on 6 pens while experts Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins were 3rd on 12pens. Drumkeen parish hall outside Letterkenny was HQ for the event and a start list of 30 headed off into the Donegal hills at 9:01pm. The first half of the event was fairly straight forward looking on the map but most time points took crews over mountain passes that the sheep don’t even use anymore so times were tight! All but 3 crews dropped time through the first 14 tps and with a welcome petrol halt in Glenties it was beginners Michael Reilly and Colm Duffy who led from semi-experts Chris Kelly and Sam Johnston with experts Michael and Ciaran Tynan all on clean sheets. The second half would be a much tighter affair with Reilly and Duffy effectively ending their hopes of a good run through tps 17 and 18 where they dropped a total of 8 pens. Quietly hammering away in the background were eventual winners McMonigle and Friel who were only down one penalty in the first half and growing with confidence on home soil. In the beginners class father and son team Arthur and Macartan Kierans were having a good run well ahead of the rest. Unfortunately a double visit penalty at 14 would see a possible 2nd o/a slip out of their hands. Kelly and Johnston would drop 4 penalties through tps 18 to 26 and the Tynans dropped 2 to leave Charlie McMonigle and Aidan Friel in the lead still only down 1 penalty and even with 2 more dropped at the last time point they still had done enough to claim the win from Kelly and Johnston with Andy and Liam coming home 3rd and 1st in the expert class. The Tynans took 2nd in expert class but it could have been a whole lot better had they not spent too much time sorting out the final plot and bash which was later scrubbed but were still forced to miss the final time point as they went OTL. In the semi-expert section Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes’ run of bad luck continued as they slid off the road on a gravel junction and in doing so dropped 10 pens to tp 12. Monaghan men Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly made their trip north worth while with a fine 2nd in the novice section behind local men Gary Lockart and Adrian McElhinney while the Kierans’ did enough through the latter stages to take 2nd in the beginners class. So that’s it from Donegal for this year, a well run event which seemed to go down well with competitors, tough but good navigation terrain. Monaghan is next up on 5th March for the penultimate round of both the Squealing Pig Border and the National championships with almost every class position still up for grabs through the final two rounds ending with Cavan on 19th March. Donegal Motor Club Navigation Trial Results 1 Charlie McMonagle/Aidan Friel (Subaru Impreza) 3 marks 2 Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 6m 3 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 12m 4 Michael Reilly/Colin Duffy (Proton) 16m 5 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Legacy) 16m 6 Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 22m 7 Gary Lockhart/Adrian McElhinney 27m 8 James Sheridan/Sidney McDaid 34m 9 Arthur Kierans/Macartan Kierans (Subaru Impreza) 36m 10 James Logue/Hugh Kelly (Subaru Impreza) 50 Semi-experts: 1 Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston 2 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes 3 James Logue/Hugh Kelly Novices: 1 Gary Lockhart/Adrian McElhinney 2 Sean McKenna/Gary Farrelly 52m 3 Damien McElhinney/Charlie McGinty 55m Beginners: 1 Michael Reilly/Colin Duffy 2 Arthur Kierans/Macartan Kierans 3 Fintan Sherry/Darragh Kelly 448m Sympathy

 The committee and members of Monaghan Motor Club would like to convey their sincere sympathy to the partner, family and friends of popular club member Brian Ruth following his untimely death last week. Brian was a keen competitor on the night navigation scene and also navigated for long-term friend Gerry McGivney in their trusty Mark II Escort on stages events. He will be sadly missed by all who knew him for his sheer enthusiasm and no matter what their result would be on an event, Brian was sure to have a story or two to share! Brian’s funeral took place last Sunday at 1 o’clock in Bawn, where the club held a Guard of Honour. May he rest in peace.

Autotest As a mark of respect for the late Brian Ruth, Monaghan Motor Club’s annual autotest which was due to take place last Sunday in Wrights Quarry, Swann’s Cross was postponed and will be re-scheduled for a date to be confirmed in the coming weeks. Watch this space for further details.

 It was with deep shock and sadness that the members of Monaghan Motor Club learned today of the sudden death of popular club member Brian Ruth. The club has announced the postponement of its annual Hewison Autotest, which was due to take place on Sunday next 20th February, as a mark of respect. Brian’s funeral will take place at 1pm on Sunday next at Bawn Chapel off the Ballybay/Shercock road. The club will be organising a Guard of Honour. May he rest in peace.