Author: monaghanmotorclub

Josh Moffett was the highest placed Monaghan Motor Club finisher on last
weekend’s Wilton Recycling Donegal International Rally.

He with navigator Andy Hayes finished the nineteen stage event in 5 th place overall (OA).

Next up was Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan who took their MKII Ford Escort to 12 th
OA, 2 nd in class 14 and 2 nd in the Modified category.

David Moffett/Martin Connolly rounded off their weekend with 3 rd in class 14 and 14 th OA, a fantastic
result after having a full gearbox change during a service.

Dessie Keenan/Jason McKenna survived an encounter with a bale at a chicane to finish 17 th OA and
5 th in class 14.

Michael Carbin with Junior World Rally Championship navigator and 2022 Junior British Rally Champion Conor Mohan finished off 22 nd OA and 9 th class 14. Kaine Treanor navigated Chris O’Callaghan to 23 rd OA and 10 th in class 14.

Arthur Kierans guided Brendan Cumiskey to 27 th OA and 1 st in class
RC3. Calum Maguire guided Johnnie Mulholland to 36 th OA and 2 nd in class
RC3. Anthony Hand/David McCrudden finished 41 st OA and 1 st in class 11R.
Ryan Farrell on the notes for Dylan Eves finished 43 rd OA and 6th in class RC4.
Shane Farrell navigated Bernard McGinley to 58th OA and 3rd in class 11R.
Killian McArdle navigating for Joseph Kelly finished 83 rd OA. They were
sitting as high as 45 th OA but had to retire on SS10. They were able to rejoin the
event later.
Richard Moffett/Darragh Kelly retired on SS11(High Glen) with mechanical
trouble. Gary Cassidy/Damien Sheridan suffered last minute heartbreak after
being forced to retire on the very last stage. They were sitting 3 rd in class 13 at
that point. John McQuaid/Thomas Treanor retired on SS4. James
McCarville/Conal McNulty retired on SS15 while 4 th in class 13. Brendan
McAree/Peter Farrell retired from the Historic category on SS18.
National Navigation Trian Prizegiving

The National Navigation Trial prizegiving took place recently. Local star
Andrew Mackarel was crowned Drivers Champion once again, his 6 th National
title. In the beginner class, Caolain McCaffery finished 3 rd navigator with Sean
McCaffery finishing 2 nd driver. Eoghan Farrell finished 1 st navigator. Shane
Maguire finished 2 nd driver in the Novice class with Ciaran and Aaron
McGorman finishing 3 rd . Pakie Duffy and Evin Hughes finished 1st in the
Expert class with Michael Carbin and Conor Mohan finishing 2 nd . At the end of
the prizegiving competitors vote for the best event of the season. This years
event of the season went to none other than Ciaran and Michael Tynan who
organised the Monaghan Drumlin Navigation Trial which was based out of
Newbliss.

Static Car Show

Monaghan Motor Club’s ‘Static car show’ returns this Sunday. The charity
fundraiser takes place in the long-stay carpark at Monaghan Shopping Centre on
Sunday June 30th from 12 noon until 4pm. Entry is €20 per car and by donation
for general admission. All money collected will be split equally between Crocus
Monaghan Branch and SOSAD. Your support is greatly appreciated.

Garda Síochána Motor Club’s, Germaine’s of Baltinglass Mini Stages Rally took place last
weekend.

James McCarville with Arthur Kierans on the notes were the top Monaghan Motor
Club finishers, finishing their day in 10 th overall (OA) and 3 rd in class 13.

Kevin Flanaghan/Mark Reilly finished 67 th OA and 3 rd in class 9 in their Austin Mini Cooper.

Jack Maguire/Keith McConnon unfortunately retired on stage 1.

Static Car Show

Monaghan Motor Club’s ‘Static car show’ returns this June. The charity fundraiser takes
place in the long-stay carpark at Monaghan Shopping Centre on Sunday June 30th from 12
noon until 4pm.

Entry is €20 per car and by donation for general admission.

All money collected will be split equally between Crocus Monaghan Branch and SOSAD.

Your support is greatly appreciated.

Conor Mohan was out in Sardinia last weekend taking part in Rally Italia Sardegna which
was a counting round of the Junior Word Rally Championship. Unfortunately for Conor and
his driver Eamonn Kelly, their car was plagued with Mechanical issues from the very start.
An alternator issue on the Shakedown stage forced them to stop, but luckily it was repaired
in time for Special stage 1 (SS1). More Mechanical gremlins arose here however as an
engine temperature warning light came on and they had to do the stage without anti-lag. If
this wasn’t bad enough, they also picked up a puncture towards the end of the stage. They
did have a great run through SS2 (4 th fastest) even with the anti-lag system not turned up
fully following the earlier issue. On SS3 they got caught behind another competitor and with
no room to pass, they were stuck behind them for over six kilometres. On a positive note, the
organisers having viewed in-car footage and the average speed before catching the slower
car, awarded them an amended stage time which bumped them up to 4 th place overnight.
On SS5, the following morning they got off to a great start finishing the stage just 5.6s off
the lead pace. This great start didn’t last however as on SS6 they picked up a puncture
forcing them to stop mid-stage and replace it. The gravel roads of Sardinia were becoming
extremely rough following the Rally1 and Rally2 cars passing before it was the junior’s turn.
On SS8 the roughness caused the steering to break which caused them to go off the road on
the following corner damaging the suspension.
The car was repaired overnight and they restarted the rally for the final four stages. The final
four stages were also very tough as the engine temperature warning light returned and they
once again suffered a puncture. Even with Sardinia being such a disaster for the crew they
remain very excited for the remainder of the championship and are already looking forward
to the next round in Finland.

Circuit of Munster Stages Rally
Josh Moffett was the top placed Monaghan Motor Club member on last weekend’s Circuit of
Munster Stages Rally in Co. Limerick. Josh with Keith Moriarty on the notes finished 5th
overall (OA) and 2nd in class 5.

Kaine Treanor navigating for Chris O’Callaghan finished 13th OA, 1st in class 14 and took the 2wd win, a massive response after their unfortunate accident in the Carlow Stages Rally.

Killian McArdle guided Joseph Kelly to 28th OA and 2nd in class 3.

Anthony Hand/David McCrudden finished 37th OA and 1st in class 11R.
James McCarville/Conal McNulty retired after Stage 1 and Tommy Moffett retired after
Stage 5.

Static Car Show

Monaghan Motor Club’s ‘Static car show’ returns this June. The charity fundraiser takes
place in the long-stay carpark at Monaghan Shopping Centre on Sunday June 30 th from 12
noon until 4pm. Entry is €20 per car and by donation for general admission. All money
collected will be split equally between Crocus Monaghan Branch and SOSAD. Your support
is greatly appreciated.

Marshal’s draw

A Marshal’s draw was held recently for to thank those who assisted with the successful
running of this years Ronnie Hawe, Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan Stages Rally. Sixteen
lucky Marshal’s were given prizes donated by local business’s, namely Combilift, Maguire
International, Flat to the hat, Moran Rally Clothing and McAree Engineering.

Endurance Trial Postponed

Due to unforeseen circumstances, Monaghan Motor Club have rescheduled its Endurance
Trial listed for the 9 th of July to a new date of July 21 st (subject to Motorsport Ireland
approval).
Oisín Sherlock

The Tour of the Sperrins Rally took place on Saturday last.

Ryan Farrell navigated Johnnie Mulholland to 17 th overall (OA) and 1 st in class 9.

The Carlow Stages Rally took place on Sunday and David Moffett/Martin Connolly were the
top Monaghan Motor Club finishers, taking their Toyota Starlet home in 9 th OA
and 2 nd in class 14.

Michael Carbin took his MKII Ford Escort to 11 th OA and 4 th class 14.

Killian McArdle guided Michael Cahill to 13 th OA and 5 th class 14 and
Richard Moffett/Darragh Kelly finished right behind them in 14 th OA and 6 th
class 14.

Arthur Kierans navigated Brendan Cumiskey to 20 th OA and 2 nd in
class 4.

Anthony Hand/David McCrudden finished 31 st OA and 2 nd in class 11R.
Martin McPhillips finished 45 th OA and 3 rd in class 11R in his Corolla.

Jack Maguire finished 52 nd OA in his Honda Civic.

Josh Moffett who was car 1 on the road had a troublesome event. He clipped a bank on Special Stage 1 (SS1), causing a spin before he retired after SS5. He did rejoin the event for the final three stages and finished 98 th OA.

Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly retired on SS3 while sitting 2 nd OA.

A third Moffett brother (Tommy) retired on SS7.

Conor Mohan navigating for Paul Barrett retired on SS2.

Monaghan Motor Club on top in Border Navigation Championship!

Ballinodeman Conor Mohan along with Clones man Martin Tynan were crowned
Squealing Pig Monaghan Border Navigation Trial Champions for the 2023/24
season.

Although not a competing crew together, they both did enough to claim an extremely hard fought championship victory. In fact, a tiebreak was required to establish the drivers champion as both Martin Tynan and StoneBridge man Derek Mackarel were tied on 52 points after the five rounds.
Luckily for Martin, he had claimed the overall victory on the final round in Donegal which allowed him the championship on rule 9.2 which counted the number of overall wins in the current championship. Martin’s one win to Dereks zero.

Longford man Shane Dalton finished 3 rd overall, just a single point in arrears (51).

Things were also very tight on the navigators side as Conor Mohan finished on 55 points with both David McCrudden and Conor Boylan finishing on 52 points.

In the novice class, Gretchen Swinburne finished 4 th navigator with Shane and Eoghan Farrell finishing 3 rd . Ciaran McGorman finished 2 nd Driver and Martin Swinburne/Aaron McGorman finished as class
winners and therefore were awarded the Charlie Adams perpetual cup.

The cup is awarded to the winning Novice pair in memory of the late Charlie Adams.

In the Semi-Expert class Eoghan Corr and Molly Maguire finished 3 rd .
Class winners were Declan Tynan and Aaron McElroy.

Ryan Treanor finished 3 rd in the Expert class, Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes finished off 2 nd and Andrew
Mackarel/Greg Shinnors finished 1 st in the class.

Championship sponsor Raymond Aughey congratulated all the winners and thanked everyone for
turning out for an excellent prizegiving. He also announced that The Squealing Pig will remain as Sponsor for next seasons championship. Also announced for this year’s award winners were new jackets.
First to get awards on the night were all the Clerk of the Course’s for the tremendous events they organised. Every event during the season ran as planned and every single control/checkpoint was manned by marshals, something that does not go unnoticed by competitors.
-Oisín Sherlock