Author: monaghanmotorclub

Ryan Treanor has kept the pressure on current National Championship leaders Derek Butler/Denis O’Donovan with a 3^rd place finish on last weekend’s 100 Isles Navigation Trial in Skibbereen. Ryan navigating for Shane Dalton finished the 80 mile event with a loss of just four minutes. Overall winners on the night were the Novice class pairing of Brian O’Mahony/Amy Gallwey. They completed the event with a total of 1 mark from the ITC section near the end of the event. 2^nd overall went to Butler/O’Donovan who were also down just 1 mark, but lost out on the win due to the Novice beats Expert tiebreaker rule.

The navigation began just north of Skibbereen on the R637 and then headed toward the villages of Leap and Drinagh. At Time Point 3 competitors were handed plot and bash for the location of TP4. The p&b was in the form of a route card with the TP4’s grid reference muddled between other plots for TPs received before the event start. The approach and departure directions were also swapped around, making it imperative that navigators read the instruction on the top of the sheet. The exact same format of p&b was handed out at TP5 for the location of TP6. TPs 4 and 6 were both located on farm lanes at Cloonkeen. Most crews managed this section without any problems apart from dropping time due to the narrowness and slippiness of the farm lanes as well as the limited time allowed to plot the locations and get there.

Martin Swinburne/Gretchen Swinburne made their first trip south after Gretchen took up the sport at the start of the season. They unfortunately missed Via 1 and instead continued to TP3 and therefore received 20 marks. They also picked up 2 marks at TP4 and 1 at TP5.

Apart from TP9, accessed via a short farm lane at Ballyriree the next few check points were all on public roads which caused no issues for a majority of the entries. The biggest issue here was to make sure navigators didn’t check in too early to the check points and receive 50 marks. This error did occur to two crews during this section.

TP13 was very nearly unlucky for Dalton/Treanor as the TP was located in a farm yard. They missed the entrance to the farm yard and Kelly/Sherlock actually arrived to the TP first. Luckily for the pair the timing was quite relaxed and they didn’t pick up any penalties as they were still within their allowed time.

TPs 14 and 15 were located at a farm near Corran South. Heading into the farm the first time, competitors had to go around the front of a house to receive the correct approach before departing right, down an extremely narrow overgrown former public road. Kelly/Sherlock were losing some time through this section following a slight overshoot and Butler/O’Donovan overtook them the during the second pass through the farm when they took a left turn too early going to TP15.

 Kelly/Sherlock were unable to overtake Butler/O’Donovan on the way to TP16 or make back any time due to the short distance and as the approach was through a very muddy and twisty farm lane which included a river crossing. Time did eventually catch up with them during the p&b herringbone diagram that was handed out at TP16 for TP17. The distances on the tulip diagram weren’t matching perfectly for them through this section and they took their time to make sure they didn’t make any mistakes through the farm at Knockavoher and receive a wrong approach or miss the time point completely. They dropped 1 minute here and a further minute into TP18. Dalton/Treanor also lost their clean sheet here when they picked up a 2 mark penalty for lateness.

Kelly/Sherlock’s night would take a turn for the worse during the last p&b section. They caught up to and overtook Dalton/Treanor (it took them longer to plot the locations of TP21,22 and TP23) on the way to TP21 but unfortunately, they clipped a rock hidden in the undergrowth through another extremely overgrown former public road at Ballyroe, which immediately deflated the driver side front tyre. Luckily Dalton/Treanor were able to get past when the track widened out as Kelly/Sherlock would drop 3 minutes as they continued the mile and a half journey on the flat. They would also drop 4 minutes on the way to TP22 as they changed the wheel after TP21. Butler/O’Donovan would pick up their only mark of the event in this section as they arrived a minute late to TP22, mostly due to how slippy the grey farm lane was on the approach to the TP at Madranna.

The ITC section began at the relaxed TP25, and on having taken back the full allowed 5 minutes, Kelly/Sherlock found the road completely blocked by the other competitors who had got passed when they were changing the wheel. Having been signed for to start the ITC section at 01:04 they weren’t able to leave the until shortly after 01:06. Luckily for them, the hidden ITC check car was located over nine and a half miles away and they managed to make most of the lost 2 minutes up and received only 1 mark for being between 10-19 seconds too late. Dalton/Treanor would drop 2 marks on this tricky ITC.

From the end of the ITC section, it was a straight forward run as the event headed back towards Skibbereen and the final control.

In the end O’Mahony/Gallwey scored their first ever event win together with only one mark to their name. Butler/O’Donovan would rue the minute they dropped at TP22 as it cost them what would have been four wins from four in the County Cork events this season. Dalton/Treanor finished 3^rd on 4 marks with Kelly/Sherlock 5^th overall on 7 marks. Their penalties along with everyone else’s were scrapped for TP21 when it was found out that the shortest route was in fact using a farm lane right beside the TP. Some crews went this route only to find the farm lanes closed off which dropped them considerable time. The Clerk of the Course correctly scrapped this TP as a non goer should have been given out before the event began.

The Swinburne team finished an excellent 2^nd in the beginner class, finishing on a total of 72 marks. A bulk of their marks were from missing Via 1, TP17 and TP22.

The Munster Navigation Championship came to a close with the 100 Isles event. Butler/Donovan finished 1^st overall with Dalton/Treanor finishing 2^nd and Kelly/Sherlock finishing 3^rd.

The National Navigation, and Border Navigation Championships

continue this weekend with the Midland Motor Club event. Patrick Brides and Sam Johnston have laid out a 65 mile route based out of Creggs National School on the Roscommon/Galway border. Late entries will be accepted.

Entries can be sent via email to shanequinnrallying@gmail.com.

Both championships continue the following weekend with Cavan Motor Club hosting the penultimate round of both championships. Sean McConnell and Anthony McDonald have laid out an 80 mile event in the greater Crosskeys area. Entry forms are available now. 

Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan had a challenging opening round of the Junior World Rally Championship.

The Swedish event which takes place on snow got off to a great start for them with a 4^th fastest stage time on the Thursday Night Umeå super special stage. They settled in well on Friday as they continued to learn the car and the gain experience at this level. A 3^rd fastest time on SS4 (even with a spin) showed just how quickly they were picking up the pace against far more experienced competition, they even beat Grégoire Munster through this 25.81km test. Munster was voted the World Rally Championship’s most improved driver in 2022 and back in December was announced as one of the lead drivers in M-Sport Ford’s WRC2 campaign this season.

At first service they held 5^th overall but unfortunately on SS6 they clipped a snowbank almost flat in 5^th gear. The impact with the bank catapulted the car into the air and sent them off the road and caused significant damage to the car and gave the Eamonn and Conor quite a scare when the car scooped a large amount of snow in through the collapsed front window. Luckily, they both were fine and the M-Sport Poland mechanics go the car repaired overnight and they were able to restart on Saturday morning.

With any hope of a good result gone, they spent Saturday getting the confidence back up after the crash and battling some mechanical issue which was causing the car to stall and cut out at times, but they persevered and even managed another 3^rd fastest stage time on SS12. On SS13 the light bar on their car would break off over a jump and left them with very poor visibility over the two remaining night stages which added up to just over 27kms.

Bad luck was back again Sunday morning when a large stone imbedded in a snowbank hit the car and bent a wishbone forcing them to retire for good.  Despite all the hardship endured they are already looking forward to the next round in Croatia. The tarmac there will be a bit more familiar. The Croatia rally takes place from the 20^th to the 23^rd of April.

The Sligo Pallets Irish Forestry Championship

Kicks off this weekend with the Killarney Forestry Rally. Top Monaghan seed is Derek Mackarel along with his Cork navigator Eamonn Creedon. They are seeded number 8 in their Mitsubishi Evo IX. Arthur Kierans is navigating for Ryan Caldwell seeded number 15 in a Skoda R5. In the two wheel drive category Michael Conlon and Paul McPhillips lead the way in their MkII Ford Escort. Steven Corey/Ella Ryan are seeded just two places behind them also in a MkII Escort and Ryan Farrell is making the trip south, navigating for Dylan Eves in their Ford Fiesta.

Monaghan Motor Club are hosting an open meeting on Wednesday night the 22nd of February.

Topics include the introduction of a marshal’s points system for competitors, the 2024 Monaghan Stages Rally, Pedal Car event and Navigation and Endurance Trials.

The open meeting will take place in the Four Seasons Hotel and starts at 8pm sharp.

PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com 

Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes began the defence of their Irish Tarmac Championship title

On last weekend’s opening round, the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally, the pair finished the two day event in 2^nd place, 12.7 seconds in arrears of Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson after a very tough battle over 13 stages. Sam Moffett/Keith Moriarty making a return to the championship finished in 3^rd place in their band new Hyundai i20 N Rally2

The ceremonial start began as usual in Eyre Square, where the teams get to show off their cars and sponsors as well as have a quick interview before heading to overnight Parc Fermé at Galway Racecourse.

It was an early start on Saturday, with the first stage beginning at 08:45. Saturday’s itinerary would consist of three stages ran three times for a total of nine stages and 111 kilometres. On the first special stage, ‘Coldwood’, Sam Moffett got his new car off to a perfect start scoring the stage win by a mere 0.6s from Cathan McCourt/Liam Moynihan. Sam commented that his tires worked really well for him. Evans/Jackson finished third fastest just a further 0.4s in arrears. Damien Connolly on the notes for Robert Barrable finished the stage in fourth place, with Moffett/Hayes finishing in fifth and said that he was too steady through the 7.5km test.

 Skehanagh was the name of SS2, just south of the village of Craughwell, and it was here that Moffett/Hayes put the foot down and secured their first stage win of the season and moved into the lead of the event. They completed the 15.24km stage on a time of 7:31.9, 3.2s faster than the car of Barrable/Connolly, who moved up into 3^rd place overall. Evans/Jackson went third fastest, just 0.4s slower than Barrable. Sam Moffett could only manage the eighth fastest time on the stage, some 8s down on his brother. Commitment issues on the tricky sections were the reasons for this time loss he reported at the stage end. The final stage of the opening loop, ‘Eden Hill’ was cancelled when a resident decided to block the road, so it was back into service for a quick check over of the cars and a change of tyres. At first service, Josh Moffett held a slender lead of 0.8s over Evans with Barrable in 3^rd place, just 1.9s down on Moffett. The racing was so tight that the top seven cars were all within 7s of each other. 

The weather took a turn for the worse for middle loop, when the cold and windy morning changed to a cold and wet noon. Unfortunately for the drivers, they had all left service before the rain came, so all had the wrong tyre package for the next three stages. On SS4 ‘Coldwood 2’, Sam Moffett once again set the fastest time, going 1.2s faster than the car of McCourt/Moynihan. Josh finished the stage in 3^rd place, just a further 0.3s further back. All drivers noted how slippy the stage had become. Evans, who finished the stage with the fourth fastest time mentioned that he thought he had a puncture not long after the start due to how much the car was moving around on him. Sam was over the moon with his stage time as he was sure that he was on the wrong tyre compound. This stage win for Sam moved him into 2^nd overall, dropping Evans into 3^rd.

By the time SS5 began, the rain was non stop which left the remaining two stages far slippier than SS4. On this stage, Josh had an overshoot when the throttle in his Hyundai stuck open on the approach to a turn square right leaving him no choice to turn left and spin the car around on the handbrake before continuing on. It was an excellent recovery and showed why it is extremely important to have all escape roads clear of spectators. Sam took the stage win here by 0.5s from McCourt. Evans finished third fastest, 4.6s down on Sam’s benchmark while Josh dropped a full 8s, most of which was lost having the overshoot. This time loss dropped him to 4^th overall, 5.3s in arrears of his older brother.

On SS6, which was everyone’s first run through the previously cancelled ‘Eden Hill’, Evans scored his first stage win with a time of 7:25.0 which was 1.2s quicker than Moffett/Hayes. Sam lost the lead of the rally on this stage, dropping 8.4s to the stage winner and dropped from 1^st to 4^th, but still within touching distance as he still was only 3.7s off the lead. Sam said his time loss was from not being committed enough through the middle section of the 14.2km stage.

At second service, Evans/Jackson now held a slender lead of 1.8s over Moffett/Hayes, with McCourt/Moynihan in 3^rd place, just 3s off the lead. Moffett/Moriarty held 4^th and Barrable/Connolly held 5^th. The racing was still mighty tight as just 6s separated 1^st to 5^th. Garry Jennings/Arthur Kierans held 6^th place, but were 20.5s off the lead.

On SS7, ‘Coldwood 3’ Sam Moffett couldn’t make it a hattrick of stage wins as he clipped a stone and both Josh and McCourt beat him through the opening stage of the days final loop. Barrable had a half spin on this stage and finished the stage 11s down on fastest. Evans finished the stage 7^th fastest and said he’d a great run, but that the times aren’t reflecting that.

Another stage win on SS8 followed for Josh, finishing the stage 0.4s faster than McCourt. Sam finished the stage in third fastest, 5.4s down on his brother and commented that he was very wide on some corners and that it scared him a bit. Jennings had an excellent stage, finishing fourth fastest in his ten year old Fiesta R5. Regrettably, this stage would end Barrable/Connolly’s day as a fire started underneath their Citroën. Frantic waving from some spectators drew their attention and they immediately pulled over and got the fire out without any major issue, but their day was done. Evans finished the stage fifth fastest and still couldn’t understand where he was losing the time as he continued to feel he was driving very well.

Josh made it three stage wins from three on the days final loop, stopping the clock on SS9 5.8s faster than McCourt. In fact, Josh’s time was so great that, when Sam was told of Josh’s time at the end of the stage, he refused to believe it. Sam had finished the stage fourth fastest, a full 11s seconds behind Josh. Evans was third fastest, 8.9 seconds down and on hearing of Josh’s time said that he didn’t know if “he’d lost something, or if Josh had found something.” After the days final stage, it was back to the Galway Racecourse for overnight Parc Fermé.

After the opening day Moffett/Hayes held a 7.8s lead over 2^nd place McCourt/Moynihan. Moffett/Moriarty held 3^rd overall, 19.3s off the lead with Evans/Jackson a further 0.6s behind. Jennings/Kierans were in 5^th place, 43.1s off 1^st place.

Frosty weather greeted crews as they awoke Sunday morning. Sunday’s stages consisted of two stages repeated three times. SS10 ‘Black Road’ had to be cancelled as the mountain stage was treacherous with ice, as temperatures were still around minus 2 degrees. Luckily, SS11 ‘Ballydugan’ wasn’t in the mountains, so it ran as planned.

Evans went quickest on the days opener, setting a time 5.5s faster than Barrable/Connolly, who had repaired their car and returned under rally2 rules. Josh finished the stage in third place, dropping 5.7s to Evans. Unfortunately for McCourt/Moynihan they day came to an abrupt end when they were caught out on shiny tar and cold tyres and crashed out not long after the start line. Due to there being only a 30s interval between cars, Sam Moffett arrived before McCourt could get the OK board displayed, so Sam slowed down to make sure both occupants were uninjured before continuing. Sam received the same stage time as Josh due to having to slow down at the scene of the accident. Evans’s stunning stage time was enough to overtake Sam and go into 2^nd overall, but was still 14.2s in arrears of Josh.

With the temperatures increasing, the Black Road stage ran as planned for the middle loop of stages. Both the Moffett’s had a stage to forget here, as Josh hit a bale in a chicane before having another overshoot and dropped a huge 19s. Sam fared no better, sliding into a wall and stalling the car. Such was the time loss that Evans was beginning to catch Sam on the stage. Patrick O’Brien/Stephen O’Brien finished the stage second fastest and were having an excellent event especially considering most of Patrick’s career was spent on the gravel of forest rallying. Once again Evans went fastest to take the lead of the rally by 4.8s from Josh who managed to only drop one position. Sam still held onto 3^rd place such was the gap back to Callum Devine/Noel O’Sullivan in 4^th.

On the second pass of Ballydugan, Josh had his third overshoot of the weekend as he was pushing to the max to try reel in Evans. The overshoot fortunately only cost him around 3.5s, but it was enough to allow Evans to extend his lead out to 8.3s with just two stages to go. Sam finished the stage third fastest but held a comfortable gap back to Jonny Greer/Niall Burns who had overtaken Devine by 1.1s to go into 4^th.

On the penultimate stage of the event, O’Brien got his first stage win of the weekend and in the Tarmac Championship, much to the shock of stage end interviewer Killian Duffy. He completed the stage 4.6s faster than rally leader Evans. Josh finished the stage sixth fastest and said that the grip levels were changing so much that it was hard to commit.

Despite holding an 11.1s lead with only the last stage to complete, Evans still charged on and ended the stage setting the joint fastest time along with Greer/Burns to take a famous win on the opening round of the 2023 Tarmac Championship. The O’Brien’s finished the stage third fastest, just 1s down on the benchmark with Barrable/Connolly finishing fourth fastest. Josh cruised to the end without too much risk and finished the stage fifth fastest as he knew Evans was too far ahead for to be beaten so close to the end. Sam also took a cautious approach to the last stage and finished twelfth fastest, knowing his 3^rd place overall wasn’t under threat and that it was still a great start to the championship.

In the end Evans/Jackson took the win by 12.7s from Moffett/Hayes with Moffett/Moriarty 3^rd, 42s off the lead. Greer/Burns snatched 4^th overall off Devine/O’Sullivan by 1.5s through the final 14.76kms of Ballydugan 3.

O’Brien/O’Brien finished an excellent 6^th overall, despite a big moment of the last stage, when their Skoda slid wide around a long fast right hand bend. Jennings/Kierans finished right behind them in 7^th OA. Brendan Cumiskey/Martin Connolly finished 15^th OA in their VW Polo. Piaras O’Ceallachain guided Brian Lavelle to 17th OA and 1^st in class 13. Mickey Conlon/Domhnall Lennon finished 31^st OA and 1^st class 12. Barrable/Connolly recovered from their fire to finish 42^nd OA. Ryan Farrell guided Dylan Eves to 46^th OA and 4^th class RC4. Jack Maguire/Keith McConnon finished right behind them in 47^th OA. Paul McPhillips guided Aaron McIntyre to 51^st OA after making a return under rally2 rules.

Ashling McArdle navigating for Des Lyons retired after SS11 and Conor Foley who was on the notes for Martin McGee retired after SS7. The next round of the Tarmac Championship will take place on the 18^th/19^th of March with the West Cork Rally.

In the Junior section Jack McKenna/Damien Doherty took a hard fought win. Going into the final stage they held a 7s lead over Co. Cavan men Ben McIntyre/Andrew Wedlock. On the previous pass on the stage Ben had taken 7s out of Jack so it was very much all to play for. Unfortunately for the Cavan men, they would crash out near the start of the final stage thus allowing McKenna/Doherty a comfortable 20.5s win over 2^nd placed Jason Gorham/Aaron Connaire. This was Jack’s second Galway International Junior win in a row after winning last years event with Conor Mohan in the navigators seat.

Elsewhere, the National Navigation Championship continues this weekend with the Skibbereen 100 Isles Navigation Trial. Local man Denis O’Donovan will be looking to score his fourth win in Cork navigations this season. Meanwhile Conor Mohan will begin his Junior World Rally Championship campaign in Sweden this weekend navigating for Donegal man Eamonn Kelly in a Rally3 Ford Fiesta. The rally begins this Thursday with the Umeå Sprint superspecial stage and finishes Sunday with an extended run of the Umeå stage.

Monaghan Motor Club are hosting an open meeting on Wednesday night the 22^nd of February. Topics include the introduction of a marshals points system for competitors, the 2024 Monaghan Stages Rally, Pedal Car event and Navigation and Endurance Trials. The open meeting will take place in the Four Seasons Hotel and starts at 8pm sharp.

PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com 

The Irish Tarmac Championship kicks off this weekend with the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally. The fifteen stage two day event begins this Saturday and is based out of Loughrea. Defending champions Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes will be hoping to get their campaign off to a perfect start seeded number one in their trusted Hyundai i20 R5. Number two on the road will be the Welsh pairing of Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson who will be determined to push for the win after securing their first ever triumph on Irish tar on the last round of the 2022 Tarmac Championship, the Modern Tyres Ulster Rally.

Callum Devine/Noel O’Sullivan will be back this year seeded number four, with Sam Moffett/Keith Moriarty seeded number 5 in what’s reported to be a brand new Hyundai i20 Rally2 car. Arthur Kierans will be in the navigators seat for Garry Jennings seeded number eight in a Fiesta R5 and Damien Connolly will be on the notes for Robert Barrable and seeded number 12 in a Citroën C3 Rally2.  Brendan Cumiskey with Damien’s brother Martin Connolly are seeded right behind with number 14 on the door of their VW Polo GTI R5.

2022 Irish Forestry Championship winner and 2022 Billy Coleman award nominee Patrick O’Brien with brother Stephen on the notes are seeded seventeenth in their Skoda Fabia R5.

Other Monaghan entries include Conor Foley, Ashling McArdle, Piaras O’Ceallachain, Ryan Farrell, Paul McPhillips and Keith McConnon all in navigators seats while Mickey Conlon and Jack Maguire sit behind a steering wheel.

There is only one Monaghan entry in the junior section and it is number 1 seed Jack McKenna with Damien Dougherty calling the notes to him.

ALMC Endurance

Evin Hughes was the highest placed Monaghan entrant in the ALMC Winter Endurance Trial which took place last Saturday. Evin along with regular Dublin driver Karl O’Donoghue finished the sixteen selective event in 2^nd overall, two minutes in arrears of the Westmeath pairing of Robert Howard/Claire Murtagh. Championship runners up last year Andrew Wedlock along with Stranooden navigator Ciaran Maguire finished the event in 4^th OA and 1^st in class A2M. Robert Graham took a step out of the drivers seat for this event and navigated Dublin man Michael Connolly to 11^th OA and 2^nd in class A2N. Warren Carleton navigated Mervyn Wedlock to 13^th OA and 1^st in class F. Shane Maguire/Nichola McGuigan finished 14^th OA and 3^rd class A2N in their Mitsubishi Colt. Imants Ignatjevs/Luiza Ieremie finished 16^th OA and 1^st in class A2B. Unfortunately, Cathal McGlone/Dara McGlone failed to make the finish in their Ford Focus.

PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com

Cork Motor Club’s 1000 Shakes Navigation Trial took place last weekend. The
Inchigeelagh based event counted as round four of the National Championship
as well as the penultimate round of the Munster Navigation Championship.
The all cork team of Derek Butler/Denis O’Donovan scored a commanding win
finishing on 13 marks, well clear of Mike O’Connor Jr/Greg Shinnors who
finished 2 nd overall on 35 marks. 3 rd place went to Alan Shinnors/George
Shinnors who finished on 43 marks.
The entire event took place north of Inchigeelagh around the villages of Ré na
nDoirí, Baile Mhic Íre, Clondrohid and Cúil Aodha with first six time points
being located south of the village of Cill Na Martra. The first farm lane of the
night, a short grassy track which had to be used to avoid a double visit at TP3,
nearly caught out Darragh Kelly/Oisín Sherlock, they missed a difficult to see
left turn half way down the lane and continued further on to a dead end and a
field. For a few moments it looked like a tractor and chain job, but luckily the
car got enough grip to get them back onto the lane and they only dropped one
minute into TP5.
The first trick of the night came in the wind farm south of the village of Ré na
nDoirí. Recent road improvements through the forest changed the layout of
the forest lanes, removing some sharp corners. TP8 was located directly after
where the lane had been straightened with the approach across the old
overgrown unused part of the lane. Of the twenty entries, Butler/O’Donovan
were the only crew to get this right, with every other crew taking a wrong
approach as the new part of the road wasn’t on the map.
Via 12, TP13 and TP14 had to be accessed using numerous farm lanes around
An Rathnach Thiar. The short distance between each check point and the
demanding nature of the lanes left everyone down time by the time TP14 was
reached. Butler/O’Donovan dropped 4 marks here, while Kelly/Sherlock
dropped 3. Shane Dalton/ Ryan Treanor were down just 2 marks at TP14 while
Derek Mackarel/Conor Boylan dropped 4. Shane Maguire/Conor Maguire got
through this tricky section with the loss of 5 marks.
There was some controversy at TP16 where a road goes should have been
given for to reach the TP. Butler/O’Donovan did however know a lane existed
there, but neither Kelly/Sherlock, Mackarel/Boylan and Dalton/Treanor and a
few others knew of the lanes existence so all received 15 marks for a wrong

approach. O’Connor/Shinnors had also no knowledge of the unmapped lane,
but luckily for them they accidently went up it and avoided a WA.
Plot and bash was on the cards at TP25, with all TPs in the mountains between
Clondrohid and Carriganimmy. At TP25 grid reference plots were handed out
for TP26, TP29, TP 30 and TP31. It was imperative to plot all p&bs together as
TP30 lay on the shortest route between TP26 and TP27. Unfortunately for
Maguire/Maguire they would receive a WA at TP27 and miss TP30 and TP31 in
what would be a very costly section for the father and son team. From TP32 it
was into petrol for a well needed forty minute break after a daunting opening
half with much more to come.
The entire second half of the event was based around the village of Cúil Aodha,
which didn’t throw up many problems for the Monaghan entrant’s.
Mackarel/Boylan did have a slight scare on the ITC section directly after petrol,
after stopping at the hidden check point they went the wrong direction at the
following junction. They soon realised their error and corrected themselves but
would arrive to the end TP two minutes late. They were fortunate that the
missed junction was after the hidden check point, as with ITC sections, they are
timed to the second with a 1 mark penalty for every ten seconds early or late
arrival to the check point. Arriving two minutes late would have left the team
with a massive 12 mark penalty.
Maguire/Maguire would receive 20 marks at TP111 for a non signature before
missing TP114, TP115 and TP116 which were all p&bs. The p&bs in the second
half were also grid references and did not throw up much difficulty apart from
time loss due to the short distances and twisty roads and lanes beside Doire
Fhínín. After TP116 it was over the penultimate control just outside
Inchigeelagh before heading back to the HQ. Sherlock, Treanor and Boylan did
try and appeal the WA at TP16 due to a road goes not being given but to no
avail.
This overall win for Butler/O’Donovan has given them a considerable lead in
the National Championship as they have won the Cork Startrek, Skibbereen
Carbery and now the 1000 Shakes. The Skibbereen 100 Isles event is up next
on the calendar and a fourth overall win this season will be expected on
Denis’s home event.

Top 10

1 st Derek Butler/Denis O’Donovan (Subaru Impreza) 13 marks,

2 nd Mike O’Connor Jr/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 35m,
3 rd Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 43m,
4 th Shane Dalton/Ryan Treanor (Subaru Impreza) 45m,
5 th Derek Mackarel/Conor Boylan (Subaru Impreza) 45m,
6 th Owen Murphy/Patrick O’Leary (Subaru Impreza) 47m,
7 th Darragh Kelly/Oisín Sherlock (Subaru Impreza) 51m,
8 th Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill (Subaru Impreza) 110m,
9 th James Boland/John McCay (Subaru Legacy) 133m,
10 th Shane Maguire/Conor Maguire (Subaru Impreza) 171m.
PRO Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com

Derek Mackarel and Conor Boylan, scored a commanding win on last
weekend’s January Navigation Trial hosted by Monaghan Motor Club. Clerk of
the Course Eoghan Corr laid out a very challenging 110 mile event spread out
between Clones, Smithborough, Killeevan, Scotshouse and Drum.
The navigation began just north of the town in Tirnahinch before a two and a
half mile road section to Time Point 2 beside Tynan Motors. Here a herringbone
tulip diagram plot and bash was handed out which brought crews to TP3 via an
extremely slippy grey lane at Gortnawinny and across an unmapped field to
reach the TP before re-joining the grey lane out to the public road. Thirteen
crews were caught out here by missing the TP altogether. October COCs Pakie
Duffy/Evin Hughes were the first to miss the TP followed by the October
winners, Aidan Keenan/Sean Marron.
From here the event moved to the Smithborough area, taking in two farms at
Loughoony and Lismeagh. The farm at Lismeagh would put a dampener on
many competitors night as a tricky stop sign at the exit of the farm left many
with 50 penalties as they failed to bring the car to a complete stop. An ITC
section took the event from Smithborough to the townland of Cashlan beside
Garran cross roads and TP10. From TP10 it was over to Via 1 where a big trick
lay in store. The shortest route from Via 1 to TP11 involved traveling a part of
the ITC route, however anyone who did not plot where the ITC check marshal
was located would end up getting double visit penalties. The correct route
involved heading in what felt like the complete wrong direction to avoid picking
up the 30 penalties. In total ten crews got caught with DVs here.
TP11 threw up a lot of problems for competitors as a shed that should have been
closed off, remained open and resulted in the road goes tulip instructing
navigators to proceed through the shed which led to wrong approaches at the
TP. The first six cars on the road all did this, however Mackarel/Boylan on
seeing the commotion, reversed back out of the shed without being seen and got
away without any penalties. Unfortunately for Martin Tynan/David McCrudden
they were not as lucky and they were hit with a double visit trying to do the
same as Mackarel/Boylan. Darragh Kelly/Oisín Sherlock’s event fell apart here
as the confusion here caused Oisín to direct Darragh to TP15 instead of TP12,
dropping them a lot of time, and putting a lot of stress on Damien
Treanor/Jonathan McGovern who were doing course car, as they thought the
event had caught up on them, and the gates not opened yet.

At TP13 a box tulip p&b was handed out, some of the boxes were mixed
around, which many crews didn’t realise until too late resulting in many wrong
approaches and non visits. Both Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan and
Kelly/Sherlock were caught out here, taking a wrong approach each. With
having dropped so much time between TP 11 and TP14, Kelly/Sherlock skipped
TP15, TP19 T20 TP21 to get back under the allowed 15 minutes max lateness.
TPs 19 and 20 were both on box tulip p&bs in the Drumreenagh and Latroe
areas. This p&b section proved very difficult as only 9 crews visited TP19 and
11 TP20. From here the event moved towards Ture and through a flooded road
at Annahare outside the Hilton Demesne before a well needed half way fuel
stop at Scotshouse.
At the half way point number 3 seeds Mackarel/Boylan held a commanding lead
on 13 marks. In 2 nd place was Emmet Sherry/Ciaran Geaney down 70m, 30 of
which was for an ITC DV and 20 for a non visit at TP13. In 3 nd place was
Dereks father Andrew Mackarel with Greg Shinnors navigating. They were
down 92m which included receiving 50m for a stop sign fault and 15 for a WA
at TP11.
An ITC section started off the second half of the event and it ended at TP28 at
Lattacapple. The first trick of the second half took place at TP31. Expecting to
receive a plot and bash for TP32, competitors were informed that they received
it on a p&b earlier in the event. Having threw all previous sheets into the back
of the car, Ciaran Tynan had to get out and search each of the sheets for the
crucial information. Both Boylan and Sherlock had spied the information earlier
and had plotted TP32, but both had failed to notice the departure out of TP31 so
they too couldn’t proceed to the next TP. Eventually all three took a chance and
went left out of the TP in convoy with Kelly/Sherlock leading the way. The left
turn fortunately proved to be correct.
The next few TPs would involve constant leapfrogging. On the way to TP33,
Mackarel/Boylan took a longer road section and when they arrived
Tynan/McCrudden had got in front of them, and on the way to TP34,
Kelly/Sherlock took a turn too early and Tynan/Tynan along with
Mackarel/Boylan (who had got back in front of Tynan/McCrudden) overtook
them in turn. At TP 34, a tricky farm lane at Creeran, Tynan/Tynan took a turn
too early in the farm and Kelly/Sherlock once again got in front of them while
Mackarel/Boylan were now out a head on their own.
TP35 was a p&b on a newly constructed lane at Drumgramph. The entrance to
the lane was well concealed with two dump trucks blocking the way.
Kelly/Sherlock were fortunate to survive this section as they went around one of

the trucks and ended up being momentarily stuck and while they were praying
that the car would catch grip, Tynan/Tynan once again got back in front via
driving under the back of the dumpers which were parked back to back leaving
just enough room for a car to pass. The approach and departure directions for
this TP were swapped around and anyone failing to notice would be met with a
WA. Mackarel/Boylan and Tynan/McCrudden along with nine others were
caught out here.
The next p&b was handed out at TP38. The box tulip diagram brought crews
through an exceptionally overgrown lane at Gortgranard before turning left on
the exit and reaching TP39 located 50m over the public road. It was essential to
mark this TP on the map as it was located along the shortest route between
TP41 at Killygone and Via 3 on the main Clones-Newbliss road at Altartate
Glebe. The overgrown lane had to be travelled a second time to avoid a DV
penalty at TP39.
A short trip over the road brought competitors through another farm lane at
Annaghkilly for TP42. It was imperative to have the car windows up at all times
through this lane as Oisín Sherlock found out when, on approaching the TP, he
put the window down, just as he spied a large muddy puddle approaching, and
before he could get the window back up, Darragh duly hit the puddle sending
the contents in through the open window covering Oisín face and jacket.
The last p&b (TP43) was located at the end of a farm lane at Creevelea, which
had to be negotiated using a road goes tulip diagram handed out in the hall
before the event began. The penultimate TP (TP47) was located at the end of
the grey lane used for TP3 at the start of the night, before heading to Via 4
which had to be approached via a road goes behind a house at Magheranure.
Kelly/Sherlock who were running first on the road turned to go in through a
field gate expecting a farm lane, but were met with an open field, second on the
road Tynan/McCrudden on seeing them reversing back turned off their car
lights and swung in the correct entrance before Kelly/Sherlock could notice.
Luckily, they got themselves corrected and avoided a WA. At Long last it was
back to the HQ for a well needed cup of tea after another very difficult but
enjoyable nights driving.
In the end Mackarel/Boylan maintained a very comfortable win by some 68
marks from the Semi-Expert crew of Emmet Sherry/Ciaran Geaney. In 3 rd place
was Mackarel/Shinnors on 101 marks. They would rue a 50 penalty for not
coming to a complete stop after TP 5 as it cost them 2 nd overall.

In the classes it was Mackarel/Shinnors 1 st Expert, Tynan/Tynan 2 nd on 111m
and Tynan/McCrudden 3 rd on 114.
The Semi-Expert class went to Sherry/Geaney in their Toyota Starlet. 2 nd went
to Damien Treanor/Christopher McMahon on 172m with Garrett Collins/Patrick
O’Sullivan finishing 3 rd on 195m.
Ben McIntyre/Declan Tynan won the Novice class on 172m. 2 nd was Kieran
McCarra/Adam Langan on 218m, some consolation after Kieran ruined his
brand new runners (just out of the box that day) after taking a wrong turn late in
the night and bogging the car. The runners were ruined as he had to wade
through a considerable amount of cow dung to try push the car out. 3 rd in the
class went to Shane Maguire/Ciaran Maguire who finished on 366m.
The Beginner class was won by the brother sister crew of Shane Maguire/Molly
Maguire, finishing on 310m. 2 nd in class was Ciaran McGorman/Aaron
McGorman finishing on 391m. 3 rd in class went to Martin Swinburne/Gretchen
Swinburne who finished on 415m.
Eoghan thanked all the land owners and residents along the route for allowing
the event to take place on their property and travel past their houses. He also
thanked all the marshals who spent hours out and about to cover all 56 check
points and stop signs. A big thank you was also extended to the Cúil Darach Bar
and Restaurant for the excellent food and venue.
Top 10

1 st Derek Mackarel/Conor Boylan (Subaru Impreza) 33 marks,
2 nd Emmet Sherry /Ciaran Geaney (Toyota Starlet) 101m,
3 rd Andrew Mackarel/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 108m,
4 th Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 111m,
5 th Martin Tynan/David McCrudden (Subaru Impreza) 114m,
6 th Darragh Kelly/Oisín Sherlock (Subaru Impreza) 134m,
7 th Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 142m,
8 th Damien Treanor/Christopher McMahon (Subaru Legacy) 172m,
9 th Ben McIntyre/Declan Tynan (Subaru Legacy) 172m,
10 th Garrett Collins/Patrick O’Sullivan (Subaru Impreza) 195m.

The National Navigation Trial Championship resumes next weekend with the
Cork Motor Club’s 1000 Shakes event. Regs and entry are available now, while
the next Monaghan Motor Club event will be the March Navigation on Saturday
the 11th.

Mohan Set for World Stage

Huge news was announced last week that local man Conor Mohan will contest
the Junior World Rally Championship sitting alongside his Donegal driver
Eamonn Kelly. The pair will contest the five round series in an M-Sport Ford
Fiesta Rally3 car. The championship begins on the snow of Sweden on the 9 th of
February. The final four rounds will take place on the tarmac of Croatia and the
gravel of Sardinia, Estonia and Greece. Eamonn took part in Artic Lapland
Rally last weekend to get some much needed experience on snow. Matt
Edwards sat in in place of Conor as Conor was at the Autosport show in the UK
representing the team at the British Rally Championship stand.
PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com