Author: monaghanmotorclub

Derek Mackarel was once again the top local competitor in the forests at last
weekend’s McKelvey Asbestos Bushwhacker Rally organised by Omagh Motor
Club. Derek back with regular navigator Eamonn Creedon finished the event in
11 th overall and 1 st in class 8 and as usual of late the highest placed non
R5/Rally2 car in their Mitsubishi Evo IX . Right behind in 12 th place OA were
British Rally Championship National Section leaders Alan Carmichael and
Arthur Kierans in their Hyundai i20 R5, just 3.7 seconds in arears.
Gary McCrudden guided Alan Smith to 15 th OA and 1 st in the 2wd section. Kaine
Treanor navigated Marty McKenna to 25 th OA. Paul Kelly guided David Condell
to 27 th OA and 3 rd class 7 in their Escort Mk II. Ryan Farrell navigating for
Damien McGauran finished 28 th OA and 1 st class 6. Steven Corey/Ella Ryan
finished 31 st OA and 4 th class 7. Conor Boylan navigated Adam Semple to 53 rd
OA and 9 th class 4. Mickey Conlon/Paul McPhillips had a tough day and finished
73 rd OA. Martin Hughes navigating for Ciaran McCullagh retired on SS6.

Motor Club AGM

Our Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday evening 28th
September at 8pm in the Four Seasons Hotel. Our invitation is open to all those
who are interested in motorsport, to come long and discuss topics and events
for the upcoming season. We will have a special address from the President of
our governing body- Motorsport Ireland. This is our first AGM in person since
2019 so please attend where we can collectively discuss matters concerning
our sport.

October Navigation Trial

The new navigation season is fast approaching. Evin Hughes and Pakie Duffy
have took on the role of organising the first event. The Navigation will take
place on Saturday 1 st October and will be based out of the Pearse Bros GAA
Centre, Ballybay. The event will be 80 miles approximately. Regulations and
online entry form are available online and on the Motor Club Facebook page.
Entry’s close Monday evening the 26 th . As ever, plenty of marshals will be
needed for the running of the event, so anyone available to marshal are asked
to let the Motor Club or Evin know as soon as possible.
PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com

Wexford Stages Rally

Richard Moffett and Darragh Kelly were the highest placed Monaghan crew at last weekend’s Wexford Stages Rally. The pair finished the two day, 18 stage event in 5^th place overall and 2^nd in class 14. They had been running as high as 3^rd OA but dropped back on the treacherous Sunday stages, which included a big moment when the car caught a huge puddle of water on the inside of a fast left hand corner sending the crew up the road in a 360° spin. (The video is available to view on the Moffett Motorsport FB page).

Paul Kelly navigated David Condell to 13^th OA and 7^th class 14. Justin Smith/James McEneaney finished 19^th OA and 1^st class 12. Nigel Brennan/James Sherry finished 43^rd OA and 4^th class 11F.

Ryan Farrell navigating for Richard Harney retired after SS2. Paul McPhillips navigating for John Boland had an off on SS7, the team managed to get the car repaired overnight and they returned on Sunday, before mechanical trouble retired them for good on SS15. Shane Farrell on the notes for JT Warnock were having a great weekend up until the last stage, where they broke the crown wheel and pinion on the start line, cruelly ending their weekend.

Andrew Purcell along with Josh Moffett’s Tarmac Championship navigator and local man Andy Hayes won the event in their Skoda Fabia R5. They finished the event with 31.2 seconds to spare over long time leaders James Stafford/Thomas Scallan.  Stafford had a commanding lead of 53.6s over Purcell after day one in his RWD Darrian T90 GTR. However, with the torrential rain over Sundays nine stages, the lightness of the Darrian left that Stafford was unable to match the grip levels of the Skoda and thus dropped back to 2^nd OA on SS15. Former WRC star and Flying Finn, Mikko Hirvonen made the trip over to take part. He finished a fantastic 6^th OA and 3^rd class 14.

Elsewhere, Brendan Cumiskey and Martin Connolly finished 12^th OA on the Galloway Hills Rally in their Ford Fiesta Rally4.

Show and Shine

Monaghan Motor Club would like to thank all who turned up to the Show and Shine event at the Four Seasons Hotel on Sunday last. A large turnout of cars came despite the heavy rain. A huge thank you must go to the organising team and the local businesses who donated spot prizes. Congratulations to Marco Lennon who won the Best car on Display award.  All proceeds of the event will be donated to SOSAD. SOSAD Ireland is a non-profit organisation that provides free counselling services to people who are suffering with-Suicidal Ideation, Self Harming, Depression, Stress and Anxiety or If you simply need to talk. More information is available at www.sosadireland.ie.

Motor Club AGM

Our Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday evening 28th September at 8pm in the Four Seasons Hotel. Our invitation is open to all those who are interested in motorsport, to come long and discuss topics and events for the upcoming season. We will have a special address from the President of our governing body- Motorsport Ireland. This is our first AGM in person since 2019 so please attend where we can collectively discuss matters concerning our sport.

PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com

Conor Mohan along with Eamonn Kelly have scored their third overall win in the Junior section of the British Rally Championship. The pair finished the Get Connected Rali Ceredigion, round 5 of the championship with a 49.3 second advantage over fellow Irish men and closest championship rivals Kyle White/Sean Topping.

The rally began on Friday with two passes of the Aberystwyth street stage (SS1, SS2) before heading into the proper closed road stages which were to be contested in the dark. After SS2 Kelly/Mohan lay 1s behind White/Topping, but out on the proper stages, Kelly went 9.2s faster on the 5.31km SS3 Glan yr Afon to take the over night lead due to the final stage being cancelled because of an earlier accident.

Day two consisted of a further eight stages. And immediately Kelly/Mohan ran into trouble. Half way through SS5, the longest of the event, they had an impact with a wall which resulted in a bent rear axle on their Rally4 Ford Fiesta. Luckily the damage wasn’t terminal, and they managed to complete the following three stages and amazingly with three stage winning times to hold a 36s lead at midday service.

On SS9, a repeat run over the stage they had their earlier accident on, Kelly/Mohan scored an astonishing stage win by over 20s to extend their lead to just shy of a minute. On the following stage they would however drop 5.1s to White/Topping after suffering a puncture four corners from the stage end. Having left final service with only one spare tyre they sensibly backed off over the final two stages to reduce the risk of last minute drama and secured the rally win and more importantly the Junior British Rally Championship for Eamonn. Eamonn secured the win thanks to a well selected ‘Joker’ round at the Jim Clark Rally.

A ‘Joker’ round is where a driver can select an event to score a max of 5 bonus points providing, they win the event. On the Jim Clarke, Eamonn and Conor did indeed score the overall win, meaning Eamonn came away with a full 30 points rather than the usual 25. Closest rival Kyle White selected the Grampian Forest Rally as his ‘Joker’ event, but would fail to make the finish and thus sored no event points or bonus points.  Eamonn currently has 116 points and even with two more rounds to take place, he cannot be beaten due to the championship having two dropped scores, where the competitor disregards their two lowest points hauls.  Strangely, the ‘Joker’ rounds don’t count for navigators meaning that despite Conor navigating for Eamonn for the entire championship, he has not secured the championship win. With two rounds still to take place, Conor needs to finish ahead of Sean Topping on just one of the two remaining rounds to secure the Navigators title.

Arthur Kierans guided Alan Carmichael to their fourth win in the BRC National Rally Championship finishing the event with almost a 3:30s advantage over 2^nd place Craig Jones/Ian Taylor.

Lakeland Stages Rally

Derek Mackarel and Emmet Sherry were the highest placed Monaghan crew at the Lakeland Forest Rally just outside Enniskillen last Saturday. They finished 8^th OA, and once again Derek was the highest placed non R5/Rally2 competitor. Gary McCrudden navigated Alan Smyth to 10^th OA and 1^st class 7. Paul Kelly guided David Condell 12^th OA and 2^nd class 7. Ryan Farrell on the notes for Fergal McGuinness finished 35^th OA and 2^nd class 6. Declan McKenna navigating for Bryan Jardine retired on SS2.

Show and Shine

Monaghan Motor Club are hosting a Show & Shine event with all proceeds being donated to SOSAD.  Date/Time: Sunday 11^th September, 12-4pm. Venue: Four Seasons Hotel (Rear Car Park). Admission: €20 per car on show-Students half price (With student card). General admission by donations please. Prize for best presented Car. To register to show your car at the event, please direct message the Monaghan Motor Club Facebook page.

Cavan MVAT

Mickey Conlon, Kieran McCarra and James O’Reilly were the sole Monaghan competitors at the Cavan Multi Venue Autotest on Sunday last. Mickey finished 7^th OA and 3^rd in class B, Kieran finished 8^th OA and 2^nd class C and James finished 19^th OA.

Motor Club AGM

Our Annual General Meeting will take place on Wednesday evening 28^th September at 8pm in the Four Seasons Hotel. Our invitation is open to all those who are interested in motorsport, to come long and discuss topics and events for the upcoming season. We will have a special address from the President of our governing body- Motorsport Ireland. This is our first AGM in person since 2019 so please attend where we can collectively discuss matters concerning our sport.

Navigation Trial Classes

Navigation Trial classes continue this Friday night at 8pm in the Sean Mac Diarmada GAA Club grounds, Three Mile House.

PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com

The Squealing Pig Border Navigation Trial Championship awards night took place last Friday night in the Squealing Pig Monaghan. The awards covered the previous two seasons as no awards followed the 2019/20 season due to the pandemic. Due to being a local championship, with rounds in Monaghan, Cavan and Midlands there was a heavy presence of Monaghan winners over both seasons. In the 2019/20 season, the Novice class finished as follows, 1^st Francis McElvaney/Danny McKenna, 2^nd Damien Hagan/Ryan Farrell, 3^rd Kieran McCarra/Aaron McElroy, 4^th Aidan Keenan/Sean Marron, 5^th Aaron McIntyre/Ben McIntyre and 6^th Emmet Sherry/Patrick Corcoran. The Semi-Expert class finished, 1^st James McCabe/Shane Farrell, 2^nd Jack Mckenna/Ryan Treanor and 3^rd Michael Carbin/Conor Mohan. The Expert class finished, 1^st Aidan Sherry/Oisín Sherlock, 2^nd Derek Mackarel/Conor Boylan and 3^rd James Fitzgerald/Ken Carmody. Overall winners were Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes with Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan in 2^nd OA and Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin finishing 3^rd OA.

In the 2021/22 season, the Novice class finished, 1^st Eoghan Corr/Shane Maguire, 2^nd Aidan Keenan/Sean Marron, 3^rd Kieran McCarra/Aaron McElroy. 4^th Sean McConnell/Anthony McDonald, 5^th Pat Shields/Eoin Treacy and 6^th Shane Maguire/Ryan Farrell. The Semi-Expert winners were, 1^st Shane Dalton/Christopher McMahon, 2^nd Michael Carbin/ Conor Mohan and 3^rd Robert Graham/Patrick Corcoran. The Expert class finished, 1^st Darragh Kelly/Oisín Sherlock, 2^nd James Fitzgerald/Fintan Clerkin and 3^rd Colin Duffy/Ken Carmody. Overall winners were Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan, with Martin Tynan/Conor Boylan in 2^nd OA and Derek Mackarel/Ryan Treanor in 3^rd OA.

Galway Summer Rally

Richard Moffett/Darragh Kelly were the highest placed Monaghan crew on last weekends Galway Summer Rally. They finished the nine stage event in 4^th place overall in their Toyota Starlet after a tough battle all day with Gary Kiernan/Paul Sheridan. Gary and Paul finished 11.4s behind in 5^th OA. Michael Carbin/Dean O’Sullivan had a tough day with gearbox trouble, but still came away with 1^st class 20 and 13^th OA. Johno Doogan/Paul Lennon finished 6^th class 14 and 15^th OA.  David Moffett/Martin Connolly finished 7^th class 14 and 16^th OA. Arthur Kierans navigated Martin Donnelly to 6^th class 5 and 25^th OA. Ashling McArdle navigated Des Lyons to 1^st class 11F and 34^th OA. Gary McCrudden navigated Sam Johnston to 2^nd class 11F and 35^th OA. Mickey Conlon/Paul McPhillips finished 2^nd class 12 and 36^th OA.  Trevor Burke navigated Mervyn Deane to 6^th class 13 and 40^th OA. Jack McKenna/Michael White finished 8^th class 13 and 44^th OA. Paddy O’Reilly drove his G5 Escort to 14^th class 13 and 90^th OA.

Mark Fox/Callum Maguire finished 1^st OA on the Junior section of the rally in their Honda Civic.

Jason McConnon/Darragh Mullen retired after SS2. Piaras O’Ceallachain navigating for Brian Lavelle retired on SS5. Dessie Keenan/Jason McKenna retired on SS6. Damien Connolly navigating for Peadar Hurson retired on SS7 with mechanical trouble. Brendan Cumiskey/Niall Burns suffered a light roll and retired on SS8.

Gippsland Rally

Mac Kierans guided Max McRae to 3^rd OA on last weekends Gippsland rally, part of the Australian Rally Championship. The pair also finished 1^st OA in the ARA Production Cup with their Subaru Impreza WRX STI.

Navigation Classes

Navigation Trial classes continue this Friday 2^nd September at 8pm in the Sean McDermotts GAA Centre, Three Mile House Co. Monaghan. New participants still welcome. €25 Registration fee on the night which includes 2022 club membership, map, equipment and training manual. We have had a lot of interest so far so please get in contact with the Motor Club Facebook page or any committee member.

   PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com

Josh Moffett alongside navigator Andy Hayes have secured their second Irish Tarmac Championship success on last weekend’s Modern Tyres Ulster Rally.

The pair needing to finish a minimum of 4^th overall on both days, due to the event being a double points round proved most important as their main contender Welsh pair Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson won the event overall to claim their first win in the Irish series. Josh and Andy took an unusual cautious approach over the weekend to ensure no mistakes were made that could undo all their hard work over the previous six rounds.

The opening day consisted of three stages in total, including a rare night stage, and after the three stages it was Desi Henry/Paddy Robinson out in front with an 18.5s lead over Evans/Jackson. Johnny Greer/Niall Burns were in 3^rd place, 6.2s further back. Josh and Andy held 4^th OA, 57s off the lead following a day of carful driving, but just doing enough to keep their championship hopes intact. Josh commented different times that’s its almost harder to drive slow and steady than it is to drive on the limit. Jason Mitchell/Paddy McCrudden finished Friday in 5^th OA just 6.6s behind Josh.

Six demanding stages lay ahead on Saturday, and immediately the rally leader drove into trouble. On SS4 ‘Tyrone Ditches 1’ Henry/Robinson clipped a gate post and damaged their steering spelling retirement a little further down the same stage. With Henry’s retirement, Evans/Jackson inherited the lead and extended their lead over now 2^nd place Greer/Burns from 6.2s to 23.3s after Greer had a dreadful SS4 which included lots of moments and an overshoot due to the amount of standing water on the stage. Mitchell overtook Moffett on the leader board by 1.6s as the latter continued to play safe by not driving on the edge.

Evans added a further 3.5s to his lead over stages 5 and 6 despite suffering a road section puncture on route to SS6 and having to complete the stage on a mismatched set of tyres on the front of his VW Polo. He held a 26.8s lead over Greer going into final service with just three stages to go. Mitchell and Moffett continued to hold 3^rd and 4^th respectively.

On SS7 any hope Greer had of a fightback was cruelly ended when he kept too tight in on a hairpin, clipped a rock and punctured. He drove cautiously to the end of the stage to try keep the tyre on the rim to avoid any damage to the car. The puncture cost him around two minutes and dropped him out of the fight for 1^st and into 3^rd OA. Mitchell benefited from Greers mistake to go into 2^nd OA, ahead of Greer by just 11.4s.

With Greers puncture and now having a lead of well over two minutes, Evans/Jackson adopted the same strategy as Moffett/Hayes over the last two stages to avoid any last minute drama. Greer/Burnes won the final two stages of the event to overtake Mitchell/McCrudden for 2^nd OA, a result Mitchell was more than happy with as it was still his first time on the podium of a Tarmac Championship round.

Fourth overall on the event was enough for Moffett/Hayes to lift the trophy for their second time, they were previous winners of the championship back in 2018. It’s been an extraordinary season for Josh as he secured the Triton Showers National Rally Championship in July at the Tipperary Stone Throwers Stages Rally. Throughout the year, Josh has so far won 10 events, Including a four in a row, a five in a row, two 2^nd overalls and one 4^th overall.

Arthur Kierans navigating of Alan Carmichael retired after SS2 while 6^th OA and 1^st Class N10. Paul McPhillips navigated John Gordon to 56^th OA and 11^th in class N6. Patrick Fitzpatrick/James McEneaney finished 53 OA and 3^rd class N3 in their Mk II Escort. Gary McCrudden guided Philip Hamilton to 23^rd OA and 3^rd class N5.

Navigation Trial Classes

REMINDER Navigation Trial classes start this Friday 26^th at 8pm in the Sean McDermotts GAA Centre, Three Mile House Co. Monaghan. €25 Registration fee on the night which includes 2022 club membership, map, equipment and training manual. We have had a lot of interest so far so please get in contact with the Motor Club Facebook page or any committee member.

 PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com