Author: monaghanmotorclub

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

Conor Mohan and Eamonn Kelly scored their second win in a row on this year’s Grampian Forest Rally, round 4 of the 2022 British Rally Championship. The pair finished the six stage event with a 3:50s advantage over 2^nd place, and fellow Irish crew, Johnnie Mulholland/Eoin Treacy.

On the opening stage, the 8.26km ‘Durris’, both Kelly/Mohan and Kyle White/Sean Topping set identical times to hold joint 1^st overall. Mulholland/Treacy finished the stage in 3^rd OA, 13s down on the joint leaders. A great start from the three Irish crews. On SS2 ‘Drumtochty’ Kelly/Mohan pulled a 5s advantage over White/Topping. Unfortunately, Mulholland/Treacy were hampered with fuel pump issues and dropped close to a minute but still held 3^rd.

After service it was into the 15.8km ‘Finglenny’ and White/Topping took the stage win to reduce Kelly/Mohan’s advantage to just 3s. Kelly/Mohan struggled on the middle loop due to the stages being well cut up from the previous cars and the high temperatures which reduced the grip of their well worn tyres. On SS4 ‘Scare Hill’, once again White/Topping took another 2s out of Kelly/Mohan to leave the Donegal/Monaghan pair with a 1s advantage with just two stages remaining. Ongoing mechanical issues left Mulholland/Treacy a distant 3^rd, but crucially still involved.

 During the final service, Kelly/Mohan put two harder compound tyres on the front of their car which allowed them to give the last two stages a good push to try and extend their narrow lead.

The change of tyres worked immediately as on SS5 (Strathgyle) they went a full 6s faster than the second fastest junior. Horrible luck was to strike White/Topping as they picked up a puncture and to add insult to injury, the puncture ripped off a break pipe. The crew made it to the end of the stage dropping 48s, but retirement followed stage exit. This is the second year in a row on the Grampian that a puncture and burst break pipe spelled retirement for the crew.

With White’s retirement, it left Kelly/Mohan with over a 3 minutes lead with just the 14km ‘Hurlie Bog’ stage left meaning the team could relax and concentrate on bring the car home in one piece.

Arthur Kierans was also in action on the Grampian navigating for Alan Carmichael. The pair once again won the National BRC section, making it their third win of the year.

Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin were the overall winners of the rally in their VW Polo GTI R5.

Closer to home, Derek Mackarel was the highest placed Monaghan competitor on the Jim Walsh Cork Forestry Rally. Derek along with navigator Eamonn Creedon finished 9^th OA and 1^st in Class in the Mitsubishi Evo. The pair were the first non WRC/R5 car home. The 9^th place also secured the Danny Creedon Memorial Perpetual Cup for Eamonn for being the highest placed Cork Motor Club finisher on the event.

Paul Kelly navigated David Condell to 12^th OA and 2^nd class 14. Brendan Cumiskey/Martin Connolly finished 19^th OA and 1^st class 2.  Steven Corey/Conor McGurran retired on SS1. Tommy Moffett/Gary McCrudden also retired on SS1 following a roll. Mickey Conlon/Paul McPhillips retired on SS5 after sliding off the road. They were 4^th in class at the time.

On the other side of the world, Mac Kierans guided Richie Dalton to joint 1^st OA on the Rally of the Bay. The pair finished the 9 stage event just 0.4s down on Clayton Hoy/John Allen, but as the championships sporting regulations calculate results to full seconds, this resulted in Hoy/Allen’s 0.4s advantage being disregarded and both teams being credited with the win.

Navigation Trial Classes

Monaghan Motor Club will once again be holding their popular Navigation Trial Class’s . This six week course is for any aspiring navigators or drivers who wish to learn how to compete in Navigation Trails, as the the new season kicks off on October 1^st. While the class’s are mainly for Navigations, Endurance Trials and Stage Rallying will be discussed on the final night. The course begins on Friday August 26^th. A time and venue will be released soon. Anyone interested should contact the club PRO or any committee member.

PRO: Oisín Sherlock oisinsherlock97@gmail.com

Hi All,

I hope you are all well and enjoying the good weather.

As you are aware we are running seven Marshals seminars in September and October, dates and venues are below. This will help to increase the number of marshals out there as well as giving those who do the course a greater understanding of the role. There will be several draws at each event and everyone will receive a marshal pack on the night.

The dates are filling up fast and there is a good interest in them. Can you please circulate this email to all the relevant personnel in your club so that everyone is aware of the times and dates and so we can catch as many people as we can for this important role at all events.

Clubs	Date	Time	Location	Eircode
Cork, Muster, Imokilly, Skibbereen.	08/09/2022	19.3O	Cork City	P31 F861
Laois, Garda, Birr, Midland.	12/09/2022	19.3O	Portlaoise	R32 KV20
Clare, limerick, Kerry, Killarney.	21/09/2022	19.3O	Limerick	V94 NP64
Galway, Mayo, Connacht.	28/09/2022	19.3O	Swinford	F12 K7F4
Donegal.	04/10/2022	19.3O	Letterkenny	F92 FKX6
Tipperary, Carrick, Carlow, Wexford.	12/10/2022	19.3O	Waterford	X91 P86C
Cavan. Monaghan, ALMC.	17/10/2022	19.3O	Cavan	H12 F6Y7

Regards,

Ronnie Murphy

Safety and Training Officer

Motorsport Ireland