Author: monaghanmotorclub

Monaghan Motor Club hosted its annual awards presentation on Saturday night last 21st October in the Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan. There was a good attendance considering that the International Tarmac Championship prizgiving was being held on the same night in Cork, where Sam Moffett was being feted.

Club Chairman Conor Maguire welcomed all present and congratulated all club competitors on their achievements in 2017. The most outstanding was that of Sam Moffett who clinched no fewer than four titles; the International Tarmac, International Celtic Trophy, National Stages and National Forestry championship titles. In the Sligo Pallets Border Rally championship, Michael Conlon is the champion driver and Darragh Kelly the champion navigator. Pakie Duffy and Evin Hughes wrapped up the National and Border Navigation titles with Derek Mackarel and Muireann Hayes winning the Munster Navigation championship.

Secretary Paul Hughes summarised the winners of the various club events and Clerks of the Course. The Gary Nesbitt Memorial Navigation championship was once again hotly contested. The class winners were: Donal McArdle/Killian McArdle (Beginner), Aidan Sherry/Oisin Sherlock (Novice), Mac Kierans/Conor Boylan (Semi-Expert) and Ashley McAdoo/Laurence Keenan (Expert). The overall title went to Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin. The Novice Navigator Award went to Oisin Sherlock, while Pamela McMahon was the winner of the Ladies Award for the second consecutive year.

Club President Charles McCollum made a special presentation to Paul Hughes to mark his retirement as Club Chairman after 19 years in the role.

The premier award on the night, the Traders Trophy, was presented to Clones driver Martin Tynan as overall Club Champion. This is Martin’s second Traders victory. During the course of a comprehensive and amusing speech, he thanked all who supported him and competed with him and against him and mused on a possible 3-in-a-row titles. The gauntlet has been laid down!

Maguire clinches Group N National title

Shane Maguire clinched the Group N title in the Triton National Rally Championship after last weekend’s Skibbereen Fastnet Rally. The Ballinode native had been having a year long battle with Cork’s David Guest. A steady finish was all the Maguire required and he and co-driver, Darragh Kelly, clinched the championship thanks to a 3rd place finish in Group N.

Michael Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips finished 10th overall and 2nd in class 13 in their Escort with Jonathan Treanor/Paul Sheridan taking a comfortable win in the Junior class. Aisling McArdle guided Des Lyons to 31st overall and 5th in class. There was disappointment for Stephen Wright/Karl Atkinson, John McQuaid/Thomas Treanor and Tommy O’Connell/Emmet Sherry who failed to finish.

The annual Monaghan Motor Club Dinner Dance and Prizegiving takes place on Saturday night 21st October in the Four Seasons Hotel. 2017 was another tremendous year for the club and its members. Sam Moffett became the first person in history to win the Irish Tarmac, National and Forestry Championships in the one season. His brother Josh impressed in the European Rally Championship. Closer to home Michael Conlon/Darragh Kelly won the Border Rally Championship with Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes doing the double in the National & Border Navigation Championships. Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes won the Munster Navigation Championship.

Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin won the Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championship with Martin wrapping up the Trader’s Trophy as Overall Club Champion for the second year in succession. Tickets are available from committee members.

Cork Navigation Trial

A number of Monaghan crews made the trip to Whitechurch, Co. Cork for the opening round of the National Night Navigation Championship. On what proved to be a challenging event, the Novice pairing of Emmet McCooey/Christopher McMahon were the top Monaghan finishers in a terrific 4th overall.
Derek Mackarel with local navigator, Muireann Hayes, claimed 5th overall and 3rd in class.Aiden Sherry/Oisin Sherlock secured 10th overall and 3rd in class with Peter Deery/David McCrudden finishing 11th overall. The next round of the championship is the Drumlin Navigation Trial in mid-November.
Results:
1 Owen Murphy/Daire Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 14 marks,
2 Donal Healy/Denis O’Donovan (Toyota Starlet) 15m,
3 Joe Shinnors Jnr/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 20m,
4 Emmet McCooey/Chris McMahon (Subaru Impreza) 23m,
5 Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 26m,
6 Johnny Casey/Patrick O’Sullivan (Peugeot 306) 35m,
7 Dermot Whelton/Mark McCarthy (Subaru Impreza) 39m,
8 Trevor O’Callaghan/Patrick O’Leary (Subaru Impreza) 51m,
9 James Fitzgerald/Ken Carmody (Subaru Impreza) 64m,
10 Aidan Sherry/Oisin Sherlock (Subaru Impreza) 81m,
11 Peter Deery/David McCrudden (Subaru Impreza) 107m,
12 Andrew Whelton/Cyril Maguire (Subaru Impreza) 127m.

Damien Connolly was back on the winner’s podium as he guided Peader Hurson to overall victory on last weekend’s Donegal Harvest Rally. The Warrenpoint/Scotstown duo back up their win in Galway with a comfortable victory on the Dunfanaghy based event. After nine demanding stages, they were over a minute clear of the opposition. 

The event was the final round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship. Michael Conlon had already won the overall driver category and another Monaghan man was to secure the navigators title. Darragh Kelly guided Shane Maguire to Group N honour and 6th overall. This result was enough for Darragh to win the navigators section ahead of Conlon’s navigator, Ciaran McPhillips. Conlon/McPhillips did their best but 9th overall and 2nd in class meant McPhillips had to be content with 2nd navigator in the championship.
Paul Sheridan guided Martin Doherty to 20th overall and 5th in class. Kaine Treanor guided Colin Quirk to 21st overall and 1st in class 5. Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden finished 34th overall and 5th in class. Michael Carbin/Conor Mohan finished under Rally 2 rules in 61st overall and 3rd in class. Conor Foley guided Eamon Kelly to 63rd overall and 1st in class. Michael Brennan/Ryan Brennan failed to finish.

Birr Endurance Trial

Evin Hughes guided Castleknock’s Karl O’Donoghue to overall victory on last weekend’s Birr Endurance Trial. The event featured high quality selectives including forest tracks, grassy lanes, private farms and even mountain tracks. Ryan & Caolan Treanor also made the trip down and were rewarded with a class win in their Toyota Yaris.

2017 Awards Night

The annual Monaghan Motor Club Dinner Dance and Prizegiving takes place on Saturday night 21st October in the Four Seasons Hotel. 2017 was another tremendous year for the club and its members. Sam Moffett became the first person in history to win the Irish Tarmac, National and Forestry Championships in the one season. His brother Josh impressed in the European Rally Championship. Closer to home Michael Conlon/Darragh Kelly won the Border Rally Championship with Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes doing the double in the National & Border Navigation Championships. Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes won the Munster Navigation Championship.
Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin won the Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championship with Martin wrapping up the Trader’s Trophy as Overall Club Champion for the second year in succession. Tickets are available from committee members.

Sam Moffett & Karl Atkinson secured the Irish Tarmac Championship in the most impressive fashion with overall victory on the Cork 20 International Rally on Sunday last 1st October. Sam simply needed to start the event to add the Irish Tarmac Championship to his National & Forestry titles. In the end, Sam was involved in an event-long battle with his younger brother Josh for the overall win. Only two seconds split them going into the final test with Sam coming from behind to win after Josh went off and his car was too damaged to continue.

The Cork 20 Rally was based out of the town of Macroom and featured some classic stages such as Fuhiry, Lough Allua and Mullaghanish. Sam made his intentions clear from the start with fastest time on the opening test and after the first loop of four stages he held a scant 1.3 second lead from Josh and his co-driver Keith Moriarty. Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble were 14 seconds back in 3rd. Moffett/Atkinson maintained their lead until the end of the day. They entered the overnight halt with a 10.8 second lead over Moffett/Moriarty. Joseph McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney were over two and half minutes back in 3rd after Fisher/Noble lost time with a mechanical issue.

The battle between the Moffett’s continued to roar over Sunday’s classic stages. Sam led until a scintillating time from Josh on Stage 14 saw Josh snatch the lead. The pair set identical times to a tenth of a second on stage 15 and Josh led by 2.3 seconds going into the final stage. Sadly, Josh went off on the stage resulting in Sam securing the win to cement his Championship treble. Fisher/Noble and McGonigle/Geaney completed the podium positions. Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn were runners-up in the National Rally while Jack Maguire/Seamus O’Grady had to resort to Rally 2 to get a finish. Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans retired on the opening stage.

The Championship treble has never been completed in the same year before. Sam first won this year’s National Rally Championship after six straight wins in the first six rounds of the series. Last weekend he added the Irish Forestry Championship and secured the Tarmac Championship thanks to a win Killarney and consisted scores on all rounds of the series. Sam’s reliability record has been second to none, which has been the foundation to his tremendous success in 2017.

Tynan/Clerkin Take Navigation Spoils

Martin Tynan & Fintan Clerkin took overall honours on last Saturday’s Navigation Trial. COC Shane Farrell put together a 100 mile route based out of Three Mile House. The event was the final counter of the Club Navigation and Trader’s Championships and attracted an excellent entry with competitors from Cork, Limerick, Dublin and Longford taking on the locals.
It proved to be a tough and demanding event for driver and navigator alike. The event looped the Three Mile House and Ballybay areas featuring some classic navigation terrain. Overall honours on the night went to Martin & Fintan Clerkin who negotiated the route on a total of 11 penalties. That gave them a two penalty advantage over his father Michael Tynan & cousin Ciaran Tynan who secured 2nd place. 3rd overall went to the Semi-Expert crew of Mac Kierans & Conor Boylan.
In the classes, the Tynans took Expert class honours from Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (4th overall) and Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (6th overall). Kierans/Boylan won the Semi-Expert class from Kevin McCormack/David McCrudden with Emmet McCooey/Thomas Wedlock in 3rd. Colm Mohan/Conor Mohan had a terrific run to Novice class honours and 5th overall. Aiden Sherry/Oisin Sherlock and Hugh McBrien/Patrick Corcoran completed the podium places.

Darragh Kelly/Ciaran Duffy won the Beginners class from Donal McArdle/Killian McArdle and Kieran McCarra/Kate Lynch.
Martin Tynan has won the 2017 Traders Championship for the second successive year while he and navigator Fintan Clerkin have also won the Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championship this year.
COC Shane Farrell would like to thank all those who supported the event including landowners, residents along the route, marshals and anyone who contributed to the success of the event.

The prizegiving for the 2017 club championships will take place on Saturday 21st October in the Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan. Tickets available from committee members.

Monaghan Navigation Trial Results
1 Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 11 marks,
2 Mickey Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 13m,
3 Mac Kierans/Conor Boylan (Subaru Impreza) 18m,
4 Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 22m,
5 Colm Mohan/Conor Mohan (Subaru Impreza) 28m,
6 Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 29m,
7 Aaron Duffy/Micheal McCluskey (Subaru Impreza) 39m,
8 Kevin McCormack/David McCrudden (Subaru Impreza) 41m,
9 Ashley McAdoo/Laurence Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 41m,
10 Aidan Sherry/Oisin Sherlock (Subaru Impreza) 48m,
11 Brendan Treanor/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 50m,
12 Jonny Treanor/Denis O’Donovan (Subaru Impreza) 57m.

Sam Moffett is one event away from sealing a historic three Irish championships in one season. Sam secured the National Championship in July and last weekend he added the Irish Forestry Championship at the Bushwhacker Rally. Sam and co-driver, Stephen Thornton, put in a steady drive to secure 6^th place overall which was more than enough to wrap up the championship. Sam now only needs to start next weekend’s Cork 20 Rally to secure the Irish Tarmac Championship.

The Omagh based Bushwhacker Rally attracted a strong entry. It was a counting round of both the Irish Forestry and Northern Ireland Championships. Top Monaghan finisher was James O’Reilly who guided Derek McGarritty to 5^th overall. Moffett/Thornton finished a steady 6^th after a measured drive through the gravel stages. Mac Kierans guided Alan Smyth to 8^th overall in their Lancer. His father, Arthur Kierans, guided Johnny Leonard to 11^th overall. Brendan Cumiskey/Conor Foley finished 13^th overall.

Michael Carbin/Conor Mohan took 22^nd overall. Michael Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips brought their Escort home to 31^st overall. Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes finished 40^th overall and took class 3 honours by just 1 second. Retirement beckoned for Frank Kelly/Emmet Sherry, Vivian Hamill/Andrew Grennan and John O’Sullivan/Kaine Treanor.

Navigation Trial

The Night Navigation season begins on Saturday night with the Navigation Trial taking place on Saturday 30^th September. COC Shane Farrell hopes to have 80 miles for competitors based out of the Sean McDiarmada GAA centre at Three Mile House. The event is the final round of this year’s Traders Trophy and Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championships.  Regulations and Entry forms are available on www.monaghanmotorclub.net  Marshals are required for this event and those available to marshal should present at HQ no later than 8pm.

Potential competitors are also asked to review the new regulations for the coming season. The new regulations are available on the Motorsport Ireland website under 2017 Yearbook Amendments, Articles 33 and 34.