Author: monaghanmotorclub

Stonebridge driver Derek Mackarel notched up another class win at the Glens of Antrim Forestry Rally on Saturday last 5^th November. Derek, ably navigated by Cork man, Daire Hayes, survived numerous problems to claim the win.

The Glens of Antrim rally consisted of three stages repeated twice in the North Antrim forests. Despite suffering two stage maximums due to a broken rotar arm on stage 1 and a broken wheel on stage six, Mackarel still edged out James Driver’s Peugeot 206 to take the class win and 32^nd overall. Castleblayney’s Michael Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips put in a solid drive to take 9^th overall and 3^rd in class 13.

Local driver Desi Henry in the Skoda R5 was fastest on stage one, but it was Clontibret’s Josh Moffett, navigated by Stephen Thornton who took the lead in his Fiesta R5 after a superb run through the famous Slieveanorra stage. Indeed Josh was to hold a narrow six second lead over the Antrim driver arriving at first service. Josh’s brother Sam had already slid off the road and out of the rally on the third Ballypatrick stage. It was one of those days for the Monaghan team however as next it was Josh’s turn to retire on the second run over Slieveanorra, after sustaining two punctures. That left Henry with a comfortable advantage which he held to the finish to win the rally and the championship.

Michael Carbin/Darragh Kelly also retired on a tricky event for the crews which caught out many competitors.

Connolly & McCrudden Collect Border Championship Trophies 

Seamus Connolly & Gary McCrudden collected their trophies as overall champions of the 2016 Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship on Saturday night last. The gala Prizegiving was held in the Sligo Park Hotel.  

The Monaghan duo have been regular challengers for overall honours over the past few years and in 2016 they had a near-perfect year to finally clinch the overall title. Their exciting driving style and commitment has made them and their iconic red Corolla very popular with spectators.

They dominated class 11R right from the opening round in Mayo and further class wins in Monaghan, Cavan & Galway secured the overall title with a round to spare. The pair also won their class in the National Rally Championship in impressive fashion to complete a fabulous year for the Monaghan men.

John & Niall Kelly put another Monaghan Toyota in the overall honours thanks to their exploits in class 10. The former Border champions took class wins in Monaghan, Galway & Donegal. They were also 2^nd in class in Mayo. John claimed the 3^rd overall driver award with Niall 2^nd overall navigator.

Shane Maguire/Mac Kierans were the class 4 champions, Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry won class 7, Padraig Connolly was 3^rd driver in class 10 & Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan were runners-up in Class 14.

Drumlin Navigation Trial 

All eyes turn to Tyholland Community Centre for this weekend’s Drumlin Navigation Trial. COC Martin Connolly has planned a 100 mile route which is sure to be a test for all crews. The event is a counting round of the National & Border Night Navigation Championships. It is also the final round of the Gary Nesbitt & Trader’s Trophy Championships. Martin Tynan leads the Trader’s Trophy points table but he has Ciaran Tynan & Damien Connolly also in the hunt for honours.

Marshals are required for this event and those available are asked to attend at Tyholland Community Centre at 8pm.

 

Clones driver Michael Tynan has won the 2016 Mayo Autocross Championship. The championship was initially to consist of four autocross events in Mayo but it was later reduced to just two events following the cancellation of two rounds. Michael won the opening round in May and followed it up with a 4^th place finish in June. Michael’s son, Martin, finished runner-up. Just one point separated them after Martin was 4^th in the May event and 2^nd in June.

GSMC Mini Stages Rally

 

Maurice Moffett & Martin Connolly claimed 16^th overall on last weekend’s GSMC Mini Stages Rally. The event which was a counting round of the Midlands East Rally Championship consisted of two stages repeated three times based out of the town of Baltinglass in Wicklow.

Carrickmacross duo Donal Crossan/Padraig Doogan finished 34^th overall in their Escort with Ballybay’s Brendan Keenan/Sean Lynch 56^th overall. Paul Kelly was navigating for Carlow’s David Condell but they retired after going 3^rd fastest on stage 1. Johno Doogan/Ciaran Marron retired their Lancer on stage four. The rally was won by Cavan driver Jonathan Pringle in an Escort, who had 31 secs to spare over Kildare driver Ian Barrett.

 

 

Clontibret’s Josh Moffett made a winning return to the Irish forests on last weekend’s Limerick Forestry Rally. Scotstown’s Emmet Sherry was in the navigator’s seat on this occasion. The event was the penultimate round of the Irish Forestry Championship. The pair dominated the event from start to finish, completing the six stages over a minute clear of their nearest rival. This was Sherry’s first overall win, while Josh made it two wins in a row after his success in Cork a fortnight ago.

The writing was on the wall from the opening stage where Moffett took 26 seconds out of everyone. Another blinding time on Stage 3 saw him complete the opening loop 1 minute 16 seconds clear of the opposition. Smithborough’s Michael Carbin & Scotstown navigator, Darragh Kelly, were chasing vital championship points. They were 6^th overall after three stages. Derek Mackarel & Daire Hayes were out front in the Junior class, embarrassing many competitors in their 1600cc Nova.

Moffett/Sherry consolidated their lead over the second loop to take an emphatic victory. Carbin/Kelly’s championship aspirations took a blow after differential failure sidelined them. Mackarel/Hayes secured the Junior class win and 11^th overall. Michael Conlon & Ciaran McPhillips suffered a rare non-finish when they retired on the opening stage.

The Irish Forestry Championship concludes with the Glens of Antrim Rally on 5^th November.

Limerick Forestry Rally Top 10

1 Josh Moffett/Emmet Sherry (Fiesta R5) 45m 20s,

2 Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Fabia R5) 46m 23s,

3 Darren McKelvey/Graham Henderson (Lancer Evo 9) 48m 26s,

4 Shane McGirr/Aileen Kelly (Starlet) 48m 31s,

5 Dermot Kelly/Greg Shinnors (Lancer Evo 9) 49m 07s,

6 John Gordon/Thomas Wedlock (Escort) 49m 11s,

7 John Byrnes/Brian Grant (Lancer Evo 8) 50m 16s,

8 David Crossen/Chris McSherry (Escort) 50m 32s,

9 Ian Graham/Liam McIntyre (Lancer Evo 9) 51m 16s,

10 Ed Muldoon/Mark Byrne (Lancer Evo 9) 51m 31s.

Startrek Navigation Trial

 

Whitechurch, Co. Cork played host to the opening round of the 2016-17 National Night Navigation Championship. As always a number of Monaghan club members made the trip south hoping to get their National campaigns off to a good start. COC Aaron O’Regan laid out a challenging 80 mile route including some forestry sections which were popular with the crews.

Defending champions, Pakie Duffy & Evin Hughes, led the crews away. A missed slot on a long gravelly lane would prove costly for this crew, resulting in two penalties into TP8. Derek Mackarel, who was to compete in the Limerick Forestry the next day, was joined by local ace Muireann Hayes. This pair also dropped two early penalties but found their footing as the event wore on. Three plot & bash timepoints in the forests of the Nagles Mountain caught out a few crews while even more lost time over the final three timepoints, which incorporated a tulip diagram.

Skibbereen’s Dermot Whelton/Mark McCarthy took the event win on 4 penalties holding off Mackarel/Hayes by a single penalty. Duffy/Hughes secured 3^rd place on 6 penalties.

Aiden Sherry/Oisin Sherlock had a faultless run in the Novice class taking the class win and 7^th overall. The South-Monaghan pairing of Keith McConnon/Michael McCluskey finished 9^th overall. Peter & Shane Farrell finished 2^nd in the Semi-Expert class, securing some useful championship points. Colm & Conor Mohan took 2^nd in the Novice class, ending their disappointing run of luck in Cork. Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin were unfortunate to pick up 50 penalties for a timing error which cost them a top 5 finish. Mechanical problems sidelined Mac Kierans/Conor Boylan & Jonathan Treanor/Christopher McMahon.

The National Championship continues with the Drumlin Navigation Trial on 12^th November.

Cork Startrek Navigation Trial Top 10

1 Dermot Whelton/Mark McCarthy (Subaru Impreza) 4 marks,

2 Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 5m,

3 Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 6m,

4 Johnny Casey/Patrick O’Sullivan (Peugeot 306) 7m,

5 Donal Healy/Denis O’Donovan (Subaru Impreza) 7m,

6 Colm O’Mahony/Ken Carmody (Subaru Impreza) 12m,

7 Aidan Sherry/Oisin Sherlock (Subaru Impreza) 14m,

8 Patrick Murphy/Mikey Walsh (Subaru Impreza) 18m,

9 Keith McConnon/Micheal McCluskey (Subaru Impreza) 20m,

10 Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill (Subaru Impreza) 20m.

Down Rally

 

The Castlewellan-based Down Rally was a counting round of the Northern Ireland Rally Championship. James O’Reilly was the top finishing Monaghan man, guiding multiple Tarmac & Northern Ireland Champion Derek McGarritty, to 3^rd overall. Mac Kierans, who would make the long trip to Cork after the event, guided Alan Smyth to 8^th overall. Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane had a troubled run to 29^th overall in their R5 Fiesta. Liam McFall/Matthew McKenna failed to finish.

 

Despite a rare non-finish on the final round in Donegal on Saturday last, Monaghan’s Seamus Connolly & Gary McCrudden were confirmed as the new Border Rally Champions. Driving a Toyota Corolla in class 11R, the pair dominated this competitive class throughout the year with their hard-charging and flamboyant style and amassed enough points to secure the overall title even with one round remaining.

The pair picked up class wins in Mayo, Monaghan, Cavan and Galway and a second place finish in Sligo. They have been knocking on the door of the overall Border title over the last few years and it all came together for them in 2016. They also clinched their class in the National Rally Championship.

Niall Maguire & Enda Sherry have secured 3^rd overall in the 2016 Triton National Rally Championship. The duo sealed that position thanks to a 3^rd overall finish on the same event. Maguire/Sherry climbed from 7^th place after the opening loop to 3^rd by the end of the day after some testing stages. The Killybegs-based Martin Howley Donegal Harvest Rally was named in honour of former Donegal club member, Martin Howley, who passed away last year.

Niall’s son Shane was chasing National Group N honours with his navigator Mac Kierans. The pair were involved in a major battle with Tyrone’s Aiden Wray & Kieran McGrath. Wray had his nose in front all day and ended up taking the class win and the championship. Maguire/Kierans tried their best but had to settle for 12^th overall and 2^nd in Group N. Dessie Keenan took the wheel of James McCarville’s Escort with James himself navigating. They flew through the stages to 19^th overall and 1^st in class 11R.

Martin Connolly guided Liam Bowhan to 46^th overall and 12^th in class 13. Paddy O’Reilly/David Fitzsimons were just behind in 47^th overall and 7^th in class 14. John & Niall Kelly finished 64^th overall and 1^st in class 10 securing 3^rd overall driver and 2^nd overall navigator in the Border Championship. Father and Son Team Gerry McGivney & Gavin McGivney came home 68^th overall and 16^th in class. Michael Carbin & Conor Mohan re-entered the event under Rally 2 rules to come home 89^th overall and 4^th in class 20. Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle had a comfortable rally victory in their Fiesta WRC. 

The Prizegiving for the National Championship takes place on November 19^th while the Border Championship prizegiving is on November 5^th.

Donegal Harvest Rally Top 10

1 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Fiesta WRC) 52m 48s,
2 Manus Kelly/Gareth Doherty (Impreza WRC) 54m 28s,
3 Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 56m 06s,
4 Gary Kiernan/Ryan Moore (Escort) 56m 15s,
5 Damien Gallagher/Mac Walsh (Escort) 56m 34s,
6 Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Fabia R5) 57m 11s,
7 Ryan Loughran/Brendan McElhinney (Escort) 57m 15s,
8 Damien Toner/Denver Rafferty (Escort) 57m 16s,
9 Columba Heena/Michael McClafferty (Corolla) 57m 29s,
10 Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath (Lancer Evo 10) 57m 41s.

Hughes Wins Irish Endurance Championship

Ballybay navigator Evin Hughes secured 1^st overall in the inaugural Irish Endurance Trial Championship, thanks to a 2^nd place finish with his driver Karl O’Donoghue on the Birr Endurance Trial on Sunday last. The pair recovered from a mechanical delay on the 2^nd selective which saw them pick up a maximum penalty. They then put in a storming drive back through the field in their Toyota Starlet to take a 2^nd place finish which secured them the overall championship laurels. The event was won by Kevin O’Rourke and Dave Ray also in a Starlet.

Market House Exhibition

For its 60th Anniversary Ball, Monaghan Motor Club prepared a pictorial record of the first 30 years from 1956 to 1986. This exhibition is now on public display in the Market House, Monaghan courtesy of Monaghan County Council. The exhibition is from Monday 10^th October to Thursday 20^th October and opening hours are from 11am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm each day from
Monday to Thursday. On Friday 14^th October, opening hours are from 11am to 1pm and from 2pm to 9pm. The exhibition provides a unique insight into the early days of motorsport in County Monaghan and features details of the achievements of the pioneering motorsport men and women, together with extraordinary photographs of the time. It should prove interesting to both current and previous club members as well as the general public with an interest in the history of Monaghan and motorsport in particular.

 

Clontibret brothers Sam & Josh Moffett recorded another 1-2 finish on last weekend’s Cork 20 International Rally. The event was the final round of the 2016 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and consisted of fourteen stages over two days. Sam went into the event with an outside chance of winning the overall title but faced stiff opposition from Keith Cronin & Alastair Fisher. After a dramatic two days, Josh & navigator, Jason McKenna, emerged victorious by just 4.6 seconds from Sam & navigator, Karl Atkinson. This was Josh and Jason’s first International win.

The opening day consisted of eight stages with centralised service in Fermoy. Championship hopeful, Alastair Fisher set the early pace but crashed out of the lead on Stage 4. Sam & Josh were well positioned in 3^rd and 4^th place respectively. By the end of the day, Sam had climbed to 2^nd place, 8.5 seconds behind Championship leader, Keith Cronin. Josh held 4^th overall just 14.3 seconds off the lead, despite a heart stopping moment on Stage 6. The Newbliss/Aghabog pairing of Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans held 6^th overall, Dundalk driver Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane 8^th and Doohamlet driver Pauric Duffy/Patrick Brides 9^th. All were driving R5 Ford Fiestas.

Josh then set fastest times on Stage 9 and 11 to take the lead. With three stages remaining, just 5.9 seconds covered the top four of Josh, Cronin, Roy White with Sam in 4^th place. Cronin then dropped out of contention with a puncture on stage 12. Josh & Jason maintained their lead while a storming final stage saw Sam & Karl pass White for 2^nd place. Just 6.3 seconds separated the top three after two days of competitive action. Cronin’s 4^th place was enough to secure him and co-driver Mickie Galvin the Tarmac Championship title for the first time. Sam & Karl finished 2^nd overall with Josh 3^rd overall in the championship, sponsored by Clonakilty Black Pudding.

Elsewhere, Stephen Wright & Arthur Kierans finished 6^th overall and Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane took 8^th overall. In the National Rally, Emmet Sherry guided Isle of Mull resident, Calum Duffy, to 3^rd overall in his unusual 2.5 litre Skoda Fabia. American-based Monaghan man, Barry McKenna, had a brilliant run to 5^th overall with Donegal’s Leon Jordan in the hot seat. Ballinode’s Brendan McAree & JP McAree finished 3^rd in the Historic class. Pauric Duffy retired on stage 13 while in 9^th overall.

Cork 20 International Rally Top Ten

1 Josh Moffett/Jason McKenna (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 41m 36s,
2 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 41m 40s,
3 Roy White/James O’Brien (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1h 41m 42s,
4 Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Citroen DS3 R5) 1h 42m 45s,
5 Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Citroen DS3 R5) 1h 42m 49s,
6 Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 44m 20s,
7 Kevin Kelleher/Ray Fitzpatrick (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 45m 01s,
8 Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 47m 04s,
9 Joe Connolly/Richard Connolly (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 52m 17s,
10 Callum Devine/Keith Moriarty (Opel Adam R2) 1h 52m 45s.

Tynan/Clerkin Win October Navigation

 

Martin Tynan & Fintan Clerkin took overall honours on last weekend’s October Navigation Trial. This was the first event of the new season and was a counting round of the Traders Trophy and Gary Nesbitt Club Championships. Both championships were ‘turned on their heads’, after a number of leading crews ran into difficulty.

COC Donal McArdle organised a compact 80 mile route in the North Monaghan area, with the Sliabh Beagh Hotel in Knockatallon serving as an excellent HQ. The opening section of the event included some long gravel lanes, a plot & bash section and some new lanes near Roslea. As early as TP3, the top two seeds, Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes & Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes were out of contention with wrong departures at TP3 with Mackarel/Hayes also getting a double visit.

Beginner crew, Paddy Sherlock/Pamela McMahon held a sensational lead by the midpoint Control at the Sliabh Beagh Hotel. They were on 0 penalties with Kevin McCormack/David McCrudden, Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan, Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin and Michael Conlon/Damien Connolly also clean.

The event moved north towards Bragan, Knockballyroney and Clara before heading West back to Knockatallon. The status quo remained the same until TP24. On an exceptionally slippy grassy lane, the top three seeds all slipped off into an unseen drain. There was pandemonium as the other crews tried to get by while the crews stuck tried to get out. Conlon/Connolly & Tynan/Clerkin survived this to remain on clean sheets as the Tynan’s challenge came to an end, stuck in the drain.

There was one final sting in the tail as Conlon/Connolly were sidelined when they too became stuck on a forest lane and went OTL trying to get out. Tynan/Clerkin dropped one penalty after passing them to take the overall win. Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan finished 2^nd overall on 6 penalties, mainly caused by delays at the incidents mentioned. Keith McConnon/Micheal McCluskey completed the podium places, securing victory in the Semi-Expert class.

Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill took 2^nd in the Expert class with Fintan Larmer/Sean McCaffrey in 3^rd. Peter & Shane Farrell took 2^nd Semi-Expert with Shane Maguire/Ruadhri Nash in 3^rd. Jonathan Treanor/Martin Swinburne won the Novice class and were 4^th overall. Colm Mohan/Conor Mohan finished 2^nd in class and 5^th overall with Kevin McCormack/David McCrudden 3^rd in class and 6^th overall. They lost the chance of class success after also getting stuck in the lane to TP24.

In what was a Beginner-friendly event, Michael Carbin/Mark Mohan took a sensational win on just 16 penalties total. This was good enough for 7^th overall beating all but two Expert crews on Mark’s first event. A late wrong approach dropped Paddy Sherlock/Pamela McMahon to 2^nd Beginner with Emmet McCooey/Christopher McMahon taking 3^rd in class. David Dixon/Abraham Dixon also had a fine run to 4^th in class, on Abraham’s first event. This was the biggest class of the event, with 13 Beginner crews in action.

COC Donal McArdle would like to extend his thanks to all those who made the event possible particularly the residents and landowners along the route. The Trader’s Trophy and Gary Nesbitt Club Championships are now wide open going into the final round, which is the Drumlin in November. The National Navigation Championship kicks off with the Star-Trek Navigation Trial in Cork on Saturday 15^th/Sunday 16^th October.

Old Monaghan Society Historical Presentation

 

Monaghan Motor Club stalwart Malcolm Totten will give a presentation on the formation of Monaghan Motor Club on Monday night next 10^th October at 8pm in St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre, North Road, Monaghan on behalf of the Old Monaghan Society. He has put together a lot of the really old photographs and plans to cover the period from 1950 up to the affiliation of the club in 1959. In conjunction with this, the club’s 60th anniversary photo collages will be put on display in the Market House, Monaghan from Monday 10^th until Thursday 20^th October inclusive. Viewing times: 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 5 pm Monday to Friday. All interested are invited to attend both presentations.

 

Sympathy

 

The members of Monaghan Motor Club extend condolences to Cora and Conor Maguire and family on the death of their father Kevin Maguire and also to the Hagan family Threemilehouse on the death of Liam Hagan.