The next event in the Monaghan Motor Club calendar is an Autocross which will be held on Sunday 31st July in the well-appointed Hut Cross track at Latton. This event is being organised to cater especially for the huge number of Buggy drivers in the area. With a mixture of sealed and smooth loose surface, it should attract the cream of the crop in their powerful purpose-built single seater machines.
The event will also include the usual classes for cars up to 1450cc, 1451 to 1650cc and 1651 to 2050cc including four wheel drive cars. Regulations are available on the club website monaghanmotorclub.net. Entries close with Event Secretary Cora Maguire, 14, Cluain Ard, Dernagrew, Monaghan on 27th July.
Endurance Trial 14th August
Following the Autocross two weeks later is the Endurance Trial, which will be held on Sunday 14th August. COC Shane Maguire is hard at work on this one, putting together another challenging set of selectives in a compact route. Regulations will be available soon on the club website.
Sam Moffett continued his recent good form in the Tool Dynamics Supercar Championship which took place at the Mondello race track in Co. Kildare at the weekend. The Monaghan man took overall honours in both Race 1 and Race 2, fending off fellow rally driver, Peter Barrable in his 2000cc machine. This is Sam’s third win in the championship which he is contesting for the first time.
O’Reilly & Moffett impress in Wales
Round 5 of the 2016 British Rally Championship took place at the weekend in Mid-Wales. The Nicky Grist Stages Rally took place over two days consisting of a mixture of Forest stages and Tarmac Roads of the Epynt Military Range. James O’Reilly stepped in at the last minute as navigator with Scotland’s David Bogie in a Skoda Fabia R5. The pair had previously competed together in Carlow. They were on the pace from the start holding and early 2nd place but dropped to 7th after a delay on stage 4 and climbed back to 5th overnight. A charge on day two over the Epynt roads resulted in their climb to 4th overall by the finish. Josh Moffett/John Rowan put in a solid performance in their Ford Fiesta. The Clontibret driver took 5th overall securing some useful BRC points. The BRC resumes with the Ulster Rally in August which is also a round of the Irish Tarmac Championship.
Sligo Stages Rally
Round 4 of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship also took place at the weekend. The Sligo Stages Rally was on an opt-out year of the National Championship and attracted a small but competitive field. Former winner, Shane Maguire and Mac Kierans were the highest finishing Monaghan crew. The pair took 8th overall and 3rd in Group N in their Lancer. Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden finished an impressive 10th overall and 2nd in class 11R, just losing out to Donegal’s Johnny Jordan after a day long battle for class honours.
Gary Cassidy & Paul Kelly took a superb 18th overall and 2nd in class 11F in their Honda Civic. Stephen Wright & Arthur Kierans were expected to be the favourites for the rally but lost any hope of victory when they slipped off the road on the opening stage. They dominated the rest of the day reeling off six fastest times, recovering from last to 38th overall and 2nd in class. Pauric Connolly/Jack McKenna brought their 106 home 47th overall and 3rd in class 10. On a tricky day for all crews taking part, a number of Monaghan men failed to make the finish including Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan, Alan Smyth/Emmet Sherry and Steven Corey/Vinnie Boyd.
Donegal’s Declan and Brian Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) were the clear winners of Round 5 of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship, the ALMC rally, based in Trim on Sunday last 3rd July. The event consisted of three stages repeated three times. Damien Connolly was the top Monaghan finisher as he guided Warrenpoint driver Peadar Hurson to 3rd overall. Ballinode’s Niall Maguire & Enda Sherry finished just behind in 4th overall. Maguire/Sherry now hold 2nd overall in the Championship, 19 points adrift of series leaders, Roy White & James O’Brien. Hurson/Connolly are 3rd in the series, 15 points further back.
Despite Hurson/Connolly setting fastest time on the first stage, the Boyles led the rally after the first loop, extended their led to 20.3 secs after the second loop and had 43.4 secs to spare over 2nd placed White/O’Brien at the finish. The result means that Hurson/Connolly and Maguire/Sherry are both still in contention for the championship laurels.
Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane came home in 16th overall and 3rd in class 5 in their Ford Fiesta R5. Shane Maguire/Mac Kierans took 2nd in Group N and 20th overall. Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden brought their Corolla home 29th overall and 1st in class 11R to continue their run of class successes.
Pakie Duffy & Evin Hughes were the main guests of honour at last weekend’s Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championship prizegiving. All previous winners of the championship were invited to attend to commemorate the presentation of the new perpetual cups for the champion driver and navigator. The appearance of an old Sheet 8 map added to the atmosphere and brought back memories of yesteryear. It was a well-received night that was enjoyed by all.
While this was Pakie’s 4th driver’s title and Evin’s 2nd navigator’s title, this was the first time they won the championship as a team. It completed a championship double following their National Championship success. The pair clinched the Squealing Pig championship following wins in Longford, Donegal & Cavan backed up by one 4th and one 5th place finish. Michael & Ciaran Tynan clinched the runners-up spot thanks to their Drumlin win and consistent top five finishes. Martin Tynan was the third overall driver with Ruadhri Nash the third overall navigator. Keith McConnon/Micheal McCluskey and Aiden Sherry/Oisin Sherlock were the top Semi-Expert and Novice crews respectively.
The Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club’s Raven’s Rock Rally took place last weekend based out of Waterford City. Castleblayney’s Michael Conlon with Ciaran McPhillips navigating led the Monaghan charge in an impressive 5th overall and 1st in class 13. Paul Kelly guided Limerick driver Paul Purtill to 6th overall and 2nd in class 13. Less than eight seconds split these crews at the end of the day.
The biggest event in the Irish Rallying calendar, the Joule Donegal International Rally was the motorsport centrepiece last weekend. This event is the only three day rally still running in Ireland and attracts the biggest crowds of the year. The rally was Round 5 of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Once again, Monaghan Motor Club was well represented and club members achieved up some excellent results during the weekend. Enda Sherry followed the success of Daniel McKenna/Andrew Grennan and Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan in previous years by winning the National Rally with his Scottish driver, David Bogie. Enda who is a former Tarmac Champion now adds another major trophy to his list of achievements.
In the International section of the event, Conor Foley was co-driving reigning Tarmac & National Champion, Donagh Kelly. Clontibret brothers Sam Moffett & Josh Moffett were competing in their Fiesta R5s while Arthur Kierans joined forces with Newbliss driver Stephen Wright in another R5 Fiesta. The pace was intense from the word go. Kelly/Foley briefly led after going fastest on stage 2 but finished the opening day in a close 2nd place behind local aces Declan & Brian Boyle. Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson finished the day 6th overall and 2nd R5 with his brother Josh & John Rowan 11 seconds behind in 7th. Wright/Kierans recovered from a Stage 1 delay to hold 11th overall and 6th in class. Castleblayney’s Pauric Duffy with Kevin Glynn co-driving made the trip home from Australia and held 13th overall in their Fiesta.
The battle between Boyle & Kelly continued on day two as they traded fastest times. After 10 stages Kelly/Foley were still just 10 seconds in arrears but it all came to an end as they went out of the rally on Stage 11. Moffett/Atkinson made good progress and climbed to 2nd overall after Alastair Fisher & Manus Kelly hit trouble. There was yet more drama as the Boyles retired with gear linkage failure on the last Saturday stage promoting Moffett/Atkinson into a surprise lead. The Monaghan man held a tiny 0.3 second lead from Seamus Leonard (Subaru WRC) with the recovering Keith Cronin (Citroen DS3) only 3 seconds further behind in 3rd. Josh Moffett, hindered by engine problems, slipped back to almost a minute behind his brother but still was a solid 5th overall. Wright/Kierans made steady progress to 8th overall while Duffy/Glynn were in 12th.
Conditions took a turn for the worse on the final with treacherous wet conditions causing plenty of problems. 4th placed Manus Kelly was the man on the move on the final day as he charged after the leaders in his Subaru WRC. Cronin took the lead on the opening Glen stage while Leonard passed Moffett for 2nd. Leonard retired on Fanad Head but Kelly moved up to 2nd with Sam a solid 3rd. In the end, Manus Kelly & Donall Barrett snatched an incredible 0.5 second victory over Cronin after a huge push over the final Fanad Head stage. Moffett/Atkinson bagged a fine 3rd overall and 2nd placed Irish Tarmac points after a strong drive all weekend. Moffett/Rowan came home in 4th overall to cap off a great weekend for the Moffett Family.
Wright/Kierans finished 5th overall on their first event together setting some good stage times along the way. Duffy/Glynn missed out on a top 10 finish after losing three minutes on Atlantic Drive. They still came home 11th overall and 5th in class.
Enda Sherry joined forces with David Bogie for the first time since 2011. The multiple Scottish Champion swapped his normal Skoda Fabia for a Mk2 Escort which he debuted on last year’s event. The pair held 6th overall after the opening day. Richard Moffett/Martin Connolly were 8th overall continuing their impressive pace from previous years. David Moffett & local navigator, Johnny Baird held 15th overall with Gerard McQuaid/Thomas Treanor 19th and Michael Carbin/Darragh Kelly 20th.
Day Two also saw plenty of drama in the National Rally with Brian Brogan & Jonathan Pringle both dropping out of the lead. Frank Kelly/Michael Coady charged to the front holding a nine second advantage over Bogie/Sherry. Bogie/Sherry put in an almighty charge over the Glen stage on Sunday morning taking over 20 seconds off Kelly. From there until the end, they maintained their advantage over the Tyrone man finishing 20 seconds ahead by the end of the final stage.
David Moffett/Johnny Baird finished 8th overall and 4th in class 13 after a good steady run all weekend. Michael Carbin/Darragh Kelly also put in a strong run to take 12th overall and a very close 2nd in class 20. Richard Moffett/Martin Connolly suffered last minute heartbreak as they slipped from 5th to 13th overall after losing over five minutes. Gerard McQuaid/Thomas Treanor were pleased with their run to 14th overall and 7th in class 13. Emmet Sherry guided Tommy O’Connell to 22nd overall and 10th in class 13 after getting quicker and quicker during the event.
Damien Connolly had the privilege of sitting with the great James Cullen. Cullen who was competing on the 25th anniversary of his first Donegal win competed in a class 14 Escort with local sponsors enabling him to compete. Much to their delight, he brought it home in 27th overall and 4th in class. Gerard & Gavin McGivney from Carrickmacross finished 52nd overall and 20th in class 13 in their Escort.
In the Historic Rally which was contested over the Saturday and Sunday stages, Brendan & JP McAree took 6th overall in the Porsche. David Wright, father of Stephen, made a return to rallying also in a Porsche. He and co-driver, Ashley McAdoo took 8th overall. Paddy Brennan was competing in Donegal for the first time in 26 years when the late Gary Nesbitt navigated for him. His son-in-law, Damien Doherty, was on the notes and despite a small brush with a wall in Carn Hill they had an enjoyable run, winning their Historic class in the process. They extend thanks to their team for their help both before and during the event. In the Junior Rally which was contested over the Sunday stages, Jonathan Treanor/Stephen McElroy charged back from an early delay to take a fine 3rd overall.
There were plenty of tales of woe from the weekend. John McQuaid/Stephen Hagan had a very short run retiring on the very first stage. They re-started on Saturday only to retire again on Stage 8. Vivian Hamill/Andrew Grennan were pushing hard until they crashed out on stage 4. James McCarville & Gareth Doherty were putting in an impressive drive and were 33rd overall and 4th in class but were forced out on the penultimate stage. David Smyth/Loretta Kelly retired their Corolla on Stage 8.
The Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championship Prizegiving takes place this Friday night, 24th June in the Squealing Pig Bar & Restaurant, Monaghan Town. Pakie Duffy & Evin Hughes won the 2015-16 Championship, completing a double following their National success. All welcome.
County Monaghan Motor Club 