Author: monaghanmotorclub

The Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship prizegiving took place last weekend in the Sligo Park Hotel. 270 people attended with €5700 raised for charity on the night. Cavan’s Jonathan Pringle & Martin Byrne claimed the overall championship title.

It was a successful year for Monaghan crews with numerous class winners. Shane Maguire finished 3^rd driver in class 4. Niall Maguire & Enda Sherry were victorious in class 7. Alison Hughes was the winning navigator in class 9 while her driver Declan Connolly was 2^nd in class 9. Barry Treanor claimed class 11R with Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden 3^rd driver and 2^nd navigator respectively in the same class. Mark Tierney was the first class 12 navigator. Last year’s champions, David Moffett/Fintan Sherry finished 3^rd in class 13. Michael Carbin/Emmet McCooey won class 20 with Martin Swinburne/Gretchen Fegan taking the Junior class.

Drumlin Navigation Trial

Regulations and Entry form for the Drumlin Navigation Trial, which takes place this Saturday 7^th November, are available on the club website. The event is the opening round of the National & Border Navigation Championships as well as the final round of the Gary Nesbitt and Traders Club Championships. COC Evin Hughes is planning to have a 100 mile route in the mid-Monaghan area. Headquarters is the Pearse Brothers Centre in Ballybay. Sign on will be from 6pm, with the first route card issued a 6.15pm. The event commences at 9.01pm. All those available to marshal are asked to attend at the Pearse Brothers Centre by 7.30pm.

James O’Reilly was the first Monaghan man home on last weekend’s Skibbereen Fastnet Rally. O’Reilly teamed up with Cavan’s Gary Kiernan and the pair put in a storming drive to take 6^th overall and 1^st in class 13. Daniel McKenna and Arthur Kierans were competing in the Toyota AE86 once again and despite dropping a few minutes on stage three, the pair fought back to 13^th overall and 3^rd in class 14. Michael Carbin/Emmet McCooey brought their Mitsubishi Lancer home to 17^th overall and 1^st in class 20. This result secured the class title in the National Championship for the pair. Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden secured class 11R in the championship after taking their Toyota Corolla to 28^th overall and 2^nd in class. Ryan Loughren/James McCarville retired on stage four whilst holding a top ten place while Barry McKenna/Mac Kierans retired on the opening stage. Liam Bowhan/Martin Connolly made it to stage six before retiring.

Sligo Pallets Border Championship Prizegiving

The annual prizegiving for the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship takes place this Saturday night 31^st October. The Sligo Park Hotel is the venue and anyone interested in attending should contact Brenda Flynn. Monaghan crews were once again very successful in this year’s championship taking many class wins. Overall honours went to the Cavan pair of Jonathan Pringle & Martin Byrne.

Drumlin Navigation Trial

Regulations and Entry form for the Drumlin Navigation Trial which takes place on Saturday 7^th November are available on the club website. The event is the opening round of the National & Border Navigation Championships as well as the final round of the Gary Nesbitt and Traders Club Championships. COC Evin Hughes is planning to have a 100 mile route in the mid-Monaghan area. Headquarters is the Pearse Brothers Centre in Ballybay. Sign on will be from 6pm, with the first route card issued a 6.15pm. The event commences at 9.01pm. All those available to marshal are asked to attend at the Pearse Brothers Centre by 7.30pm.

Josh Moffett made the overnight trip from Wales pay off with overall victory on round six of the Valvoline Irish Forestry Rally Championship. The Mayo Mini Stages rally was based at the picturesque Crockets on the Quay in Ballina, heralding a return to forest rallying in this area after 15 years. Josh and co-driver Jason McKenna took a dominant lead on the opening stage which they maintained over the remaining three stages to finish 36 seconds clear of championship leaders Michael & James O’Brien. Josh and Jason now need to finish ahead of the O’Brien crew on the next round in order to clinch the title. Derek Mackarel/Daire Hayes clinched victory in the Junior class and were an impressive 9^th overall in their Nova after a determined second run over the two stages. They narrowly got the better of class rivals Patrick O’Brien/Aine McGuigan in a Citroen. Michaela McGinn guided Damien McGauren to 8^th overall and 1^st in class 13. JP McAree guided Derrick Jobb to 15^th overall and 3^rd in class. 2WD champions Michael Conlon & Ciaran McPhillips had a rare off resulting in a non-finish. The Tynan family had a double misfortune when Dad Mickey and son Martin’s engines both cried enough on the opening stage.

Cambrian Rally

Josh & Sam Moffett competed on last Saturday’s Cambrian Rally in Wales as part of their preparation for Wales Rally GB in November. Josh finished 3^rd overall with John Rowan on the notes while Sam & Karl Atkinson finished just behind in 4^th place overall.

A strong contingent of Monaghan crews made their way to Donegal for the annual Harvest Stages Rally, which was based in Inishowen this year. The event was the final round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship. Daniel McKenna navigated by Gordon Noble was the top Monaghan driver home securing 4^th overall and 1^st in class 14 driving Brendan Kelly’s Toyota AE86. David Moffett/Fintan Sherry finished 10^th overall and 2^nd in the ultra competitive class 13. Shane Maguire brought his Lancer home to 12^th overall and 2^nd in class 4 with Paul McLaughlin in the navigator’s seat. Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn finished just behind in 13^th overall and 1^st in class 5 in their Fiesta. Mark Tierney guided Brian Armstrong to 17^th overall and 2^nd in class 12.

Michael Carbin/Emmet McCooey finished 18^th overall and 2^nd in class 20, while Evin Hughes guided Rodney White to 23^rd overall and 5^th in class 13 in one of the few remaining Sunbeams. Barry McKenna/Emmet Sherry finished 27^th overall and 6^th in class 13, Johno Doogan/Ciaran Marron took 30^th overall and 7^th in class 13, while Barry & Jonathan Treanor secured 31^st overall and 3^rd in class 11R, all competing in Escorts. Declan Connolly/Alison Hughes finished 93^rd overall and 8^th in class 9 in their Civic. Martin Swinburne/Gretchen Fegan (Corolla) took overall honours in the Junior Rally securing them the class in the Border Championship.

Damien Connolly was once again navigating for Peadar Hurson in the Subaru. They held an impressive early lead before retiring on stage four. Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan held 2^nd overall before their retirement on stage 8, rounding off a very disappointing year for this crew. Barry Treanor, Alison Hughes, Mark Tierney, Michael Carbin & Emmet McCooey and Martin Swinburne/Gretchen Fegan all secured their respective classes in the Border Championship.

Birr Endurance Trial

Evin Hughes made the trip from Donegal to Birr pay off as he guided Karl O’Donoghue to 3^rd overall on Sunday’s Birr Endurance Trial. The event was won by Limerick crew Alan and George Shinnors in Starlet.

Isle of Mull Rally

Arthur Kierans was in the hotseat for Derek McGeehan on the Isle of Mull Rally in Scotland. Unfortunately they were early retirees. The event was subsequently abandoned following a fatal accident.

Defending National Champions, Pakie Duffy & Evin Hughes kicked off the new Navigation season in style by taking overall honours on last weekend’s Monaghan Navigation Trial. COC Mac Kierans, ably assisted by Ruadhri Nash laid out a challenging 70 mile route in the Aghabog and Threemilehouse areas. Duffy/Hughes emerged victorious by just 1 penalty from Ashley McAdoo/Laurence Keenan with Semi-Expert pairing Michael Carbin/Darragh Kelly an impressive 3^rd overall.

The opening section of the event took crews from Aghabog to Stone Bridge, Kileevan, Newbliss and Threemilehouse. The majority of crews dropped two penalties at TP3. Plot & Bash at TP13, TP16 and TP17 saw more time dropped with some slippy lanes included in the mix. The final three plot & bash timepoints were between TP21-TP23. Duffy/Hughes held off a late charge from Ashley McAdoo/Laurence Keenan to take the win. Michael Carbin/Darragh Kelly took 3^rd overall on the “Semi-Expert beats Expert” rule which left Michael Tynan & Ciaran Tynan 4^th overall. Trevor Farrell & Noel Hall returned to the navigation scene after a short absence and secured 5^th overall, one further penalty adrift.

Novice class honours went to Mark Derry & Patrick O’Leary on 33 penalties. Keith McCormick/David McCrudden took 2^nd on 87 penalties with Cathal McKenna/Shane Farrell in 3^rd position on 110 penalties. Beginners class honours went to Colm Mohan/Conor Mohan on an impressive 45 penalties. Emmet McCooey/Conor Boylan finished 2^nd on 76 penalties with Mark Sheridan/Craig McPhillips in 3^rd on 172 penalties.

CO MONAGHAN M. C. NAVIGATION TRIAL TOP TEN

:
1 Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 8 marks,
2 Ashley McAdoo/Laurence Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 9m,
3 Mickey Carbin/Darragh Kelly (Subaru Impreza) 11m,
4 Mickey Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 11m,
5 Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 12m,
6 Martin Tynan/Damien Connolly (Subaru Impreza) 13m,
7 Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 17m,
8 Fintan Larmer/Sean McCaffrey (Subaru Impreza) 17m,
9 Mark Deery/Patrick O’Leary (Subaru Impreza) 33m,
10 Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 35m,

The next event is the Drumlin Navigation Trial on Saturday 7^th/8^th November which is also the opening round of the National & Border Night Navigation Championships.

Foley Secures 2^nd International Win of the Year

Conor Foley joined forces with double Tarmac and National Stages Rally Champion, Donagh Kelly for last weekend’s Cork 20 International Rally. The pair had already tasted success at the Killarney Rally of the Lakes and they repeated their form to take a dominant win. Their main rival was four times Cork winner, Daragh O’Riordan. Just five seconds separated them after day one, with Kelly & Foley just in front. O’Riodan’s retirement on stage 11 left Kelly/Foley in the clear for victory. Keith Cronin/Shane Buckley took 2^nd place, almost two minutes behind with Melvyn Evans/Mark Glennester taking 3^rd.

Stephen Wright/Mickie Galvin took 4^th overall and a convincing victory in class 5. Pauric Duffy & Kevin Glynn finished 8^th overall and 3^rd in the same class. Brendan Cumiskey with Ronan O’Kane

on the notes finished 9^th overall. In the National Rally, Carrickmacross pairing Gerry McGivney/Gavin McGivney returned to the stages and finished 25^th overall and 4^th in

class 13. Brendan & JP McAree finished 5^th overall in the Historic Rally.

Upcoming Events

10^th October, Donegal Harvest Stages Rally

18^th October, Mayo Forestry Mini Stages Rally