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It was a day of high drama on the narrow roads of North Monaghan as Daniel Mc Kenna and Andrew Grennan won the 2012 Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally on Sunday last. This was the second counting round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship which drew a full entry of 131 cars, the first full entry of this years rally calendar. An action packed event that saw only 5 of the top 10 making the finish ramp including non-finishes form all three WRC cars, which started. This event had it all and certainly lived up to its pre-event billing of “Finland on tarmac”. Mc Kenna/Grennan eventually took the rally win from Sam Moffatt and James O’Reilly in their EVO 9 with Maurice Moffatt and Jason McKenna just edged back to third on the final 30km stage in their Starlet.

            But that is only the tip of the iceberg! With only 67 finishers from 131 starters this was most definitely a finisher’s rally as most of those who were lucky enough to cross the finish ramp had their own good luck stories to tell. CoC Dessie Keenan and his team provided three action packed stages, which had it all. Stage 1 was a fast flowing stage with many flat crests on open roads. The first half of stage 2 ran through the famous Bragan mountain and then descended down towards Scotstown finishing with the infamous tight and twisty Aghnameena lane. Stage 3 simply had all the ingredients of the perfect stage, narrow sections to start with, straddling the border along Roslea, then opening out to fast flowing sections towards Bellanode village. The spectacle of two flat crest/jumps then up to a chicane and a hair pin right has to be the talking point of the rally as thousands of spectators descended on this usually quiet north Monaghan village. One could be forgiven for thinking they were actually in Finland such was the commitment of all drivers over these jumps, much to the delight of onlookers.

            Top seeds for the event were indeed local Bellanode man Niall Maguire and his regular navigator, Enda Sherry. They had led the event up until stage 7 when their gearbox packed it in while holding a one-minute lead. Earlier in the day number 2 seeds Seamus Leonard retired his Subaru WRC on ss1 while Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan slid their newly acquired WRC impreza off the road on ss3. These miss-haps only meant one thing, a titanic battle to the end between two of Irelands top escort men and locals, Daniel McKenna/Andrew Grennan and Gary McPhillips/Mark Tierney. By Gary’s own admission they were caught sleeping on the opening loop, dropping 32 seconds to Mc Kenna after three stages. Not to be outdone Gary and Mark put the “shoulder to the wheel” on the middle loop, recording fastest times on all three stages over McKenna. Indeed on ss6 running water after heavy rainfall made conditions treacherous and Daniel/Andrew nearly threw it all away with a big overshoot on the hairpin at Greenfield eggs, which resulted in the back of the escort being extensively damaged. Gary and Mark were also caught out on the surface water here and ended up alongside Daniel who had got out to access the damage. Both crews got back on track and its was a side by side battle to stage end. Going into the final stage the scene was set for a battle royale as Mc Phillips led by one second with the now infamous 30km Bellanode stage to run. Unfortunately though it was not going to live up to it’s billing as Mc Kenna passed the stricken red escort which suffered suspension failure and Gary and Mark were forced to limp to stage finish and drop back to 14^th o/a. A cruel end after a titanic battle with Daniel Mc Kenna and Andrew Grennan coming out on top on this occasion to be crowned 2012 Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally winners.

            With Sam Moffatt and uncle Maurice 2^nd and 3^rd respectively it was Shane Maguire and Marty McGarrity who came home in 4^th o/a to take a splendid group N class win. Shane was locked in a battle with young local rival Josh Moffatt with regular navigator Domhall Lennon on the notes and eventually came out with a 17 second winning margin over the Combilift and PQE backed EVO. Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle had to settle for 6^th o/a but did enough to take the class win as Mc Kenna and Moffatt were in the top 3, this despite a puncture early on. Camillus Bradley was next up in 7^th o/a and 2^nd in class 14 ahead of John Mc Quaid and Seamus O’ Connor in 9^th o/a and 3^rd class 14. Not taking away from the tremendous drives from the front-runners, Kieran “Bilko” McCarra and Colm Murphy could surely be singled out for a drive of the day award also. 5^th fastest stage time on the opening stage reflecting Bilko’s intentions for the day and indeed he remained inside the top 6 up until stage 7, eventually dropping back to 8^th o/a and taking a class win by almost two and a half minutes. Oldcastle’s Mickey Curran rounded off the top 10 with Mickey Conlon and Darren Mc Cague 11^th and 2^nd class 13. Emyvale’s New Holland Agri. man Barry McKenna had Clones busman Raymond Conlon on the notes and they had much better luck on their home rally compared to recent events with a 17^th o/a finish and 3^rd in class 13. Jim Mc Kenna and Thomas Treanor finished 12^th o/a as Arthur and Mac Kierans made it two wins from two starts in class 12. Eamonn Mc Guigan was 2^nd in class 12 ahead of Hugh Mc Quaid and Chris Melly in 3^rd. Gerard Mc Quaid and Gary Quinlan finished 18^th o/a and 4^th in class 13. Class 11 saw no fewer than 13 non-finishers out of a starting 25 as Carrickmacross brother’s Johno and Padraig Doogan had a testing day which paid off with a class 11 win. Indeed they were contemplated retiring in first service with alternator belt problems but eventually their persistence paid dividends. David Moffatt and Andrew Spears also had their problems as they limped to the end of stage 3 with a broken alternator bracket, coupled with a slight off towards the end of the day but were also rewarded for their efforts with 2^nd in class 11. Seamus Doherty and Peter Byrne rounded off the top three in class 11. Class 10 was another to suffer many casualties but it was Patrick Kiernan and Darren O’Brien who kept it together to take the class win. Aaron Mc Quaid and Aidan Coyle had led class 10 through the early stages to eventually finish 2^nd and 31^st over-all. Father and son team of Sean and Fintan Sherry rounded off the top 3 in class 10 in their Pizza D’or and Mc Aree Eng. backed escort.

            Donegal’s Barry Mc Gill with last minute replacement Paul Clarke on the notes also made it two wins from two starts in this years border championship with a class 9 victory. Cavan’s Brendan O Reilly with Mark Hamill on the notes were 2^nd class 9 ahead of Aaron Duffy and Michael Donnellan. The only finisher’s in class 8 were Ciaran Marron and Damian Connolly. Rodger Kennedy and Wendy Blackledge were the sole finishers in class 7. Donegal natives Joe Mc Gonigle and Ciaran Geaney had a blistering drive to a class 6 win and 15^th overall in the citreon C2R2 ahead of the similar car of John Lynch with Liam Branley 3^rd. Sligo Pallets crew Andrew Mullan and Elaine Doherty finish 3^rd in class 4 and 13^th o/a behind the hard charging youngsters Maguire and Moffatt. Mark Ewing won class 3 ahead of Longford men Packie Duffy and Micheal Reilly in the type R civic with Johnny Leonard 3^rd in a fiesta. Adrian Cannon brought his civic across the finish ramp with a class 2 win ahead of Stephen Bradley in 2^nd and Trevor Mc Connell 3^rd, also in civics’. Class 15 which caters for group A and N cars out of homologation was won by Scotland’s Jim Sharp in a group A subaru (who incidentally is currently leading the Scottish rally championship) with local man Stephen Hagan on the notes. Andy Mackarel and Richard Cassidy were consistent as always and it paid off with 2^nd in class 15 in the EVO 4. David Leonard rounded off the top 3 in a Lancer.

            Other local men who can count themselves lucky to even make the finish after a demanding day include David Smith/Adrian Flynn who were 4^th in class 11 with Damien Sherry/Weazel Currie 5^th class 11. Colin Currid and Ballyhaise man Adrian Foley were 4^th class 9 in a nova while Cavan’s Phillip Smith and Warren Carleton were 5^th class 2. Seamus Connolly and Gary Mc Crudden were in the scenery on a few occasions but managed to make the end nevertheless. Indeed it has been suggested that this crew were the unofficial entertainers of the rally, putting on a show at every opportunity and winning the Sligo Pallets Drive of the Day award for their efforts on ss5.

            Unfortunately that’s where the good luck stories end as a plethora of locals failed to finish this demanding rally for one reason or another. Niall and Enda were out on ss7 with gearbox issues while leading. Next big casualties were Rodney Wilton and Conor Mc Mahon who crashed their brand new escort out in spectacular fashion at the first junction of the event. Mac McKenna and John Loughran had an uncharacteristic off on ss4 while Shane Mc Girr and Jack Maguire also failed to make it home. Enda Mc Nulty and Paul Sheridan had the all new class 13 escort on show but mechanical gremlins were never too far away throughout the weekend. Darren and Nicola Mc Kenna were forced into retirement, as their twin cam was not firing on all cylinders throughout the day. Ryan Loughran and James Mc Carville ended their rally with a slight off as something broke in the front suspension while leading class 11. Martin Mc Phillips and Ciaran Tynan also failed to make the finish as they encountered electrical problems on ss5 and their clutch gave up on ss6. James Cassidy and Karen Kelly were the first crew to throw in the towel as their alternator packed in before the start of the first stage. Cathal Mc Glone and Damien Doherty also failed to make the finish, as did Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin when their gearbox cried enough. Donal Crossan and Damien Mc Cabe were also on the non-finishers list as were Michael and Declan Tynan with back differential woes.

Michael Carroll and Martin Connolly were also non-finishers in their class 3 fiesta. Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes’ hopes of a good finish on their local event were dashed as the head gasket went on the 205. John and Niall Kelly were back out in a white twin cam and getting back up to speed but were forced to retire on ss6 with mechanical problems. Barry Treanor and Colm Connolly didn’t make the end, nor did Cathal Sheridan with Donegal woman Loretta Kelly on the notes as the gearbox in the nova gave up. David Smith and Austin Hamill failed to take the 106 home while Justin Smith and Gregory Mc Quillan were also heading home early while leading class 9 in their escort. Cootehill’s Gerry and Aaron Mc Intyre retired at second service with clutch failure while Tullyvin man Adam Kinkade and Dominic “Bart” Mc Ardle also retired their civic making it a bad day all round for the Cavan men. Ballybay’s David Dixon and Darren Gilliland made a welcomed return to the stages but there hopes of a finish were short lived as they failed to make first service. Tommy Boylan and Mark Deery didn’t make it round the final loop of three stages in their G3 escort.

            So that’s the gist of an eventful 2012 Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally which has threw up many a talking point for all the right reasons. Well done to Daniel and Andrew on an epic win, reportedly the first escort to win in Monaghan for 24 years. Hard luck to Gary and Mark and no doubt their day is hopefully not too far away. Well done to CoC Dessie Keenan and his hard working team on running a fabulous event on perfect stages. Not too many competitors can say they have done 30km stages’ and by all accounts their experience of it was fantastic. A special word of thanks to our main sponsors, Colm and Audrey Herron of the Hillgrove Hotel and Spa for their continued support. Thanks to all the marshal’s, medical and rescue services and anybody who contributed in any way to keep the Monaghan Stages Rally at the fore in the Irish Rally calendar.

 

 

 

Monaghan MC Stages Rally Top 10:

1/ Daniel McKenna/Andrew Grennan (Escort) 109m 23s

2/ Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 111m 45s

3/ Maurice Moffett/Jason McKenna (Starlet) 111m 50s

4/ Shane Maguire/Martin McGarrity (Impreza Gp N) 112m 38s

5/ Josh Moffett/Domhnall Lennon (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 112m 57s

6/ Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Escort) 113m 19s

7/ Camillus Bradley/Crawford Henderson (Escort) 113m 38s

8/ Kieran McCarra/Colm Murphy (Civic) 113m 45s

9/ John McQuaid/Seamus O’Connor (Escort) 114m 00s

10/ Michael Curran/Sean Hayde (Escort) 115m 00s

 

Group N Production class:

1 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly

2 Shane Maguire/Martin McGarrity

3 Josh Moffett/Domhnall Lennon.

 

Motorsport Ireland National Night Navigation Prize Giving

National night navigation prize giving for the 11/12 season past will take place on Saturday 28^th April at 8.00pm sharp in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise. All award winners are asked to be present or send a representative. There will also be an open forum meeting prior to prize giving, this is important as it is a chance for competitors to voice their opinions on all aspects of the sport with a view to improving it for the future.

 

The climax of Monaghan Motor Club’s rally calendar takes place over the coming weekend with the Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally on Sunday next. Many months of meticulous planning will come together over the coming weekend. A bumper entry of 131 crews will descend on Monaghan town and the neighbouring North Monaghan villages like, Balinode, Scotstown, Tydavnet, Bragan and Carrickroe. Saturday will be taken up with recce of each of the three stages where crews will make their pace notes and familiarise themselves with the stages at hand. Mc Elvaney Motors on the Dublin road will be the main hub of activity on Saturday evening where mechanical scrutiny of each car takes place and then its back to the Hillgrove where all cars will be parked over night and ready for Sundays stages. First competing car is due to leave Rally HQ on Sunday morning at 9.25am with Stage 1 starting at 10.00am. CoC for the event is Dessie Keenan and along with his many helpers has laid on a fantastic route of just over 200 stage kilometres. The third stage of each loop is probably the longest (30km) and most challenging stage of the Irish Rally calendar thus far. Centralised service after each of the three stages is once again in the main town car park beside Saint Peters lake (behind fleming’s). The event is estimated to attract up on 20,000 spectators and rally fans over the course of the weekend making it one of the largest sporting events of the year in the county.

            Local Balinode men Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry will lead the field away from the Hillgrove as number 1 seed in their WRC Impreza, followed by Seamus Leonard and Donagh Kelly also in WRC subaru’s. Scothouse man Daniel McKenna with Andrew Grennan back on the notes will start at 4 and head an amazing group of escorts with Gary Mc Phillips and Mark Tierney in hot pursuit at 5. Donegal cousin’s Declan and Brian Boyle are at 6 in a similar escort and sure to be on the pace. Billy Coleman winner Sam Moffatt with James Reilly on the notes are the only class 4 entrant in the top 10 in their EVO 9, starting at 7. Camillus Bradley and Brian Brogan are next at 8^th and 9^th respectively, both in class 14 escorts while Maurice Moffatt gets reacquainted with navigator Jason McKenna to complete the top 10 in the infamous starlet. Others sure to feature in the top 10 results throughout the day include are Shane Maguire, Trevor Bustard, Josh Moffatt and Conor Harvey, all in class 4 machines. Rodney Wilton is also down to compete in his brand new class 14 escort.

            Looking further down the field Mickey Conlon and Darren Mc Cague head the local entries in class 13, with Kieran ‘Bilko’ Mc Carra, Mac Mc Kenna, Jack Maguire, Barry Mc Kenna and Gerard Mc Quaid to name but a few amongst a group of 24 entrants in class 13. Border champions Arthur and Mac Kierans lead of the class 12 brigade at number 37 with James Cassidy and James at 47 and Eamonn Mc Guigan at 48. Class 11 could also be dubbed “the battle of the locals” with the top 8 from the surrounding areas. Darren and Nicola McKenna lead off at 40, followed by Anthony Hand/Emett Sherry at 41, Ryan Lougheran/James Mc Carville at 42, Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden at 43, David Moffatt /Andrew Spears at 44, Martin McPhillips/Ciaran Tynan at 45, Johno and Padraig Doogan at 46 with Damien Sherry starting at 58 in his twin cam. Class 10 will also be ultra competitive with Parick Kiernan starting at 72 in his escort, followed by the ever reliable Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes in the 205 with Aaron McQuaid, John Kelly, Barry Treanor, Cathal Sheridan and Sean Sherry all in hot pursuit.

            Class 9 see’s Justin Smyth and Gregory Mc Quillan lead off ahead of Donegal’s Barry McGill with Cavan’s Brendan O’Reilly 3^rd class 9 off the start ramp. David Smith and Austin Hamill are sure to be in contention in class 6, which features the C2R2 of Donegal’s Joseph McGonigle and the puma of Roger Donnan. Sean Agnew and Peter Deery will be hoping for better luck than the circuit in class 6 also. Martin Tynan will have regular night navigation navigator Fintan Clerkin on the notes for the very first time on tarmac in his class 4 EVO 8. Class 15, which is for group N cars out of homologation, will also feature a few locals as Cathal Mc Glone and Damien Doherty lead off the locals. Andy Mackarel and Richard Cassidy are next up at 50 with Michael and Declan Tynan just behind in the EVO 5.

            So Monaghan town is the place to be this coming weekend where the cream of Irish Rallying will pit their wits against one another. Monaghan Motor Club wish all starting crews the very best of luck and hope to see everyone back at the Hillgrove Hotel on Sunday night for prize giving. Any marshal’s available for the day please contact a committee member.  

 

Mc Aree’s Third o/a on Moonraker

Vincent and Jp Mc Aree brought their EVO 9 home to an impressive 3^rd over-all on last weekends Carrick-on-Suir Moonraker forestry Rally. This was the third round of the Irish Valvoline Forestry Championship and the Ballinode crew punched in some excellent times throughout the day. The event was won by last years champion Owen Murphy with Gary Jennings in 2^nd. But things could have been a lot different had Jennings not rolled his Subaru while leading the event, remarkably they only lost about half a minute and set fastest stages times thereafter to finish in 2^nd, only 12 seconds off Murphy. Vincent and Jp were only 13 seconds off the over-all winner after 9 stages. Colin Britton and Arthur Kierans were in 5^th over-all as only 21 seconds separated the top 5 finishers. Stephen and Suzanne Wright finished up in 6^th over-all, another good points haul for the championship. Emmet Sherry was sitting with John McLaughlin in their EVO and had a good run to 8^th over-all and 4^th in class. Mickey Conlon and Damien McCabe had been lying in 12^th over-all and leading class 5 after the 7^th stage but failed to make the finish as his gear box cried enough.

 

Squealing Pig Border Navigation Prize Giving

Friday night last saw a hub of activity around championship sponsor the Squealing Pig Bar and Restaurant for this years annual prize giving. After a long year with seven events hosted by the four clubs of Monaghan, Cavan, Midlands and Donegal it was time to let the hair down as many a story was remimised of the year gone past. The Squealing Pig laid on a fabulous meal, which was followed by prize giving, and plenty of banter among the 60 strong who attended. MC for the night was our very own Sean McCaffery and along with Andy Mackarel and Paul Fitzpatrick they organised a very successful night. Well done to all award winners and to the 2011/12 Squealing Pig border navigation champions Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins. 

 

Open Navigation Meeting

Monaghan Motor Club is holding an open Navigation Trial meeting on Wednesday 25^th April at 8pm sharp in the Hillgrove Hotel. The function of the meeting is to discuss all aspects of the sport and determine if any suggestions or amendments would improve the full spectrum of the sport. This is an important open meeting so we would ask all competitors and event organisers to attend.

 

Motorsport Ireland National Night Navigation Prize Giving

National night navigation prize giving for the 11/12 season past will take place on Saturday 28^th April at 8.00pm sharp in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise. All award winners are asked to be present or send a representative. Full list of award winners will be available shortly. There will also be an open forum meeting prior to prize giving, this is important as it is a chance for competitors to voice their opinions on all aspects of the sport with a view to improving it for the future.

 

IRC Drivers to the fore on Circuit Easter weekend has become synonymous with the running of the Circuit of Ireland Stages Rally. This year there was the added bonus of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge using this Irish event as the 3rd round of this competitive championship. Indeed it was these pocket rocket S2000 cars, which dominated the circuit from start to finish. Juho Hanninen and Mikko Markkula from Finland had a memorable first visit to Irish tarmac with a 44 second win from Norwegians Andreas Mikkelson and Ola Floene. All the way from the Chez Republic were Jan Kopecky and Pavel Drester to finish 3rd, making it a Skoda top 3 after 15 stages. The Armagh City Hotel was HQ for this high profile event, which had a somewhat party atmosphere as it co-incided with the Titanic anniversary celebrations in Belfast. Indeed stage one of the event was a spectator stage around the newly opened Titanic quarters with the backdrop of the Harland and Wolff cranes providing a spectacular showpiece. There were high expectations of Irelands young guns being able to match the IRC regulars but unfortunately it was a weekend to forget for most of them. First victims were Alastair Fisher and Rory Kennedy who were on a good pace but a small mistake on a fast series of bends on ss6 saw them burst an oil cooler after a spin to end their challenge. Waterfords Craig Breen encountered fuel pump problems, which saw him pick up a minute and a half road penalties to relegate him to 5th o/a at the end. Next up was Robert Barrable and Monaghan’s Damian Connolly, also in an S2000 Skoda in 6th o/a. Robert and Damian set some good times as the weekend progressed but lack of stage mileage probably put them at a distinct disadvantage over the IRC front runners. Sam Moffatt and James O’Reilly were in contention in group N and eventually finished 3rd, just under a minute behind the ever flying Gary Jennings with Donagh Kelly 2nd, just 4 seconds ahead of Sam and James. Josh Moffatt and Domhall Lennon were also punching in good times in the 2nd Combi-lift EVO 9 and finished 4th in class and 13th o/a. Peter Deery was navigating for Armagh’s Sean Agnew in the competitive Citreon C2R2 but they failed to make the finish after featuring in the class placing’s through the first few stages. The Circuit of Ireland was also a counting round of the Irish tarmac Championship, which saw over 60 entrants. Galway winners Darren Gass and Enda Sherry made it another win with a measured drive to finish almost a minute and a half ahead of Eugene Donnelly and Paddy Toner. Eugene was showcasing his familiar WRC Corolla on this event having been 2nd to Gass and Sherry in the Mini WRC in Galway. Derek McGarrity rounded off the top 3 in his Mini WRC. Adrian Hetherinton won the two-wheel-drive category ahead of Drew Stewart with Wesley Patterson 3rd. Early leader, Frank Kelly relieved himself of a wheel on stage 6 to end his rally. Raymond Conlon, with Galway’s Sarah Wheelan on the notes climbed the leader board throughout the weekend to finish 11th o/a in the twin cam. Raymond disappointed that the last of the night stages had to cancelled on Friday night as his night navigation experience gave him great confidence in the dark. Brendan and JP McAree made the short trip North in the immaculate Porche and enjoyed their run to 37th o/a and after a steady run in the historic section. Cootehill father and son team, Gerry and Aaron McIntyre slid their starlet round the Northern stages to 45th over-all. Well done to all finishers and thanks to all the local marshal’s who helped out over the course of the weekend. ULSTER AC DONNELLY GROUP CIRCUIT OF IRELAND RALLY (ROUND 3 OF INTERCONTINENTAL RALLY CHALLENGE): 1 Juho Hanninen/Mikko Markkula (Skoda Fabia S2000) 1h 58m 21.8s 2 Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Floene (Skoda Fabia S2000) 1h 59m 06.0s 3 Jan Kopecky/Pavel Dresler (Skoda Fabia S2000) 2h 00m 01.3s 4 Mathieu Arzeno/Renoul Jamoul (Peugeot 207 S2000) 2h 02m 23.4s 5 Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts (Peugeot 207 S2000) 2h 03m 15.6s 6 Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly (Skoda Fabia S2000) 2h 03m 36.3s 7 Sepp Wiegand/Timo Gottschalk (Skoda Fabia S2000) 2h 04m 37.7s 8 Garry Jennings/Barry McNulty (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 06m 49.7s 9 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 07m 33.2s 10 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 07m 37.8s 11 Martin McCormack/David Moynihan (Citroen DS3) 2h 10m 16.6s 12 Tommy Doyle/Liam Moynihan (Renault Clio R3) 2h 10m 37.1s NATIONAL RALLY (ROUND 2 OF IRISH TARMAC CHAMPIONSHIP): 1 Darren Gass/Enda Sherry (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 01m 59.5s 2 Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Toyota Corolla WRC) 2h 03m 27s 3 Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Mini Countryman WRC) 2h 06m 30.2s 4 Steve Perez/Paul Spooner (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 09m 12.9s 5 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Ford Escort) 2h 12m 19.8s 6 Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Ford Escort) 2h 13m 22.7s

Squealing Pig Border Navigation Prize Giving This Friday 13th April marks the annual Squealing Pig Bar & Restaurant Border Navigation Championship Prizegiving. Proceedings will kick off at 8.00pm sharp in the Squealing Pig with meal followed by prizegiving. Final border championship points are available on Monaghan motor club website so check them out; you may just be a winner. If not come along anyway to support this popular championship with a guaranteed night of banter and reminisce about the season gone past. To book tickets please call or text Andy on 087 2558957 Motorsport Ireland National Night Navigation Prize Giving National night navigation prize giving for the 11/12 season past will take place on Saturday 28th April at 8.00pm sharp in the Heritage Hotel, Portlaoise. All award winners are asked to be present or send a representative. Full list of award winners will be available shortly. There will also be an open forum meeting prior to prize giving, this is important as it is a chance for competitors to voice their opinions on all aspects of the sport with a view to improving it for the future.

Open Navigation Meeting Monaghan Motor Club is holding an open Navigation Trial meeting on Wednesday 25th April at 8pm sharp in the Hillgrove Hotel. The function of the meeting is to discuss all aspects of the sport and determine if any suggestions or amendments would improve the full spectrum of the sport. This is an important open meeting so we would ask all competitors and event organisers to attend.

Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally – almost here!! One of the most popular events across Ireland in the rallying colander – the Monaghan Stages Rally, is fast approaching. With only 2 weeks to go, we are yet again in for something special in Monaghan when the cream of Irish rallying will visit the county in their droves. The attraction for man and machine in Monaghan is now well known as the place to come, where real competition takes place. The naturally challenging terrain of our countryside is ideal to test all levels of competitor with their various grades of rally cars and in 2012, we will yet again see some great battles on our door steps. New COC for the event is Dessie Keenan, who has taken on the task of setting out some excellent stages for the drivers and spectators. In 2012, Dessie has brought the event back to north Monaghan and will cover areas such as Tydavnet, Carrickroe, Bragan, Scotstown and Bellanode. Once again, our long-standing sponsor – the Hillgrove Hotel, has welcomed our club and event back to their excellent facilities and throughout the rally weekend the Hotel will be the main hub of all activity. Paper scrutiny will take place here on Saturday 21st April along with Parc Ferme for the rally cars. Mechanical Car Scrutiny also takes place on Saturday at McElvaney Motors on the Dublin Road from 3pm. Official start as usual will be at the front of the Hotel on Sunday morning where an expected 130 rally cars will pass through on their way to the stages. Dessie has kept with the format of 3 stages run 3 times which suits this region and allows for central servicing in the town car park at the back of Fleming’s Super Market. New to this year, is a very challenging 30Klm stage, which will test the stamina of the teams, and indeed tyre choices will become a tactical issue during the day. So keep Sunday 22nd April free for this event, as it is surely an event not to miss!

Daniel McKenna and Arthur Kierans teamed up last weekend to win the Midlands Motor Club Moto Stages Rally. With Daniels regular navigator Andrew Grennan sidelined for a few weeks, Arthur jumped at the chance of navigating and they pulled off the win by a narrow margin of only 2 seconds after 9 stages. Donegal’s Declan and Brian Boyle were also on a serious pace throughout the day and any minor mistake would have been enough for either crew to relinquish the lead.

Daniel and Arthur started with a blistering time on the first stage, 6 seconds ahead of the Boyles with  Donagh Kelly 3^rd in an EVO 9, but Donagh would later retire with gearbox problems. By first service their lead was cut to 3 seconds after three stages and on the middle loop despite their best efforts the Scotshouse/Aghabog pairing could only stretch the lead to 4 seconds as the Boyle brothers piled on the pressure. Just behind the top two there was an even more personal battle going on between Maurice Moffett/Patrick Brides and son Richard Moffett/Martin Connolly. Richard was quickest of the Moffett’s through the first loop in the infamous starlet but the threat of being beaten by his son spurred Maurice and Patrick on to eventually take 3^rd overall, albeit in a more powerful class 14 starlet. Back in front, Daniel stretched his lead to 6 seconds through stages 7 and 8 but on the last stage of the day the Boyle brothers threw caution to the wind and pulled 4 seconds back but this wasn’t enough. Back at the Abbey Hotel in Roscommon Daniel Mc Kenna and Arthur Kierans were crowned 2012 Midlands Stages winners. Incidentally this is the second year running Daniel has won this event.

To quote the wise words of a local “hero” there were two Kierans’ navigating for two Mc Kenna’s in two Millington powered escorts! Young Mac Kierans got the call up late in the week to sit with Jim McKenna but their day wasn’t quite as straightforward. Jim’s immaculate class 14 escort bared all the hallmarks of a high-speed spin but nevertheless they got away with only cosmetic damage and finished 12^th over-all and 3^rd in class 14. Cavan’s Paddy Boyle and Marty Sherlock made a return to the stages after a lengthy 3 year sabbatical but refound their form and set some great times as the day progressed to finish 14^th o/a. Next of the locals was Jack Maguire and Stephen McElroy in 15^th o/a. Mickey Conlon had Darren McCague on the notes and they too had a troubled day, picking up a puncture and dropping at least two minutes to finish in 17^th over-all. Maudabawn men Mervin Wedlock and Damien McCabe were next up in 18^th o/a in their class 13 escort. Martin McPhillips and Ciaran Tynan had a steady run in the McPhillips Engineering backed twin cam to win class 11 and finish 20^th over-all. Martin and Ciaran had been involved in a great class battle with Carrickmacross men Johno Doogan and JP McAree but unfortunately the South Monaghan crew encountered alternator belt problems through the middle loop which ultimately forced them into retirement.

Local midlands crew and regular night navigation contenders Packie Duffy and Michael Reilly had a good run on their home event to win class 3 in  their Type R Honda. Colin Duffy and Sam Johnston would usually be rivals on the night navigation scene but teamed up for their local stages event. Unfortunately their challenge came to a sudden stop on stage 2 after setting a great time on the opening test. Cavan’s Brendan O’Reilly had Mark Hamill on the notes and they had an enjoyable run through the narrow Roscommon roads to take 2^nd in class 9 behind Pa Bellew and Andres Reid.

Not to be outdone by the Moffett battle at the head of the main field, David Moffett and Andrew Spears, in the 3^rd of the Moffett starlets, took stage wins on all 6 stages of the Junior Rally to take a convincing win. Not only this but David’s time on the opening stage was a 5^th fastest time in the main field with brother Richard setting 4^th fastest, such was the pace of these youngsters. Longford’s Barry and Sean Brady were 2^nd in the junior rally in their civic ahead of another local crew John Collum and Caitriona Spollen also in a civic.

So another win for the Scanbitz escort and an almost perfect day in the Moffett stable. Best of luck to all travelling local crews for this weekends circuit of Kerry Stages.

 

MIDLAND MC STAGES RALLY TOP 10

1/ Daniel McKenna/Arthur Kierans (Escort) 56m 48s

2/ Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Escort) 56m 50s

3/ Maurice Moffett/Patrick Brides (Starlet) 59m 37s

4/ Richard Moffett/Martin Connolly (Starlet) 59m 50s

5/ Neil Tohill/Gerard Tohill (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 60m 41s

6/ Michael Curran/Sean Hayde (Escort) 60m 49s

7/ Alan Sheridan/Gerry Conlon (Escort) 61m 05s

8/ Andrew Mullen/Elaine Doherty (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 61m 35s

9/ Daniel Conaghan/Terence Magee (Escort) 62m 06s

10/ Marc McDermott/Damian Flanagan (Civic) 62m 19s

 

Juniors:

1/ David Moffett/Andrew Speares (Starlet) 41m 06s

2/ Barry Brady/Sean Brady (Civic) 43m 53s

3/ John Collum/Catriona Spollen (Civic) 44m 57s

 

Bulldog Rally

Club member Emmet Sherry made the trip to Wales at the weekend to contest the Bulldog Rally as navigator for upcoming Fermanagh driver Jon Armstrong in a LHD ST Fiesta. This was only Jon’s second ever pacenote event and following a 13^th overall result on the recent Omagh Spring Rally confidence was high in the Armstrong camp. Jon and Emmet started well, just 7 tenths of a second off the fastest overall BRC Challenge competitor after taking it reasonable steady through the first stage. On stage 2 Jon and Emmet had a good charge through the 8-mile stage and were 12 seconds faster than the nearest Challenge competitor. Unfortunately stage 3 was to be their last, unaware that they had picked up a puncture on a rough cut up hairpin Jon entered a tight right hand corner following a series of fast flowing corners and soon realised they were in trouble. The car just would not turn in at all and the result was slipping the car off a drop and rolling 2 times. The accident ended Jon and Emmet’s event, as the car was too far off the road and had a fair amount of damage, a disappointing end after a great start. Jon and Emmet plan to continue their assault on the BRC challenge and hope to have their car ready for the Jim Clarke Rally.

 

Squealing Pig Border Navigation Prize Giving

Keep free Friday 13^th April for the annual Squealing Pig Bar & Restaurant Border Navigation Championship Prizegiving. Proceedings will kick off at 8.00pm sharp in the Squealing Pig with meal followed by prizegiving. Final border championship points will be available shortly so keep an eye out; you may just be a winner. If not come along anyway to support this popular championship with a guaranteed night of banter and reminisce about the season gone past. To book tickets please call or text Andy on 087 2558957

 

Marshals Required

Monaghan MC are urgently looking for marshals for the Circuit of Ireland on Easter weekend, particularly Easter Saturday. Anybody available and willing to help please contact 047-81139 after 7pm or e-mail Monaghan Motor Club at monaghanmotorclub@gmail.com