Monaghan Motor Club offers its condolences to the families and friends of those fatally injured at the Cavan Stages Rally on Sunday last (27/4/12)
Our thoughts and prayers are also with those injured,to whom we wish a full recovery.
Paul Hughes (Chairman)
For and on behalf of Monaghan Motor Club
Local Cork crew Owen Murphy and James O’Brien took top honours in their local Cork Forest Stages Rally on Saturday last. This was the fourth round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Championship and attracted almost 50 entries to this popular forest complex on the outskirts of Mallow. Murphy and O Brien were pushed all the way by the hard charging Colin Britton, navigated by our very own Arthur Kierans who were only 6 seconds in arrears after six tough stages. This result leaves Britton and Kierans leading the Irish Forest Championship with three rounds remaining. Third over-all were Pat O Connell and Mark Wiley with only 7 seconds separating the top three crews. Incidentally the top three were all in similar spec EVO 9’s. Fourth over-all went to Martin Cairns who had Patrick Brides on the notes. Patrick making the switch from the back wheel drive starlets of the Moffatt’s to sample the gravel in a four-wheel drive Impreza. Next up were Enda Mc Nulty and Paul Sheridan in the trusty Impreza. Following some teething problems in the new Mc Nulty escort this crew returned to the forest in the group A impreza to good effect and won their class and 5th over-all. Next up was the Mc Aree Evo of Vincent and JP Mc Aree.
The Ballinode/Carrickmacross cousins had mixed fortunes in Cork as they dropped over 30 seconds on the opening test with an overshoot and stalled engine which refused to re-start. Once they got going they quickly climbed the leader board, setting fastest stage time on the last stage to eventually finish in 6th. A great resulted considering they were 19th after stage 1. This result leaves the Mc Arees in 4th over-all in the forest championship with three rounds remaining so still very much in the hunt. Swann’s Cross brother and sister team of Stephen and Suzanne Wright finished in 8th over-all and gained some valuable points towards their forest championship campaign. The Wrights’ consistency is paying dividends as they are currently second in the Valvoline championship with 3 rounds remaining.
The two wheel drive battle was hard fought with Fivemiletown’s Shane McGirr and Jackie Elliott taking class 5 honours in the McGirr Oils backed starlet and 9th over-all to boot. The MC Blinds backed escort of Michael Conlon with new navigator Damien Fleming were second two-wheel drive car across the line and 11th over-all after an enjoyable day in the sticks. David Smith and Austin Hamill took a step into the unknown as they were competing in an EVO, a small step up from Davids trusty 106! However they quickly came to grips with the driving style of the four-wheel drive and set some good times throughout the day to finish a creditable 24th over-all and 6th in class. So with 3 rounds remaining in Tipperary, the Dogleap and the bushwhacker,
Monaghan have 3 crews in the top 4 over-all positions so best of luck to all over the remaining rounds.
CORK MC JIM WALSH CORK FOREST RALLY TOP 10
1/ Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 10s 2/ Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 16s 3/ Pat O’Connell/Mark Wiley (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 17s 4/ Martin Cairns/Patrick Brides (Impreza) 33m 43s 5/ Enda McNulty/Paul Sheridan (Impreza) 33m 47s 6/ Vincent McAree/J P McAree (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 33m 58s 7/ Gerard Lucey/James Lucey (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 34m 00s 8/ Stephen Wright/Suzanne Wright (Lancer Evo 6) 34m 16s 9/ Shane McGirr/Jackie Elliott (Starlet) 34m 46s 10/ Niall Henry/John Rowan (Impreza Gp N) 34m 52s
Co. Cavan Motor Club Stages Rally
All roads lead to Baileboro this weekend for Cavan Motor Clubs annual stages rally. This is the 3rd round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally championship and is sure to attract a bumper entry. With the weather looking promising it is sure to be a great days entertainment as many crews battle it out for border championship points heading to the half way stage. Once again the day will not proceed without the help of hundreds of marshals. Monaghan Motor Club is committed to providing as many as possible and would ask all members to make themselves available if possible. Please contact 086 3627000 or e-mail the club website on monaghanmotorclub@gmail.com should you be available to marshal and participate in the safe running of our neighbouring motor clubs annual stages rally.
Carlow Motor Club hosted their ever-popular stages rally and Mark II challenge on Sunday last. A bumper entry in the main field took to the roads around the East Carlow town of Tullow for nine stages. It was number 3 seeds Brian O Mahoney and John Higgins who took over the lead after stage 2 and went on to take a 14 second winning margin from championship leader Thomas Fitzmaurice in 2nd. Ballinode men Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry were 3rd over-all and only 3 seconds further adrift after overcoming a number of small mechanical issues in the early stages. This result for the Monaghan men ensures they keep the pressure on Fitzmaurice and O’Mahoney for the Dunlop national title at the half way stage. Incidentally all three are in similar spec WRC S11 Impreza’s.
Just behind the top 3 was the battle for two wheel drive honours and the title of Mark II challenge winner. On the opening test it was Wesley Patterson who got the upper hand with a slender 1 second lead from Daniel Mc Kenna and Andrew Grennan with Frank Kelly on the pace in 3rd. Gary Mc Phillips had Donal Barrett on the notes for this event (Donal is regular navigator for Donegal’s Manus Kelly) but they were struggling with suspension woes through the opening loop and doing well to stay in contention with the top 3. Stage two saw the demise of Patterson, which left Daniel and Andrew in control at the head of the mk2 challenge. By first service they were 17 seconds ahead of Frank Kelly with Mc Phillips 14 seconds further adrift. The middle loop would shake things up again as the Scanbitz escort experienced oil pressure problems as well as an engine miss-fire which saw them drop 21 seconds to the hard charging Kelly through these three stages. McPhillips/Barrett were now very much on the pace and trading times with Frank although a 23 second gap would be hard to pull back. The decision was taken at second service to retire the scanbitz escort of McKenna/Grennan to avoid any terminal damage. Placing’s remained the same over the final loop as Kelly/Brennan went on to lift the mk2 challenge trophy ahead of Gary Mc Phillips and Donal Barrett who finished 5th o/a in the main field. Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle were 3rd two-wheel drive car home in 7th over-all.
The group N category was equally as competitive in Carlow as Colm Murphy returned to winning ways in his Impreza ahead of Monaghan’s Josh Moffatt and Domhall Lennon who finished in 9th over-all. The second Maguire International Impreza of Shane Maguire and Martin McGarrity had been 3rd group N throughout the day but mechanical trouble forced their retirement on ss7, big disappointment for Shane following his first group N win in Monaghan three weeks prior.
Ryan Lougheran and James McCarville were in contention in class 11 once again and finished 21st over-all and 2nd in class 11 behind the civic of Neil pierce and Jason Ollerenshaw. This result leaves Ryan and James in a strong position for class 11 honours in the Dunlop national championship. Damien Connolly teamed up with Ardee man Liam Bowhan for this event and had a steady run all day to finish 9th in the highly competitive class 13. Stephen Rushe and Threemilehouses’ Conor Hagan put in a strong performance all day to finish 2nd in class 10 in their Mk2 escort.
Unfortunately the success of the Monaghan Stages deserted Seamus Connolly and Gary Mc Crudden on this occasion as their day ended on the opening test with engine trouble. Enda Mc Nulty and Paul Sheridan’s misfortunes in the new class 13 escort continued in Carlow as their day was also cut short with mechanical problems.
CARLOW CC MOUNT WOLSELEY HOTEL STAGES RALLY TOP 10
1 Brian O’Mahony/John Higgins (Impreza WRC) 67m 38s
2 Thomas Fitzmaurice/Fionn Foley (Impreza WRC) 67m 52s
3 Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 67m 55s
4 Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Escort) 69m 00s
5 Gary McPhillips/Donal Barrett (Escort) 69m 28s
6 Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery (Impreza Gp N) 69m 55s
7 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Escort) 70m 05s
8 Sam Smyth/Alan Smyth (Escort) 70m 57s
9 Josh Moffett/Domhnall Lennon (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 71m 01s
10 Tom Cave/Craig Parry (Citroen DS3) 71m 23s
Motorsport Safety Team Group N Production class:
1 Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery
2 Josh Moffett/Domhnall Lennon
3 Paddy McVeigh/Stephen O’Hanlon (Impreza) 73m 59s.
Rally.ie Two wheel drive class:
1 Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan
2 Gary McPhillips/Donal Barrett
3 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle
Historics:
1 Denis Collins/Tommy Commane (Escort) 55m 21s
2 Dick Mauger/Steve McNulty (Escort) 57m 07s
3 Philip McKibbin/Padraig Brick (Cortina) 58m 23s
Juniors:
1 Chris Snow/Sean Brunton (Civic) 49m 15s
2 Damien Boyle/Joseph Boyle (Civic) 50m 20s
3 James Bradley/Maria Kehoe (Civic) 50m 21s
Co. Cavan Motor Club will host their annual stages rally on Sunday 27th May 2012. This year the event moves in a slightly different direction with the Bailie Hotel, Bailieboro being the main sponsor and HQ for this popular event. As always Monaghan Motor Club must return the favour of supplying up to 60 marshals for this event and this year is no exception. All club members (and friends) are asked to make themselves available if possible to marshal. Please contact any committee member to register your name.
Monaghan’s Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes were crowned National Navigation Champions on Saturday night last at the annual prize giving ceremony in Portlaoise. The Smithborough/Ballybay crew claimed their first ever-National title after an intense battle throughout the winter. Last year’s Beginners class champions Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry from Longford were the surprise of the season as they mixed it with the experts throughout the series and duly finished as deserving runners-up.
The Semi-Expert crew of Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston, also from Longford, finished 3rd overall for the 2nd successive year.
The championship consisted of 8 rounds featuring three events in Co. Cork, one each in Co Tipperary and Co Leitrim as well as three in Counties Cavan and Monaghan. A trio of Midland Motor Club crews and two Cork crews pushed the Monaghan pair all the way in what proved to be one of the more dramatic seasons in the championship. Victories on the Monaghan Drumlin and Skibbereen 100 Isles as well as three other top four finishes were the telling factor come season end.
Indeed, the prospects for the eventual champions were not good with 3 rounds remaining. Mechanical problems resulted in two consecutive non-finishes when well placed in both rounds 4 and 5. The win in Skibbereen turned the tables around and strong finishes on the final three rounds clinched it. Their achievement is well deserved having been runners-up on two previous occasions. Evin’s win follows that of his father Paul who also won the navigators title in 1996, the first time a father and son have won the same title.
Other Monaghan award winners were Richard Cassidy who was 2nd placed driver in the expert class, while in the semi-expert class, Sean McKenna/Gary Farrelly were 2nd ahead of Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey in 3rd.
1st Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes
2nd Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughrey
3rd Chris Kelly/Sam Johnson
1st Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors
2nd Richard Cassidy/Daire Hayes
3rd Joe Shinnors/Paul Phelan
1st Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy
2nd Sean McKenna/Gary Farrelly
3rd Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey
1st Ciaran McElroy/Muireann Hayes
2nd Alwyn White/Damien McCabe
3rd David Beamish/Adrian Tobin
1st Shane Dalton/Sean Henehan
2nd Matt Shinnors/Michael Reilly
3rd David Forde/Catherine Levis
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 14th 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 2nd and 3rd respectively it was Shane Maguire and Marty McGarrity who came home in 4th 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 6th 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 7th o/a and 2nd in class 14 ahead of John Mc Quaid and Seamus O’ Connor in 9th o/a and 3rd 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. 5th 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 8th 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 11th and 2nd 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 17th o/a finish and 3rd in class 13. Jim Mc Kenna and Thomas Treanor finished 12th o/a as Arthur and Mac Kierans made it two wins from two starts in class 12. Eamonn Mc Guigan was 2nd in class 12 ahead of Hugh Mc Quaid and Chris Melly in 3rd. Gerard Mc Quaid and Gary Quinlan finished 18th o/a and 4th 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 2nd 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 2nd and 31st 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 2nd 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 15th overall in the citreon C2R2 ahead of the similar car of John Lynch with Liam Branley 3rd. Sligo Pallets crew Andrew Mullan and Elaine Doherty finish 3rd in class 4 and 13th 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 3rd in a fiesta. Adrian Cannon brought his civic across the finish ramp with a class 2 win ahead of Stephen Bradley in 2nd and Trevor Mc Connell 3rd, 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 2nd 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 4th in class 11 with Damien Sherry/Weazel Currie 5th class 11. Colin Currid and Ballyhaise man Adrian Foley were 4th class 9 in a nova while Cavan’s Phillip Smith and Warren Carleton were 5th 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.
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. 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.
County Monaghan Motor Club 