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Armagh driver Darren Gass, navigated by Monaghan’s Enda Sherry took a memorable win on last Sundays Galway International Rally. Based around the sleepy North Galway town of Headford this event attracted large crowds, due to the quality of men and machines on display. After what can only be described as a dramatic finish it was Gass and Sherry who took a slender 1.3 second win in their S10 Impreza ahead of the hard charging Eugene Donnelly and Paddy Toner in the all new and impressive Mini Cooper WRC. Tim Mc Nulty had to settle for 3rd a further 5 seconds in arrears having led for most of the event. Last years double Rally champion McNulty led the field away for the first stage on the Dyke road in Galway city. Then it was on to Headford for 9 demanding stages through the stone walled roads of North Galway. McNulty drew first blood and led the event by 22 seconds at first service after stage 4 with Donnelly 2nd and Gass 3rd. The mini picked up a puncture through stage 6 and dropped almost a minute to its rivals but it was McNulty who made the ultimate mistake sliding into a stone wall and bending the steering. This mistake cost him valuable seconds through the final loop of three stages and with Gass and Sherry posting some serious times they duly obliged and went through to take the lead on ss9. Taking a cautious approach to the final stage Darren and Enda almost slacked off too much as Donnelly’s mini posted a time almost 16 seconds quicker than the Subaru. But the Armagh youngster had done just enough and they were crowned Safety Direct Galway International Rally winners for 2012. In the group N category it was Gary Jennings and Rory Kennedy who dominated the class finishing in 4th over-all ahead of this years Billy Coleman award winner Sam Moffett with James O’Reilly on the notes. Donagh Kelly took 3rd in group N but just behind was a mini battle between young Josh Moffett and Stephen Wright, both in Evo 9’s. Josh, with Ardee man Domhall Lennon navigating just edged through with a 9 second margin over Stephen and Suzanne Wright who had hired the EVO 9 for the day. Both these young Monaghan crews showing great signs for the future. In the national section of the event its was Monaghan crews who started as number 1 and 2 seeds with Daniel McKenna and Andrew Grennan leading off the field ahead of Gary McPhillips with Martin McGarrity on the notes. Unfortunately the large crowds who turned out to watch these entertaining and highly powered escorts were to be left a little disappointed as the greasy Galway roads were to account for many a victim. For McPhillips/McGarrity the rally was over before it really begun as their escort slid wide and a resulting burst fuel tank meant the escort was sidelined for the day. Mc Kenna and Grennan were posting top two wheel drive times but an over shoot into a junction on ss5 saw the Scanbitz escort hit a stone wall. At stage finish it became apparent that the oil cooler was damaged and while they managed to by-pass it they were late to next control, picking up a 2-minute penalty, which ultimately dropped them to 4th over-all in the national by the end of the day. The national section of the rally was eventually won by Donegal’s Declan and Brian Boyle, only 2.5 seconds ahead of Tom Flaherty in a similar escort. The hard charging John Hendy and Alan White were 3rd in a class 13 twin cam corolla. It was a case of pick up where we left off last year for Aghabogs Arthur and Mac Kierans as they had a superb run to finish 5th over-all in the national , almost 3 minutes ahead of there nearest class rival. Indeed worth noting that this finish was 13th over-all when all results were grouped together for both national and international competitors. A great start to the new season for the Border Champions. Jim Mc Kenna and Thomas Treanor were on a steep learning curve on this event in their all new black escort. As Jim made the transition from starlet to escort his times improved with every stage and is sure to be at one with the immaculate escort after a few more events. 2nd in class 14 and 12th over-all a great start to the year for Jim and Thomas. Martin Connolly was navigating for Donegal’s Gary McElhinney in a class 13 escort and slid their way to 18th over-all and 3rd in class 13. Although had it not been for a puncture on ss9 this result could have been a whole lot better. Next up was Barry McKenna and James McCarville in the New Holland backed escort, finishing 18th over-all, although they battled with the stone walls of Galway along the way and could have been higher up the pecking order! Brendan and Vincent Mc Aree were amongst the historic runners in their powerful Porsche RS and seemed to have a great day out. This car must be one of the top historic cars in Ireland at present and the distinct noise of the Porsche through the Galway lanes was unique. Brendan and Vincent had a great run to 3rd over-all in the historic’s and winners of class C4. That’s Galway over for another year and as the old saying goes once Galway springs into action, the rally season is well and truly started for 2012. Well done to all local crews who made it to the West. Wright’s on the Money in Donegal Brother and sister pairing of Stephen and Suzanne Wright had a superb first outing of the New Year on the recent Donegal Forestry Rally. Stephen had a faultless drive all day in the EVO 6 to finish in 2nd over-all ahead of more powerful and experienced competitors. Stephen and Suzanne were just edged out of top spot by the formidable Gary Jennings in a hired Subaru WRX. This was the first round of the Valvoline Irish Forestry championship and this result bodes well for the forthcoming season for the Wrights. Aghabog’s Arthur Kierans swapped seats for this event to sit with Colin Britton in his EVO 9. They too had an excellent run to finish 3rd over-all, just one second ahead of the hard charging Donegal man Conor Harvey in his new EVO 9. Unfortunately that’s where the luck ran out for the travelling Monaghan competitors as number 1 seed’s Vincent McAree partnered by Damian Connolly failed to finish with mechanical woes. Paul Sheridan who was navigating for the competitive Enda Mc Nulty in a Subaru WRX and seeded at number 2 also failed to make first service with mechanical problems. Andrew Grennan headed for Donegal to sit with Seamus O’Connell in his new high-powered escort but their charge faltered before it even began with a broken half shaft en route to the first stage. Brendan Cumiskey with Conor Foley on the notes failed to make it out of stage 7 while lying seventh over-all.

Carbin and Hughes Joint Winners in Cork

 Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes got their National navigation title charge back on track in Skibbereen on Saturday night last. The pairing managed to keep a clean sheet throughout the night to tie for the win with local Cork men Alan and George Shinnors. Regular national contenders, Richard Cassidy and Paul Phelans bad run of luck continued with suspension problems resulting in two flat wheels. Despite Richards best efforts and driving almost 30 miles of the event on a flat front wheel they were forced into retirement. With two rounds remaining in this competitive championship it’s the Midlands novice pairing of Darren Quinn and Nigel McCloughery who hold a 12-point lead ahead of fellow midlands pairing of Packie and Colin Duffy. Michael and Evin are now up to 3rd over-all but with dropped rounds and bonus points to come into effect, all is to play for over the remaining rounds. Skibbereen and District CC 100 Isles Navigation Top 12 1 (tie) Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) and Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 0 marks, 3 Ger Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 1m 4 David Beamish/Muireann Hayes (Toyota Carina) 2m 5 Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Legacy) 3m 6 Brian O’Mahony/David Swanton (Vauxhall Vectra) 9m 7 Steven Clarke/Michelle McCarthy (Opel Corsa) 20m 8 Joseph Shinnors/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 25m 9 Andrew Beamish/Eoghan McCarthy (Nissan Sunny) 29m 10 Alwyn White/Adrian Tobin (Mazda 626) 34m 11 Jason Coulter/Diarmuid O’Donovan (Peugeot 205) 40m 12 Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan (VW Golf) 47m

Midlands Navigation Trial

 All roads lead to Drumlish, Co. Longford this Saturday night for the second midlands navigation trial of the season. This event is co-promoted by Midlands and Westmeath motor clubs and is the fourth counting round of the Squealing Pig border navigation championship. Coc for the event is Micheal Reilly and is sure to lay on a testing route. Full report next week.

 Monaghan Motor Club Autotest

 Once again the time is near for Monaghan Motor Clubs annual Autotest. Yet again Brendan Flynn has stepped in as CoC with the ideal surroundings of Wrights Quarry at Swanns Cross the venue. The Northern Standard will kindly sponsor this event and Brendan would ask that any marshals available on the day to please make contact with him as soon as possible. Regs and entry forms are available on the club website at http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net All club members are reminded that this is a counting round of the Traders club championship and you must be registered prior to the event to get points. Sign on is from 11 o’clock with competition starting at 12 noon sharp. All competitors are urged to send their entries in early.

 Today FM Shave or Dye Charity Club member Adrian Flynn is taking part in this year’s Today FM backed shave or dye charity event. Proceeds of this fundraiser go towards the Irish Cancer Society. If you would like to help Adrian raise funds for this worthy cause just log onto mycharity.ie and click the sponsor a friend link.

Ballinode’s Shane Maguire  2^nd over-all in the 2011 West Coast Rally Championship on Saturday night last at the Woodlands Hotel, Adare, Co. Limerick

Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins got their 2012 navigation campaign off to the best possible start on Saturday night last with a 3 penalty winning margin on Monaghan Motor clubs January navigation trial. Headquarters for the trial was Ardaghey Community Centre with Monaghan Town man Martin McGuigan taking on the role of CoC ably assisted by Brendan Treanor. Ideal weather conditions coupled with a compact 75-mile route made for a great start to the 2012 Gary Nesbitt club navigation championship with 42 cars crossing the start ramp.

Event winners Mackarel and Higgins were pushed all the way on the night as no fewer than 12 crews managed to keep a clean sheet up to time point 21 of the 27-time point route. As the trial traversed through the north Monaghan countryside from its base in Ardaghey towards Clontibret and Castleshane and then Northwards to the scenic village of Glaslough the competition was fierce in all classes. It was evident from the map that there was always going to be a sting in the tail as 3 of the last 6 time points were plot and bash sections, all located in the infamous Brianlitter area of Clontibret. Indeed Mackarel and Higgins only took over the lead at the fourth last time point when trial leaders Garreth Beagan and Stephen Thornton dropped a massive 4 penalties but still held on for 2^nd over-all. An eventful night could be a good way of describing the Drumlin organiser’s night as they were forced to call on the services of Janice Mackarel’s car for the night at the twelfth hour. 2011-club champion Michael Carbin with regular navigator Evin Hughes on the maps were 3^rd on the night and sure to be in the hunt on every round of the new campaign.

The new pairing of Stephen Wright and Damian Connolly took 3^rd place in the expert class and a creditable 5^th over-all. Michael and Ciaran Tynan’s hope’s of going one better in this years championship were dealt a serious blow on the way to time point 16 as their gearbox threw in the towel while on a clean sheet also. Jonathan McGovern was on the maps for Damien Treanor and took a fine win in the semi-expert class, ahead of the Balinode brigade of Bob Moyna and Shane Maguire. It could have been a much better result for Moyna/Maguire in the ex-Carbin Legacy except for a fault with the breaking system which saw them pick up a 50 for a stop sign! Indeed they were not alone as 15 crews were caught out at a deceptive stop sign junction. New pairing of Donal McArdle with Richard Cassidy on the map were 3^rd semi-expert.

The Christmas lay-off didn’t do the dynamic duo of Arthur and Mac Kierans any harm as they took the novice class and an excellent 4^th over-all ahead of Cootehills Damien O’Reilly and Thomas Wedlock who were 6^th over-all. Think its fair to say both of these young navigators are sure to come out on top sometime in the near future. Darren Babbington was back in the drivers seat for this event and steered Laurence Keenan to 3^rd in novice and 10^th over-all. Girl power shone through in the beginners class as Susan McGuinness guided Enda McMahon to a class win and 9^th over-all ahead of the Cootehill father and son team of Gerry and Aaron McIntyre who are climbing the leader board with every event. Aaron Duffy and Michael McCluskey rounded off the top three in beginners.

So that’s the navigation season back up and running, well done to first time CoC Martin McGuigan and his team for a challenging event with an ideal venue. Next up is Midlands and Westmeath co-promoting the 4^th round of the Squealing Pig border navigation championship on 11^th February with Donegal running their round of the border the following weekend, 18^th February.

 

Monaghan January Navigation Trial Top 12

1 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 3 marks

2 Garreth Beagan/Stephen Thornton (Subaru Impreza) 6m

3 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 8m

4 Arthur Kierans/Macartan Kierans (Subaru Impreza) 25m

5 Stephen Wright/Damien Connolly (Subaru Impreza) 36m

6 Damien O’Reilly/Thomas Wedlock (Honda Civic) 46m

7 Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 54m

8 Daniel McKenna/Stephen Hagan (Subaru Impreza) 60m

9 Enda McMahon/Susan McGuinness (Toyota Corolla) 64m

10 Darren Babbington/Laurence Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 72m

11 Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 73m

12 Cathal McGlone/John Hetherington (Subaru Impreza) 77m

 

Celebration Night for Arthur & Mac Kierans

A celebration night for Aghabog locals – and indeed father and Son team of Arthur and Mac Kierans, was held recently in the Aghabog clubhouse. It was a community-focused celebration for the lads as they were recently crowned the 2011 Border Rally Champions. A fun night was had by all with excellent entertainment from local drama experts Patrick McArdle and Brendan Finan followed with music from top DJ Sean McCaffery. Such was the success on the night; the many contributions resulted in additional funds being collected. To this effect, the organizing committee has donated the remaining funds of €1200 to the local Aghabog Defibrillator fund. Furthermore, a celebration DVD of the night has been produced by Richard Cassidy and Gerard McCarron and is now on sale in local shops in the area. All proceeds from this DVD will again go towards the De-Fib fund.

Arthur and Mac would like to take the opportunity to thank the organising committee of this night as well as the Aghabog GFC club who laid on a fabulous spread of food and to everyone who helped in any way. Arthur would also like to thank all of his past drivers and navigators who turned up on the night, too many to mention.

 

Monaghan Motor Club Ltd AGM

Monaghan Motor Club will hold their annual general meeting this Friday night, 20^th January in Hillgrove Hotel, Monaghan starting at 8.30 sharp. All members are asked to attend as this is your chance to contribute to the running of the club and all new ideas and suggestions would be greatly welcomed.

Monaghan Motor Club will hold their annual general meeting on Friday 20^th January in Hillgrove Hotel, Monaghan starting at 8.30 sharp. Committee would urge members to send in nomination forms which are available on club website and must be with the secretary before Tuesday 17^th January. All members are asked to attend as this is your chance to contribute to the running of the club and all new ideas and suggestions would be greatly welcomed. 

 

January Navigation

Monaghan Motor Club kick off the 2012 navigation season on Saturday night next, 14^th January. Coc is Martin McGuigan with the event running from the Ardaghy Community Centre. All marshal’s available on the night are asked to be there no later than 8 o clock.

Once again Monaghan Motor Club has been cast into the limelight with the exciting news that club member Sam Moffett has been selected as this years Billy Coleman young rally driver of the year. The Dunlop Motorsport Ireland Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards were held in Dublin on Tuesday 13^th December last at the Crown Plaza hotel in Santry, Dublin. Sam was presented with his award by Billy Coleman as RTE’s John Kenny announced his selection on the day.

A large Monaghan contingent were present at the awards ceremony as Scotshouse lad Daniel McKenna was also in the running for the Billy Coleman award. Gracious in defeat Daniel wished Sam all the best for the forth-coming season and congratulated him on his success. Arthur Kierans and Ashley McAdoo were also presented with their awards as National Navigation Champions on the day.

Sam with regular navigator James O’Reilly started off the year with no firm intentions of contesting the National or Tarmac Rally championships but after some great results over the first few events they found themselves in the running for both championships. As the season progressed Sam and James’ results became even more consistent with numerous top five places. They finished up 2^nd over-all in the Dunlop national rally championship behind double championship winner Tim McNulty and took the group N honours in their EVO 9. The finished 3^rd group N in the Tarmac championship behind Gary Jennings and Alan Ring.

            This award includes a €50,000 package towards Sam’s 2012 rallying season. Sam has hinted that he intends to compete in some international and over sea’s events in the coming season as well as gaining some experience on gravel events Monaghan motor club would like to congratulate Sam on his success and wish him all the best for next year. Sam joins a unique list of Monaghan club members who have received this prestigious award in the past with Eamon McElvaney and Dessie Keenan winning it in 2004 and 2003 respectively.