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The 2019 Irish Forestry Championship kicked off with the Carrick-on-Suir Forestry Rally. The six stage event incorporated stages in the Wexford area. These stages haven’t been used for several years providing a fresh challenge for the championship regulars. Reigning Champions, Josh Moffett & Stephen Thornton didn’t make the start so 2017 Champions Sam Moffett & James Fulton and top seeds Barry McKenna/Andy Hayes led the Monaghan charge.

Moffett/Fulton were having their first taste of the woods in over a year and settled into a steady pace. They finished the opening loop in 4^th place, 10 seconds off pace setter Martin McCormack/Barney Mitchell. McKenna/Hayes were a further 11 seconds back in a similar Ford Fiesta R5. The pair maintained their positions over the second loop with Moffett/Fulton missing out on a podium position by just two seconds.

Brendan Cumisky/Ronan O’Kane secured 9^th overall in their Skoda Fabia R5. Calum Maguire guided Peter McCullagh to 11^th overall with Michael Carbin/Conor Mohan finishing just behind in 12^th place in their Lancer. Michael Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips brought their Escort home to 19^th overall and 2^nd in class 14.

Arthur Kierans guided Billy Coleman Award Winner, James Wilson, to 24^th overall and 2^nd in class 2. Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes emerged home 26^th overall and 2^nd in the Junior class just 7 seconds off the winner after a close battle all day. Michaela McGinn guided Damien McGauren to 27^th overall and 3^rd in class. Conor Boylan guided Peter Beaton to 3^rd in the Junior 1000 class.

The Irish Forestry Championship will continue with the Limerick Forestry Rally in early March.

 

The New Year of Motorsport got underway last Saturday Night with Monaghan Motor Club’s annual January Navigation Trial. COC Conor Mohan and his team organised a compact 85 mile route in the North and Mid-Monaghan areas. In what was a closely contested event, it was the Expert crew of Mac Kierans & Conor Boylan who secured the win by a one penalty margin.

Just over 30 crews made the start of the event on what proved to be a primarily dry night. After completing pre-event plotting at Ballinode Community Hall, Drumlin winners Michael & Ciaran Tynan led the field to the opening section in the Tydavnet, Ballinode & Three Mile House areas. An early plot & bash timepoint had crews on their toes early. By TP11, most leading crews were on clean sheets. The Beginner crew of Kieran McCarra/Aaron McElroy were leading from the Novice pairing of Aaron Dixon/Dylan Lennon.

A trio of Plot & Bash timepoints between TP12 and TP14 would prove decisive. A mixture of tulip diagrams and jumbled plots would catch out the majority of the field. The Semi-Expert crew of James McCabe/Shane Farrell faired best and by the midway point they led on 7 penalties with three crews tied for 2^nd on 17 penalties apiece.

As the event moved towards the Aghabog and Smithborough areas, McCabe/Farrell were holding their own out front. The final plot & bash section incorporated a tulip diagram where every gate, road, lane and opening was included as a ‘road’. This delayed some crews more than others. McCabe/Farrell were caught with a wrong approach here but worse was to come at they picked up a huge 80 penalty at TP28.

Mac Kierans/Conor Boylan cleaned this section to edge out Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes by a single penalty. The Semi-Expert pairing of Peter Deery/David McCrudden secured 3^rd place with Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes in 4^th and Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin in 5^th.

In the Semi-Expert class, Damien Treanor/Christopher McMahon took 2^nd in class and 6^th overall with Caolan & Ryan Treanor in 3^rd. The Novice class went to Aaron Dixon/Dylan Lennon who were well ahead of Donal & Killian McArdle in 2^nd and Francis McElvaney/Danny McKenna in 3^rd. The Beginners class was won by Kieran McCarra/Aaron McElroy from Ciaran & Paul McPhillips with Stefan McCann/Colm McKeever in 3^rd.

COC Conor Mohan would like to thank all the landowners and residents along the route for their support and co-operation. He would also like to thank all the marshals for turning out to support the event. Two rounds are now completed in the club championship and the next club event is the March Navigation Trial on March 30^th/31^st.

Results:

1^st Mac Kierans/Conor Boylan (Subaru Impreza) 17 marks,

2^nd Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 18m,

3^rd Peter Deery/David McCrudden (Subaru Impreza) 21m,

4^th Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 23m,

5^th Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 23m,

6^th Damien Treanor/Christopher McMahon (Subaru Impreza) 26m,

7^th Mickey Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 27m,

8^th Mark Deery/Patrick O’Leary (Subaru Impreza) 29m,

9^th Caolan Treanor/Ryan Treanor (Subaru Impreza) 44m,

10^th Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 53m,

11^th Aaron Dixon/Dylan Lennon (Subaru Impreza) 71m,

12^th Kieran McCarra/Aaron McElroy (Subaru Impreza) 71m

Semi-experts: 1 Peter Deery/David McCrudden, 2 Damien Treanor/Christopher McMahon, 3 Caolan Treanor/Ryan Treanor.

Novices: 1 Aaron Dixon/Dylan Lennon, 2 Donal McArdle/Killian McArdle (Subaru Impreza) 152m, 3 Francis McElvaney/Danny McKenna (Subaru Impreza) 153m.

Beginners: 1 Kieran McCarra/Aaron McElroy, 2 Ciaran McPhillips/Paul McPhillips (Subaru Impreza) 86m, 3 Stefan McCann/Colm McKeever (Subaru Impreza) 120m.

 

Monaghan Motor Club AGM

The annual general meeting of Co. Monaghan Motor Club will be held on Wednesday 23^rd January 2019 at 8.30pm in the Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan. Nomination forms will be available for download on the club website www.monaghanmotorclub.net. Nominations must be received by the secretary by Monday 21st January 2019.

All 2018 club members are eligible to vote in the election of the 2019 committee. All members are encouraged to attend and participate in the open discussion on current topics

 

Michael & Ciaran Tynan in their Subaru Impreza secured overall victory on last weekend’s Drumlin Navigation Trial. This is the third time in five years that the Uncle-Nephew team have taken overall honours on what is regarded as the most difficult and demanding Navigation Trial in the country. After 110 miles of driving, they were clear winners on 16 penalties. The Semi-Expert pairing of Caolan & Ryan Treanor finished a very impressive 2^nd overall while reigning National Champions Derek Mackarel & Muireann Hayes secured 3^rd place.

 

COC Conor Maguire laid out a tricky route for the crews in the Latton, Ballybay, Lough Egish, Shercock, Shantonagh & Corduff areas. Many new lanes featured as well as a return of a few tricks from years ago. The event was a round of the National, Border & Club Navigation Championships. Defending Trader’s champion, Martin Tynan was the top seed with his usual navigator Fintan Clerkin.

 

The opening section of the event was close to Latton and incorporated a number of new lanes and tricks. Almost every crew missed a hidden slot left en route to TP10, some crews doubled back and dropped time while others missed TP10 entirely. Tynan/Clerkin were caught out here as were No.2 seeds Peter Deery/David McCrudden. By the first TRS, it was former National Champions Pakie Duffy & Evin Hughes leading on two penalties with Mackarel/Hayes just 1 penalty back.

 

TP17 proved costly for Mackarel/Hayes who missed a tricky timepoint which was on tulip diagram. Duffy/Hughes led until TP26 where they realised they had missed Via5 and returned to collect it but they had entered within 50 metres of TP26 and were subsequently penalised with double visit penalties. By the midway point in Shercock, Michael & Ciaran Tynan found themselves in a clear lead as the only crew to have visited every timepoint with correct approach & departure.

 

The second half of the event took crews further south near Shantonagh & Corduff before looping back to Latton. Tynan/Tynan maintained their lead just dropping five more penalties to finish on a total of 16 penalties. Caolan & Ryan Treanor put in a hugely impressive performance to take 2^nd overall on 28 penalties despite having missed TP10. Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes completed the podium positions just 1 penalty further back. Mac Kierans/Conor Boylan (30 penalties) and the Novice team of Shane Dalton/Seamus McTigue (32 penalties) secure 4^th and 5^th places respectively.

 

In the Semi-Expert class, the Treanor brothers took the class win with Mark Sheridan/Oisin Sherlock in 2^nd and Peter Deery/David McCrudden in 3^rd. Shane Dalton/Seamus McTigue took a convincing win in the Novice class with Damien Treanor/Patrick Corcoran and Aaron Dixon/Dylan Lennon behind him. On a tough night for Beginners, Paddy Connolly & Colm McKeever took the class win. Cathal Croarkin/Marco Lennon finished in 2^nd and Martin McPhillips/Adam Langan in 3^rd.

 

The event was a resounding success with a full entry of 50 crews starting and all timepoints being manned on the 110 mile route. COC Conor Maguire would like to thank all the residents and landowners as well as all the marshals who turned out on the night. Congratulations to Michael & Ciaran Tynan on their overall win on a demanding night for all crews. The Club Championship will continue in the New Year with the January Navigation Trial on January 5^th.

 

Monaghan Motor Club hosted its Annual Prizegiving and Dinner Dance on Saturday last in the Four Seasons Hotel. There was a strong turnout from club members who got the chance to share the many memories from another busy season across the motorsport disciplines. Overall club Champion for the third year in succession was Martin Tynan, thanks to his consistent performance across all club events over the year.

2018 has been a prosperous year for the club, which has resulted in club members wining National & International championships at varying levels. Club Chairman Conor Maguire paid tribute to the all-conquering Josh Moffett who won the Tarmac, Forestry and Celtic Rally trophies. Navigator Stephen Thornton won the Irish Forestry Championship along with Josh.

Another navigator James O’Reilly won the National Rally Championship for the first time. Derek Mackarel was the National & Munster Night Navigation Drivers Champion while Conor Maguire/Arthur Kierans claimed the Border Navigation title.

A plethora of club awards were presented on the night. Martin Tynan & Fintan Clerkin won the Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championship. Ryan Treanor received the Novice Navigator of the Year Award while Cork-based club member Muireann Hayes won the Ladies Award.

There was mixed success for Monaghan crews on last weekend’s Donegal Harvest Rally.

The event was the final round of the 2018 Triton National Rally Championship as well as the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship.

Josh Moffett was attempting to emulate his brother Sam by completing a hat-trick of championships in the one season after his Tarmac & Forestry title successes. However he faced an up battle as Donegal’s Declan Boyle with Scotstown’s James O’Reilly only needed a top 8 finish to deny Moffett the title.

2017 Champion Sam Moffett & Karl Atkinson set the early pace in very tricky wet conditions. The weather suited their R5 specification Fiesta particularly on stage three where they 10 seconds quicker than anyone else despite a moment on a bank. Josh Moffett/Keith Moriarty were in 2nd despite having to drive most of stage three with two wheel drive only. He trailed his brother by 29 seconds. Title rival Boyle was suffering from a serious head cold and wasn’t taking any chances. He was as low as 20th before a 2nd fastest time on stage three saw him climb to 12th by service.

The Donegal/Monaghan pairing of Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley occupied 3rd place but were already 46 seconds off the lead.
Josh Moffett set fastest times over the second loop of stages to close to 17.7 seconds behind Moffett/Atkinson. There was little that Josh could do as Boyle/O’Reilly had now climbed to 6th place. In the end, Boyle/O’Reilly would finish in 8th place to secure the National title. Josh Moffett/Keith Moriarty had to settle for 2nd place in the rally and the championship. Overall honours went to the ongoing champion Sam Moffett & Karl Atkinson.
Conor Foley guided Donagh Kelly to 3rd overall in their Focus WRC. Johno Doogan/Ciaran Marron finished 30th overall. Paul Kelly guided Tim Enright to 40th overall. Aisling McArdle guided Des Lyons to 60th overall. John Kelly & Niall Kelly took victory in class 10 and 72nd overall. Nigel Brennan/Rebecca Brown finished 75th overall and Christopher Brennan/Martin Hughes took 77th overall.

Monaghan Motor Club Awards Night

The Club’s 2018 Annual Prizegiving and Dinner Dance takes place this Saturday 20th October at the Four Seasons Hotel. It was another stunning season for club members with Josh Moffett winning the Irish Tarmac, Forestry & Celtic Trophy Championships. James O’Reilly won the National Rally Championship, Derek Mackarel won the National & Munster Navigation Championships with Arthur Kierans & Conor Maguire taking the Border Title. The Overall Club Champion of 2018 is Martin Tynan who takes the Trader’s Trophy for the third year in succession.

Tickets are available from committee members.