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A number of Monaghan crews made their way to the Sunny South East for last weekend’s Wexford Stages Rally. Jack Maguire was the top Monaghan finisher as he and navigator Seamus O’Grady claimed 16th overall and 3rd in class. Barry McKenna/Mac Kierans were just behind in 17th overall and 4th in class. Shane Farrell guided Christopher Sinclar-James from Wales to 31st overall. Conor Boylan guided Steven Armstrong to 39th overall. Gerard McGivney/Ciaran McGorman finished 42nd overall and 12th in class 13.

Gary Cassidy/Jack McKenna retired on the final loop and Kevin Cole/Kaine Treanor also failed to finish.

Navigation Trial Classes

The Navigation Trial season is fast approaching and Monaghan Motor Club are gearing up for that all important kick off with the annual navigation classes! If you have a motor sport interest of any kind the Navigation Trials are the best form of obtaining the correct ‘foundation’ for this sport. The scheduled classes will cover the full range of topics including map reading, timing, car regulations and pace notes for stages rallies.
The classes continue on Friday 15th September at 8pm sharp in the excellent facilities of the Sean Mac Diarmada complex in Threemilehouse. All those interested should contact Fintan Clerkin 087 2297024 to book your place for the classes. Registration will also include club membership, maps, romer and all necessary paperwork to complete the 6 week course.

Josh Moffett reverted from the Tarmac of Europe to the Gravel of Fermanagh for last weekend’s Lakelands Stages Rally. The event was a counting round of the Irish Forestry and Northern Ireland Rally Championships. Josh and co-driver, Stephen Thornton, led the six stage event from start to finish. Meanwhile, Sam Moffett moved a step closer to the Irish Forestry Championship title be taking a solid 3rd place finish.

Moffett/Thornton charged into the lead on the opening Lough Navar stage with older brother Sam & navigator James Fulton in 2nd. Further fastest times on stages two and three saw them open up a 27 second lead by service. Jonathan Greer/Kirsty Riddick leap frogged Moffett/Fulton into 2nd place on stage three. With a big lead, Moffett/Thornton conserved this over the final loop coming home 31 seconds clear of Greer/Riddick. Moffett/Fulton bagged some useful championship points in 3rd moving Sam closer to an incredible three championships in the one year!

Mac Kierans guided Alan Smyth to 10th overall and 1st in Group N. Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes took victory in the Junior class and 34th overall. Kaine Treanor guided John O’Sullivan to 46th overall. Johnny Leonard/Arthur Kierans had a troubled run 49th overall.

Navigation Trial Classes

The Navigation Trial season is fast approaching and Monaghan Motor Club are gearing up for that all important kick off with the annual navigation classes! If you have a motor sport interest of any kind the Navigation Trials are the best form of obtaining the correct ‘foundation’ for this sport. The scheduled classes will cover the full range of topics including map reading, timing, car regulations and pace notes for stages rallies.
The classes continue on Friday 8th September at 8pm sharp in the excellent facilities of the Sean Mac Diarmada complex in Threemilehouse. All those interested should contact Fintan Clerkin 087 2297024 to book your place for the classes. Registration will also include club membership, maps, romer and all necessary paperwork to complete the 6 week course.

Monaghan’s Sam Moffett is on the verge of adding the Irish Tarmac Championship to his National Rally title after last weekend’s Ulster Rally. Moffett & co-driver, Karl Atkinson, finished in 6th position on the Derry-based event. His arch rival, Alaistair Fisher retired on day one, leaving the door open for Moffett to extend his championship lead. It would appear that just starting the final round in Cork will be sufficient for Sam to claim the title. The event was also a round of the British Rally Championship.

A battle between Moffett and Fisher appeared on the cards until Fisher retired on stage two with mechanical problems. Moffett & Atkinson now needed a steady finish over the remainder of the rally which proved not to be easy. Sam commented that he was making mistakes he wouldn’t have made if he was going flat out. They finished the opening leg in 5th position and 2nd of the ITC competitors. Moffett/Atkinson eased off on the final leg but did enough to secure 6th place and 2nd placed ITC points behind Jonathan Greer.

Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans had a steady run to 8th overall and 4th ITC crew. Overall honours went to 3 time British Champion Keith Cronin from Cork in a Fiesta R5.

Martin Connolly guided William Mavitty to 16th overall in their Lancer. Jason Black/Jack McKenna took a dominant win in the Ulster Junior Rally.

Navigation Trial Classes

The Navigation Trial season is fast approaching and Monaghan Motor Club are gearing up for that all important kick off with the annual navigation classes! If you have a motor sport interest of any kind the Navigation Trials are the best form of obtaining the correct ‘foundation’ for this sport. The scheduled classes will cover the full range of topics including map reading, timing, car regulations and pace notes for stages rallies.
The classes will start on Friday 25th August at 8pm sharp in the excellent facilities of the Sean Mac Diarmada complex in Threemilehouse. All those interested should contact Fintan Clerkin 087 2297024 to book your place for the classes. Registration will also include club membership, maps, romer and all necessary paperwork to complete the 6 week course.

Derek Mackarel & Kieran McGorman took overall victory on last weekend’s Endurance Trial, based at the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan. The West Monaghan pairing took a convincing victory with Mackarel fending off rivals, Martin Tynan & Fintan Clerkin by 50 seconds. COC Fintan Keenan organised a challenging route including many popular selectives such as Hut Cross, McNally’s Treanor’s, Wright’s and Sherlock’s. The popularity of this event was evident in a total of 41 crews taking part, a record for this event.

The morning loop of selectives were to the North of Monaghan town. Top seeds Karl O’Donoghue/Evin Hughes dropped out of contention by missing the opening code board, incurring a one minute penalty. Kevin McCormack/David McCrudden, thanks to some local knowledge, were surprise early leaders with Derek Mackarel/Kieran McGorman and Gary Cassidy/Tara McMeel in close pursuit. Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan were on the pace but had also missed the code board on the first selective dropping them down the order.

By the lunch halt, Mackarel/McGorman had taken the lead and were 9 seconds clear of Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin. Endurance regulars, Kevin O’Rourke/Dave McAuley were in 3rd. Early leaders, McCormack/McCrudden dropped back after incurring a 40 second road penalty.

The afternoon loop consisted of seven selectives south of Monaghan town repeated twice. Mackarel/McGorman stretched their lead significantly over this loop and despite losing 12 seconds in Wright’s Quarry had opened up a 26 second lead over Tynan/Clerkin. They continued to press home their advantage, eventually finishing 49 seconds clear. Sligo driver Patrick Corcoran, navigated by his father, Joe, took 3rd overall, 1 minute 17 seconds off the leaders. O’Rourke/McAuley dropped from 3rd to 5th thanks to a road penalty.

Ryan & Caolan Treanor took class 1A honours in their Toyota Yaris. O’Donoghue/Hughes recovered from their penalty to take class A2 and 4th overall. Mark Reilly/Daragh Gibbons won Class B. Shane Farrell/Peter Farrell swapped seats for this event, with Shane bringing the family Civic to Class C honours. Andy Mackarel/Richard Cassidy won Class E in their Ascona. They were also 2nd fastest crew outright on times during the day.

COC Fintan Keenan would like thank all residents and landowners for the use of their property, the Four Seasons Hotel for sponsoring the event and all marshals who turned out to man the selectives.

Josh Moffett, ably navigated by James Fulton, finished a fine 8^th overall on last weekend’s Rzeszow Rally in Poland. The pair piloted the Combilft backed Fiesta R5 to a solid top ten result which was 4^th amongst the Under 28 Category in the European Rally Championship.

The Rzeszow Rally is an extremely specialised event with some of the fastest and most committed tarmac roads in Europe. The Monaghan/Cavan pair settled into a solid 9^th place over the opening two 20km stages mixing it with the local crews. Josh found the speed of the stages particularly challenging. After another two tests, Moffett maintained 9^th overnight. Six stages made up day two and Moffett continued to up his pace with a 6^th fastest time on stage eight being a highlight. A consistent final loop brought them back in 8^th place and 4^th amongst the ERC under 28 crews. Josh was thankful to his service crew for setting up the car for the challenging tests.

The pair’s next event will be the classic Barum Ziln Rally in the Czech Rep.

Dogleap Stages

On the Shackleton-based Dogleap Stages, Mac Kierans guided Andy Bustard to 14^th overall. John McQuaid/Thomas Treanor finished 19^th overall.

Endurance Trial

The annual Monaghan Motor Club Endurance Trial is scheduled for Sunday next 13^th August, based at the Four Seasons Hotel, Monaghan. Clerk of the Course Fintan Keenan is busy finalising arrangements for what is shaping up to be another challenging and exciting event. Regulations are available for download on www.monaghanmotorclub.net