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The next event in the Monaghan Motor Club calendar is the annual Autocross, which is scheduled for Sunday 30th July. Clerk of the Course is Shane Maguire and the venue is the Hut Cross track at Latton, courtesy of Cavan Motor Club. This is a counting round of the 5 Star Catering National Loose Surface Autocross Championship. Event regulations are available for download on http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net

Endurance Trial

The annual Monaghan Motor Club Endurance Trial is scheduled for Sunday 13th August. Clerk of the Course Fintan Keenan is busy finalising arrangements for what is shaping up to be another challenging and exciting event. Regulations will be available for download on http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net

Sam Moffett & Karl Atkinson have won the 2017 Triton National Rally Championship. The Monaghan/Cork pairing made it six wins out of six thanks to overall victory on the Sligo Stages Rally on Sunday last 9^th July. The event was also a counting round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship. With the best six rounds counting, Moffett/Atkinson’s total cannot be beaten even with two rounds remaining. It’s been a faultless year for the pair and they have dominated the National Championship right from the opening round.

Sligo attracted a healthy entry of over 100 crews for the nine stage event. Moffett/Atkinson were once again fastest on the opening stage, but the Donegal cousins, Declan & Brian Boyle, took the lead on stage two. The Boyle’s maintained a narrow lead before being sidelined on stage six. This left Moffett/Atkinson with a comfortable one minute lead over 2^nd placed Desi Henry. The Fiesta pairing eased home over the final loop to secure their first National Rally title with maximum points.

Henry/Liam Moynihan finished 2^nd overall on the day with former champion, Niall Maguire & Enda Sherry a strong 3^rd. Josh Moffett/James Fulton took 4^th overall in their R5 Fiesta with Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane in 6^th in their Skoda R5. Shane Maguire/Darragh Kelly took another Group N win and 9^th overall in their Lancer. Michael Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips took class 13 honours and 13^th overall. Conlon maintains his overall lead in the Border Championship.

Emmet Sherry guided Tommy O’Connell to 27^th overall and 4^th in class 13. Johnny Treanor with new navigator Damien Fleming, took overall victory in the Junior class which kept their championship hopes alive. Jason Black/Jack McKenna took 2^nd place in their Starlet, also winning the Border Drive of the Day award.

Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden retired on the opening loop as did Gary Cassidy/Paul Kelly & Michael Brennan/Ryan Brennan.

Monaghan Autocross

The next event in the Monaghan Motor Club calendar is the annual Autocross, which is scheduled for Sunday 30^th July. Clerk of the Course is Shane Maguire and the venue is the Hut Cross track at Latton, courtesy of Cavan Motor Club. Event regulations will be available for download on www.monaghanmotorclub.net

Paul Sheridan took overall victory on last weekend’s ALMC Stages Rally alongside Cavan man Jonathan Pringle. The event was not a round of domestic Rally Championships and attracted a small but competitive field. The pair put in a late entry for the event and were involved in a close battle with the Escort of Armagh brothers Damien & Martin Toner. At the finish of the nine stage event, the Cavan/Monaghan pairing came home 8.4 seconds clear.

Pringle/Sheridan were involved in a close battle with the Subaru WRC of Steve Wood/Keith Moriarty over the opening stages. After the latter’s retirement on stage six, Pringle/Sheridan were able to hold off the challenges of the Toner’s to secure the overall win. Martin Connolly guided Liam Bowhan to fine 5th overall and 1st in class in their Starlet. Gary Cassidy/Paul Kelly charged to 6th overall and 2nd in class in their Civic on their best run yet.

Jack McKenna guided Jason Black to 10th overall and 1st in class in their Starlet. His father, Barry McKenna returned to the stages with navigator Mac Kierans. They finished 15th overall and 3rd in class 13.

Sam Moffett & Karl Atkinson made it five wins from five rounds in the 2017 National Rally Championship with victory on the Raven’s Rock Rally. The result leaves them just win away from claiming the championship title. After taking an early lead, they survived a scare on stage three when they broke a driveshaft over a jump losing valuable time and the lead. After sorting the problem, they were able to overhaul defending National Champion Roy White into a lead they wouldn’t lose. They went on to secure their fifth win of the campaign by a margin of 18.1 seconds.

The Waterford based rally attracted a small number of Monaghan crews. Niall Maguire & Enda Sherry had been in the top three before a broken driveshaft sidelined them on stage four. Brendan Cumisky/Ronan O’Kane would go on to finish in 4th place in their Skoda Fabia R5. John McQuaid/Thomas Treanor finished 7th overall in their Escort. Shane Maguire & Paul McLaughlin took victory in Group N and 8th place overall. He held off class rival David Guest by 11 seconds in the end. Shane was also the Triton Showers Drive of the Day.

Shane Farrell was navigating for UK driver, Christopher Sinclair-James. They came home 26th overall and 4th in class. Jonathan Treanor/Stephen McElroy had another disappointing retirement from the Junior rally. The next round of the National Rally Championship is the Sligo Stages Rally in a fortnight’s time.

Monaghan Motor Club members put in starring roles in this year’s Donegal International Rally. The event is Ireland’s only three day rally and attracted a full field of crews competing in the International, National, Historic and Junior Categories. The event was the fourth round of the 2017 Irish Tarmac Championship.

In the International section, Sam & Josh Moffett led the Monaghan crews while Conor Foley was navigating for local man Donagh Kelly. The Kelly/Foley combination led the event from the off and held a 12 second advantage after Friday’s six special stages. Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson were involved in a closely fought battle with Alaister Fisher for top R5 and trailed the Fermanagh man by less than 3 seconds. Josh Moffett/James Fulton continued to build speed after their Monaghan accident and held 3rd R5 just 17 seconds adrift of Sam.

Kelly/Foley continued to lead on day two but were coming under increased pressure from Manus Kelly/Donal Barrett who had closed to 7 seconds behind at the end of the day. There was an equally absorbing battle between Fisher & Moffett for top R5, less than 10 seconds separated them going into Sunday’s final leg. Josh Moffett/James Fulton held a solid 6th place. Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn were 8th overall in another R5 Fiesta.

The fight between the two Kelly’s for the overall win went right down to the wire. Manus Kelly took the lead on stage 16 but a brilliant run through the Glen Stage allowed Kelly/Foley back ahead. Going on opposite tyres for the final loop it was hard to see who it would come out on top. Manus was on the better rubber for the Fanad Stage and slashed 15 seconds off Kelly/Foley to retake the lead. Kelly/Foley tried to pull it back on the following Atlantic Drive Stage but were caught out three corners from the finish, rolling their car. The damage sustained unfortunately forced them into retirement.

Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson were unable to challenge Fisher/Noble on the final leg. They secured 4th overall and 2nd placed championship points, maintaining their overall lead in the Irish Tarmac Championship. Josh Moffett/James Fulton and Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn came home 5th and 6th respectively. There was early dissapointment for Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly who retired their Hyundai on stage five. Aaron McHale/Darragh Kelly also retired their Citroen on Friday.

The National Rally was well represented with Monaghan men. Gary McPhillips was the top seed with local man James McNulty on the notes. They finished the opening leg in 4th place but their event came to an end on the Carn Hill stages on Saturday. Gary’s former navigator Paul Sheridan was navigating for Cavan’s Jonathan Pringle. They made steady progress over the weekend to come 4th overall. Andrew Grennan guided his regular driver Vivian Hamill to 5th overall in their Escort.

Michael Carbin/Conor Mohan had a great run in their Lancer to take 10th overall and 1st in class 20. Emmet Sherry guided Tommy O’Connell to 11th overall and 2nd in class 13. Matthew McKenna guided Liam McFall to 28th overall and 1st in class. John & Niall Kelly completed the great Donegal adventure in 36th overall and 1st in class 10. They would like to thank their service team, sponsors and Lorraine & Moira for their support all weekend.

Gerard McQuaid/Gareth Quinlan had to resort to Rally 2 to get a finish. They came home 47th overall. National retirements included Paul Purtill/Paul Kelly, Anthony Hand/Peter Deery, James McCarville/Paddy McCrudden and Barry Treanor/Colm Connolly.

Jonathan Treanor/Stephen McElroy held an incredible two minute 30 seconds lead in the Junior Category but suffered a heart-breaking final stage retirement. Martin Swinburne/Paul Lennon didn’t make it that far, retiring on the opening stage. Gary McKenna/Calum Maguire also failed to finish. Shane Farrell was at least able to make the finish with his driver Colette Rooney, taking an 8th place finish.