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Despite a rare non-finish on the final round in Donegal on Saturday last, Monaghan’s Seamus Connolly & Gary McCrudden were confirmed as the new Border Rally Champions. Driving a Toyota Corolla in class 11R, the pair dominated this competitive class throughout the year with their hard-charging and flamboyant style and amassed enough points to secure the overall title even with one round remaining.

The pair picked up class wins in Mayo, Monaghan, Cavan and Galway and a second place finish in Sligo. They have been knocking on the door of the overall Border title over the last few years and it all came together for them in 2016. They also clinched their class in the National Rally Championship.

Niall Maguire & Enda Sherry have secured 3^rd overall in the 2016 Triton National Rally Championship. The duo sealed that position thanks to a 3^rd overall finish on the same event. Maguire/Sherry climbed from 7^th place after the opening loop to 3^rd by the end of the day after some testing stages. The Killybegs-based Martin Howley Donegal Harvest Rally was named in honour of former Donegal club member, Martin Howley, who passed away last year.

Niall’s son Shane was chasing National Group N honours with his navigator Mac Kierans. The pair were involved in a major battle with Tyrone’s Aiden Wray & Kieran McGrath. Wray had his nose in front all day and ended up taking the class win and the championship. Maguire/Kierans tried their best but had to settle for 12^th overall and 2^nd in Group N. Dessie Keenan took the wheel of James McCarville’s Escort with James himself navigating. They flew through the stages to 19^th overall and 1^st in class 11R.

Martin Connolly guided Liam Bowhan to 46^th overall and 12^th in class 13. Paddy O’Reilly/David Fitzsimons were just behind in 47^th overall and 7^th in class 14. John & Niall Kelly finished 64^th overall and 1^st in class 10 securing 3^rd overall driver and 2^nd overall navigator in the Border Championship. Father and Son Team Gerry McGivney & Gavin McGivney came home 68^th overall and 16^th in class. Michael Carbin & Conor Mohan re-entered the event under Rally 2 rules to come home 89^th overall and 4^th in class 20. Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle had a comfortable rally victory in their Fiesta WRC. 

The Prizegiving for the National Championship takes place on November 19^th while the Border Championship prizegiving is on November 5^th.

Donegal Harvest Rally Top 10

1 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Fiesta WRC) 52m 48s,
2 Manus Kelly/Gareth Doherty (Impreza WRC) 54m 28s,
3 Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 56m 06s,
4 Gary Kiernan/Ryan Moore (Escort) 56m 15s,
5 Damien Gallagher/Mac Walsh (Escort) 56m 34s,
6 Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Fabia R5) 57m 11s,
7 Ryan Loughran/Brendan McElhinney (Escort) 57m 15s,
8 Damien Toner/Denver Rafferty (Escort) 57m 16s,
9 Columba Heena/Michael McClafferty (Corolla) 57m 29s,
10 Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath (Lancer Evo 10) 57m 41s.

Hughes Wins Irish Endurance Championship

Ballybay navigator Evin Hughes secured 1^st overall in the inaugural Irish Endurance Trial Championship, thanks to a 2^nd place finish with his driver Karl O’Donoghue on the Birr Endurance Trial on Sunday last. The pair recovered from a mechanical delay on the 2^nd selective which saw them pick up a maximum penalty. They then put in a storming drive back through the field in their Toyota Starlet to take a 2^nd place finish which secured them the overall championship laurels. The event was won by Kevin O’Rourke and Dave Ray also in a Starlet.

Market House Exhibition

For its 60th Anniversary Ball, Monaghan Motor Club prepared a pictorial record of the first 30 years from 1956 to 1986. This exhibition is now on public display in the Market House, Monaghan courtesy of Monaghan County Council. The exhibition is from Monday 10^th October to Thursday 20^th October and opening hours are from 11am to 1pm and from 2pm to 5pm each day from
Monday to Thursday. On Friday 14^th October, opening hours are from 11am to 1pm and from 2pm to 9pm. The exhibition provides a unique insight into the early days of motorsport in County Monaghan and features details of the achievements of the pioneering motorsport men and women, together with extraordinary photographs of the time. It should prove interesting to both current and previous club members as well as the general public with an interest in the history of Monaghan and motorsport in particular.

 

Clontibret brothers Sam & Josh Moffett recorded another 1-2 finish on last weekend’s Cork 20 International Rally. The event was the final round of the 2016 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and consisted of fourteen stages over two days. Sam went into the event with an outside chance of winning the overall title but faced stiff opposition from Keith Cronin & Alastair Fisher. After a dramatic two days, Josh & navigator, Jason McKenna, emerged victorious by just 4.6 seconds from Sam & navigator, Karl Atkinson. This was Josh and Jason’s first International win.

The opening day consisted of eight stages with centralised service in Fermoy. Championship hopeful, Alastair Fisher set the early pace but crashed out of the lead on Stage 4. Sam & Josh were well positioned in 3^rd and 4^th place respectively. By the end of the day, Sam had climbed to 2^nd place, 8.5 seconds behind Championship leader, Keith Cronin. Josh held 4^th overall just 14.3 seconds off the lead, despite a heart stopping moment on Stage 6. The Newbliss/Aghabog pairing of Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans held 6^th overall, Dundalk driver Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane 8^th and Doohamlet driver Pauric Duffy/Patrick Brides 9^th. All were driving R5 Ford Fiestas.

Josh then set fastest times on Stage 9 and 11 to take the lead. With three stages remaining, just 5.9 seconds covered the top four of Josh, Cronin, Roy White with Sam in 4^th place. Cronin then dropped out of contention with a puncture on stage 12. Josh & Jason maintained their lead while a storming final stage saw Sam & Karl pass White for 2^nd place. Just 6.3 seconds separated the top three after two days of competitive action. Cronin’s 4^th place was enough to secure him and co-driver Mickie Galvin the Tarmac Championship title for the first time. Sam & Karl finished 2^nd overall with Josh 3^rd overall in the championship, sponsored by Clonakilty Black Pudding.

Elsewhere, Stephen Wright & Arthur Kierans finished 6^th overall and Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane took 8^th overall. In the National Rally, Emmet Sherry guided Isle of Mull resident, Calum Duffy, to 3^rd overall in his unusual 2.5 litre Skoda Fabia. American-based Monaghan man, Barry McKenna, had a brilliant run to 5^th overall with Donegal’s Leon Jordan in the hot seat. Ballinode’s Brendan McAree & JP McAree finished 3^rd in the Historic class. Pauric Duffy retired on stage 13 while in 9^th overall.

Cork 20 International Rally Top Ten

1 Josh Moffett/Jason McKenna (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 41m 36s,
2 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 41m 40s,
3 Roy White/James O’Brien (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1h 41m 42s,
4 Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin (Citroen DS3 R5) 1h 42m 45s,
5 Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Citroen DS3 R5) 1h 42m 49s,
6 Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 44m 20s,
7 Kevin Kelleher/Ray Fitzpatrick (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 45m 01s,
8 Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 47m 04s,
9 Joe Connolly/Richard Connolly (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 52m 17s,
10 Callum Devine/Keith Moriarty (Opel Adam R2) 1h 52m 45s.

Tynan/Clerkin Win October Navigation

 

Martin Tynan & Fintan Clerkin took overall honours on last weekend’s October Navigation Trial. This was the first event of the new season and was a counting round of the Traders Trophy and Gary Nesbitt Club Championships. Both championships were ‘turned on their heads’, after a number of leading crews ran into difficulty.

COC Donal McArdle organised a compact 80 mile route in the North Monaghan area, with the Sliabh Beagh Hotel in Knockatallon serving as an excellent HQ. The opening section of the event included some long gravel lanes, a plot & bash section and some new lanes near Roslea. As early as TP3, the top two seeds, Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes & Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes were out of contention with wrong departures at TP3 with Mackarel/Hayes also getting a double visit.

Beginner crew, Paddy Sherlock/Pamela McMahon held a sensational lead by the midpoint Control at the Sliabh Beagh Hotel. They were on 0 penalties with Kevin McCormack/David McCrudden, Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan, Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin and Michael Conlon/Damien Connolly also clean.

The event moved north towards Bragan, Knockballyroney and Clara before heading West back to Knockatallon. The status quo remained the same until TP24. On an exceptionally slippy grassy lane, the top three seeds all slipped off into an unseen drain. There was pandemonium as the other crews tried to get by while the crews stuck tried to get out. Conlon/Connolly & Tynan/Clerkin survived this to remain on clean sheets as the Tynan’s challenge came to an end, stuck in the drain.

There was one final sting in the tail as Conlon/Connolly were sidelined when they too became stuck on a forest lane and went OTL trying to get out. Tynan/Clerkin dropped one penalty after passing them to take the overall win. Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan finished 2^nd overall on 6 penalties, mainly caused by delays at the incidents mentioned. Keith McConnon/Micheal McCluskey completed the podium places, securing victory in the Semi-Expert class.

Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill took 2^nd in the Expert class with Fintan Larmer/Sean McCaffrey in 3^rd. Peter & Shane Farrell took 2^nd Semi-Expert with Shane Maguire/Ruadhri Nash in 3^rd. Jonathan Treanor/Martin Swinburne won the Novice class and were 4^th overall. Colm Mohan/Conor Mohan finished 2^nd in class and 5^th overall with Kevin McCormack/David McCrudden 3^rd in class and 6^th overall. They lost the chance of class success after also getting stuck in the lane to TP24.

In what was a Beginner-friendly event, Michael Carbin/Mark Mohan took a sensational win on just 16 penalties total. This was good enough for 7^th overall beating all but two Expert crews on Mark’s first event. A late wrong approach dropped Paddy Sherlock/Pamela McMahon to 2^nd Beginner with Emmet McCooey/Christopher McMahon taking 3^rd in class. David Dixon/Abraham Dixon also had a fine run to 4^th in class, on Abraham’s first event. This was the biggest class of the event, with 13 Beginner crews in action.

COC Donal McArdle would like to extend his thanks to all those who made the event possible particularly the residents and landowners along the route. The Trader’s Trophy and Gary Nesbitt Club Championships are now wide open going into the final round, which is the Drumlin in November. The National Navigation Championship kicks off with the Star-Trek Navigation Trial in Cork on Saturday 15^th/Sunday 16^th October.

Old Monaghan Society Historical Presentation

 

Monaghan Motor Club stalwart Malcolm Totten will give a presentation on the formation of Monaghan Motor Club on Monday night next 10^th October at 8pm in St Joseph’s Pastoral Centre, North Road, Monaghan on behalf of the Old Monaghan Society. He has put together a lot of the really old photographs and plans to cover the period from 1950 up to the affiliation of the club in 1959. In conjunction with this, the club’s 60th anniversary photo collages will be put on display in the Market House, Monaghan from Monday 10^th until Thursday 20^th October inclusive. Viewing times: 11am to 1pm and 2pm to 5 pm Monday to Friday. All interested are invited to attend both presentations.

 

Sympathy

 

The members of Monaghan Motor Club extend condolences to Cora and Conor Maguire and family on the death of their father Kevin Maguire and also to the Hagan family Threemilehouse on the death of Liam Hagan.

Last Saturday saw the running of the Omagh-based Bushwhacker Rally, a counting round of the Northern Ireland Rally Championship. The all-gravel event consisted of 11 forestry stages. James O’Reilly, fresh off his Isle of Man appearance, guided former Tarmac and multiple Northern Ireland Rally Champion, Derek McGarritty, to 10^th overall in a WRC Fiesta. Mac Kierans guided Alan Smyth to 22^nd overall and 1^st in class in a Suzuki Swift.  Elsewhere there were disappointments for Andrew Grennan & Emmett Sherry. Grennan, who was navigating for Vivian Hamill in his newly built Mk2, retired with a broken wheel. Emmett Sherry, who was co-driving for Tommy O’Connell, retired on Stage 9 when a belt came off.

October Navigation Trial

The Night Navigation season begins this weekend with the October Navigation Trial taking place on Saturday 1^st October. Donal McArdle is taking on the role of COC for this event which is a counting round of the Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championship and Trader’s Trophy. The Sliabh Beagh Hotel, Knockatallon is the venue for the night. Regulations and Entry forms are available on www.monaghanmotorclub.net 

Potential competitors are also asked to review the new regulations for the coming season with new  requirements on car eligibility. The new regulations are available on the Motorsport Ireland website under 2016 Yearbook Amendments, Articles 33 and 34.

Marshals are required for this event and all those available are asked to attend at the Sliabh Beagh Hotel by 8pm.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Josh Moffett was robbed of a potential victory on last weekend’s Clare Stages Rally after suffering a puncture whilst leading. The event was the penultimate round of the 2016 Triton National Rally Championship. Josh, who had James Fulton on the notes, had taken the lead with a stunning time over the trecherous opening stage. He was 18 seconds quicker than anyone else in his R5 Fiesta. He reported being able to find grip despite the wet conditions. Declan Boyle rapidly reduced the defecit on stage four before Moffett clipped a rock on stage five which dropped him fourty-five seconds in arrears. Over the closing stages he was involved in a close battle with National Champion Roy White for 2^nd place but ended up missing out by just five seconds.

Stephen Wright with new navigator, Keith Moriarty took 4^th overall in his R5 Fiesta but over two minutes adrift. Brendan Cumisky & Ronan O’Kane finished 5^th overall in another Fiesta. Shane Maguire & Mac Kierans took 2^nd in Group N and 12^th overall in their Lancer. Their battle for National Group N honours will go down to the final round in Donegal. Jack McKenna guided Donegal’s Declan Greene to 25^th overall and 3^rd in class 11R. Martin Connolly guided Liam Bowhan to 31^st overall and 3^rd in class 13.

Arthur Kierans was navigating for Derek McGeehan in a WRC Mini. They retired on the opening stage after smoke filled their car. They re-started under Rally 2 to come home 50^th overall and 3^rd in class 7. Damien Connolly was in the hot seat for Peader Hurson. After launch control issues early on, they retired after a puncture caused them to go off the road on stage four. Emmet Sherry, who was navigating for Barry Ryan, had been battling for two wheel drive honours before they retired on stage seven.

Top 10:

1 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Fiesta WRC) 60m 05s,
2 Roy White/James O’Brien (Fiesta WRC) 61m 02s,
3 Josh Moffett/James Fulton (Fiesta R5) 61m 07s,
4 Stephen Wright/Keith Moriarty (Fiesta R5) 63m 16s,
5 Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane (Fiesta R5) 63m 46s,
6 Chris Armstrong/Chris Melly (Escort) 63m 59s,
7 Trevor Mulligan/Sean Hayde (Escort) 64m 46s,
8 Paul Mackinnon/Ray Fitzpatrick (Impreza WRC) 64m 57s,
9 Damien Gallagher/Mac Walsh (Escort) 64m 59s,
10 Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath (Lancer Evo 10) 65m 42s.

Moffett misses out on Supercar Championship

 

Sam Moffett capped off a superb debut season on the Tool Dynamic’s Supercar Championship with a 2^nd and 3^rd place finish at the Kildare Motor Club Race Meeting at Mondello. Sam came into the weekend with an outside chance of claiming the overall title. However despite another strong showing it wasn’t enough for Sam to take the championship with Andy O’Brien claiming the title.

 

O’Reilly upholds Monaghan honor on the Manx

James O’Reilly made the trip across the Irish Sea to compete on the International Isle of Man Rally. The Scotstown native was navigating for David Bogie in a R5 Skoda Fabia. The event was the final round of the British Rally Championship and consisted of three days of action including some night sections. They had a testing three days. They dropped from fifth to eight after a delay on stage nine and they eventually finished in 7^th overall.

October Navigation Trial

 

The Night Navigation season is fast approaching with the October Navigation Trial taking place on Saturday 1^st October. Donal McArdle is taking on the role of COC for this event which is a counting round of the Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championship and Trader’s Trophy. Regulations and Entry forms will be available in the coming week. These will be available on www.monaghanmotorclub.net 

Potential competitors are also asked to review the new regulations for the coming season with new  requirements on car eligibilty. The new regulations are available on the Motorsport Ireland website under 2016 Yearbook Amendments Articles 33 and 34.

Castleblayney’s Michael Conlon & Ciaran McPhillips put in a storming drive to take 5^th overall on last weekend’s Wexford Stages Rally. The two-day event was the final round of the South-East Stages Rally Championship. The pair were in a battle for overall championship honours with Waterford’s Eddie Power in a Corolla WRC.

The pair took the class 13 lead on stage two and maintained their advantage throughout the two days. They were 7^th after the opening day’s nine stages and climbed to 5^th overall on day two. They took the class win by over two minutes in the end. Despite their strong performance it wasn’t enough for Conlin to claim championship honours with Power taking the title on dropped scores. However, Conlon’s navigator Ciaran McPhillips secured the overall navigator title.

Thomas Treanor was sitting with Graham Kelly in 2.5 Ltr Ford Fiesta. The pair were unfortunate to retire on the opening stage but were able to re-enter under Super Rally rules, making steady progress to 42^nd overall by the finish. James McCarville with Donegal’s Paddy McCrudden on the notes also made the trip south. They were 2^nd fastest in class on stage one but lost several minutes on stage two before retiring completely on stage five.

 

Navigation Trial Classes

The Navigation Trial season is fast approaching and the Motor Club are gearing up for that all important kick off – the navigation classes! If you have a motor sport interest of any kind the Navigation Trials are the best form of obtaining the correct ‘foundation’ to 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 this Friday 16^th September at 8pm sharp in the excellent facilities of the Sean Mac Diarmada complex in Threemile House. All interested persons should contact Fintan Clerkin 087 2297024 and register your position on the classes. Registration on the night will also include club membership, maps, romer and all necessary paperwork to complete the 6 week course.

The first event after the summer break is the October Trial on Saturday 1st . COC for the event is Donal McArdle and we look forward to this.