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Shane Maguire clinched his third West Coast Rally Championship title a fortnight ago on the Kerry Mini Stages Rally. The championship consisted of six events in Birr, Kerry, Limerick, Galway and Clare. Shane was among four drivers in contention going into the final round. His main rival on the day, Ed O’Callaghan was sidelined on stage two after an off. This left Shane requiring a top four points finish which he secured as well as the Group N category. Shane would like to thank his service crew, sponsors and his navigators Paul McLoughlin and Mac Kierans for their support throughout the year.

Josh Moffett & Jason McKenna became the first Monaghan crew since 1991 to win the Valvoline Irish Forestry Championship, clinching the title at the final round, the Glens Forestry Rally on Saturday last. The Limavady-based event was the conclusion of the battle between the Monaghan crew and Michael O’Brien/Liam Brennan. Former champion O’Brien in his Ford Focus WRC led on points starting the rally but Moffett/McKenna were in pole position on dropped scores in their Evo 9.

The Glens rally comprised two classic stages run 3 times each. Needing to win the rally to secure the title, O’Brien through down the gauntlet with a great run through the opening stage to take 2^nd overall behind last year’s Glens winner Desi Henry. Josh and Jason were languishing in 8^th, partly due no doubt to Josh not being on the pace, having attended his grandmother’s funeral on the previous day. However, the Monaghan pair eventually recovered to slot into 4^th place overall, despite a puncture four miles from the end of stage 4. By the start of the final stage, O’Brien was in 2^nd with the Combilift crew in 4^th, it was going to be a straight shoot-out between them. With nothing to lose, O’Brien went for it but ran wide on a corner and retired his Focus on a bank. Josh and Jason finished in a steady 4^th place overall to secure the title.

The Monaghan pair have been at the forefront of the Forestry championship for the last couple of years, narrowly losing out to Owen Murphy last year. They follow in the footsteps of Clones men Andy Mackarel & Damien Courtney who won the championship in its first year.

Michael Carbin & Darragh Kelly put in an impressive drive to take 6^th overall and 2^nd in class. Emmet Sherry guided Tommy O’Connell to 32^nd overall. James O’Reilly was navigating for Martin McCormack as a shakedown for next weekend’s Rally GB.  Their event came to an end on stage 3. Michael Conlon & Ciaran McPhillips retired on the final loop, but still finished 4^th overall in the championship. Derek Mackarel/Daire Hayes also retired but were 3^rd in the Junior category in the championship. Alan Atchenson/Mac Kierans, Damien McGuaren/Michaela McGinn, and Paul Clarke/James McCarville all failed to finish on what was a tough event for man and machine.

Tynans Triumph on the Drumlin

Michael and Ciaran Tynan claimed back to back drumlin night navigation victories last Saturday night on the infamous Monaghan Motor Club event based in Ballybay. COC Evin Hughes and his team laid on a mammoth route which saw 60 time controls over a 110 mile route through the rolling drumlins of mid-Monaghan. Hardly a lane or by-road was missed from Swans Cross to the outskirts of Castleblaney and beyond. This event was the first round of the National & Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championship and the last counting round of the Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championship.

The first of 32 starters left Pearse Bros GAA complex, Ballybay at 9.01pm in dry weather conditions. As early as time point 2 all crews were under pressure, dropping minutes as only two expert crews of Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall and Rory Coyle/Ciaran Coyle managed to keep a clean sheet to time point 6. Some tricky plot and bash sections from tp 17-20 saw all crews drop time with Derek Mackarel and Cork woman, Muireann Hayes taking over the lead, dropping only 1 penalty through this passage of the event. The latter time points of the first half also saw all crews drop time as the event moved swiftly through some great farm lanes in the Nart, Swans Cross area before a well earned petrol halt in Rockcorry. Donegal brothers, Rory and Ciaran Coyle were having a good night, holding the lead at the petrol halt with a 2 penalty advantage over Mackarel/Hayes (8pens) with the Tynans in 3rd place on 10pens.

The second half picked up where the first had left off with any little mistakes sure to be punished. The event move eastwards through Latton and Aghnamullen before winding its way back towards Ballybay after almost 5 hours of competition. Time points 45-48 ultimately turned out to decide the winners as some very tricky plot and bash proved difficult to negotiate. Event leaders Rory and Ciaran Coyle missed two time points through this section which knocked them off top spot. Michael and Ciaran Tynan dropped 6 minutes through these time points to move into the lead where they would remain until the end. This result ensured the Clones/Newbliss pairing also lifted the 2015 Gary Nesbitt Club Navigation Championship for the first time.

Novice pairing of Keith McConnon and Michael McCluskey had a great run to 2nd overall on what was a very difficult night for novice and beginner crews. Trevor Farrell and Noel Hall also upped the ante on the night to take 3rd place and the expert class win ahead of Fintan Larmer and Sean McCaffery in 2nd with Donegal brothers Rory and Ciaran Coyle 3rd. John Kelly and Jonathan McGovern gave a great account of themselves in the semi-expert category with a class win and a fine 5th overall finish. Michael Carbin and Darragh Kelly were 2nd in the semi class ahead of Peter Farrell and Arthur Kierans. Arthur decided to try the navigator’s seat for the night and proved he is not just a good navigator on the stages but can also read a map! McConnon/McCluskey took the novice award with their 2nd place overall which left Colm and Conor Mohan in 2nd Novice and Emmet McCooey and Conor Boylan 3rd. On a tough night for beginners it was Patrick Connolly and Stephen McElroy who just pipped Mark Sheridan and Craig McPhillips for class honours by a mere 4 penalties. 3rd beginner went to Caolan and Ryan Treanor.

So that’s the Drumlin Navigation over for another year and the National and Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championships up and running. Well done to Evin Hughes and his assistant Packie Duffy and their many helpers for a great event. Evin would like to thank the many residents and land owners along the route for their support. He also extends a big thank you to the huge numbers of marshals who turned out, the results teams, Ballybay GAA complex, PR teams and everyone else who helped out in any way, big or small.

Drumlin Navigation Trial Top 10

1/ Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 21 marks 2/ Keith McConnon/Micheal McCluskey (Subaru Impreza) 40m 3/ Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 64m 4/ Fintan Larmer/Sean McCaffrey (Subaru Impreza) 67m 5/ John Kelly/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 71m 6/ Rory Coyle/Ciaran Coyle (Subaru Impreza) 77m 7/ Gregory McQuillan/Conor Maguire (Subaru Impreza) 91m 8/ Derek Mackarel/Muireann Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 93m 9/ Mickey Carbin/Darragh Kelly (Subaru Impreza) 111m 10/ Dermot Whelton/Mark McCarthy (Subaru Impreza) 155m 11/ Colm Mohan/Conor Mohan (Subaru Impreza) 160m 12/ Emmet McCooey/Conor Boylan (Subaru Impreza) 169m

Maguire clinches West Coast Championship

Shane Maguire clinched the West Coast Rally Championship for a third time. The Banna Beach-based Kerry Mini Stages Rally last Sunday was the final round of the championship. Shane adopted a steady approach needing a decent finish to secure the title. He and co-driver Paul McLaughlin made steady progress from 20^th place after stage 1 to 11^th overall and 1^st in Group N by the day’s end. This was enough to secure Shane’s 3^rd West Coast Championship success, a championship that his father Niall is also a previous winner of.

Elsewhere, Paul Kelly teamed up with Limerick’s Paul Purtill and they finished 8^th overall and 3^rd in class 13. . Martin Connolly guided Liam Bowhan to 14^th overall and 5^th in class 13. Anthony Hand with Ella Ryan on the notes secured 18^th overall and 1^st in class 11R.

The Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship prizegiving took place last weekend in the Sligo Park Hotel. 270 people attended with €5700 raised for charity on the night. Cavan’s Jonathan Pringle & Martin Byrne claimed the overall championship title.

It was a successful year for Monaghan crews with numerous class winners. Shane Maguire finished 3^rd driver in class 4. Niall Maguire & Enda Sherry were victorious in class 7. Alison Hughes was the winning navigator in class 9 while her driver Declan Connolly was 2^nd in class 9. Barry Treanor claimed class 11R with Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden 3^rd driver and 2^nd navigator respectively in the same class. Mark Tierney was the first class 12 navigator. Last year’s champions, David Moffett/Fintan Sherry finished 3^rd in class 13. Michael Carbin/Emmet McCooey won class 20 with Martin Swinburne/Gretchen Fegan taking the Junior class.

Drumlin Navigation Trial

Regulations and Entry form for the Drumlin Navigation Trial, which takes place this Saturday 7^th November, are available on the club website. The event is the opening round of the National & Border Navigation Championships as well as the final round of the Gary Nesbitt and Traders Club Championships. COC Evin Hughes is planning to have a 100 mile route in the mid-Monaghan area. Headquarters is the Pearse Brothers Centre in Ballybay. Sign on will be from 6pm, with the first route card issued a 6.15pm. The event commences at 9.01pm. All those available to marshal are asked to attend at the Pearse Brothers Centre by 7.30pm.

James O’Reilly was the first Monaghan man home on last weekend’s Skibbereen Fastnet Rally. O’Reilly teamed up with Cavan’s Gary Kiernan and the pair put in a storming drive to take 6^th overall and 1^st in class 13. Daniel McKenna and Arthur Kierans were competing in the Toyota AE86 once again and despite dropping a few minutes on stage three, the pair fought back to 13^th overall and 3^rd in class 14. Michael Carbin/Emmet McCooey brought their Mitsubishi Lancer home to 17^th overall and 1^st in class 20. This result secured the class title in the National Championship for the pair. Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden secured class 11R in the championship after taking their Toyota Corolla to 28^th overall and 2^nd in class. Ryan Loughren/James McCarville retired on stage four whilst holding a top ten place while Barry McKenna/Mac Kierans retired on the opening stage. Liam Bowhan/Martin Connolly made it to stage six before retiring.

Sligo Pallets Border Championship Prizegiving

The annual prizegiving for the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship takes place this Saturday night 31^st October. The Sligo Park Hotel is the venue and anyone interested in attending should contact Brenda Flynn. Monaghan crews were once again very successful in this year’s championship taking many class wins. Overall honours went to the Cavan pair of Jonathan Pringle & Martin Byrne.

Drumlin Navigation Trial

Regulations and Entry form for the Drumlin Navigation Trial which takes place on Saturday 7^th November are available on the club website. The event is the opening round of the National & Border Navigation Championships as well as the final round of the Gary Nesbitt and Traders Club Championships. COC Evin Hughes is planning to have a 100 mile route in the mid-Monaghan area. Headquarters is the Pearse Brothers Centre in Ballybay. Sign on will be from 6pm, with the first route card issued a 6.15pm. The event commences at 9.01pm. All those available to marshal are asked to attend at the Pearse Brothers Centre by 7.30pm.

Josh Moffett made the overnight trip from Wales pay off with overall victory on round six of the Valvoline Irish Forestry Rally Championship. The Mayo Mini Stages rally was based at the picturesque Crockets on the Quay in Ballina, heralding a return to forest rallying in this area after 15 years. Josh and co-driver Jason McKenna took a dominant lead on the opening stage which they maintained over the remaining three stages to finish 36 seconds clear of championship leaders Michael & James O’Brien. Josh and Jason now need to finish ahead of the O’Brien crew on the next round in order to clinch the title. Derek Mackarel/Daire Hayes clinched victory in the Junior class and were an impressive 9^th overall in their Nova after a determined second run over the two stages. They narrowly got the better of class rivals Patrick O’Brien/Aine McGuigan in a Citroen. Michaela McGinn guided Damien McGauren to 8^th overall and 1^st in class 13. JP McAree guided Derrick Jobb to 15^th overall and 3^rd in class. 2WD champions Michael Conlon & Ciaran McPhillips had a rare off resulting in a non-finish. The Tynan family had a double misfortune when Dad Mickey and son Martin’s engines both cried enough on the opening stage.

Cambrian Rally

Josh & Sam Moffett competed on last Saturday’s Cambrian Rally in Wales as part of their preparation for Wales Rally GB in November. Josh finished 3^rd overall with John Rowan on the notes while Sam & Karl Atkinson finished just behind in 4^th place overall.