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Martin Tynan and Stephen Thornton were victorious in last weekend’s Monaghan Motor Club Endurance Trial based out of the Four Seasons Hotel.
The pair won the event in their Toyota Starlet by three seconds from Kieran Mc Carra and Gary Mc Crudden with Andrew Mackarel and Richard Cassidy a further sixteen seconds behind in their Opel Ascona.
The event attracted an entry of 23 cars of varying specification who set about tackling the 20 selective’s at 10 venues throughout north Monaghan as set out by CoC Ronnie Hawe and his team. First up was a quick blast around Monaghan Quarries, followed by a tight and slippy test around the combilift factory at Clontibret. Then it was onto a narrow and slippy forest track just outside Ballybay before a visit to Cavan Motor Clubs Hut Cross quarry track in Latton. Wrights Quarry in Swanns Cross was the venue for the 5th selective and all five were repeated before a well deserved dinner break back at the Four Seasons Hotel. The afternoon selective’s were in the North Monaghan regions with two passes over a grassy lane to the back of Niall Maguires house at Hollyrood, next up was the rally school and then onto Wattersons quarry in Carrickroe. Mc Aree Engineering’s Carrickroe factory was the venue for the ninth test followed by a quick blast through a tarmac surfaced lane known locally as McMeels. Endurance by name and endurance by nature as the first car’s arrived back to HQ around 7.30pm. It was a closely fought battle all day but it was Tynan and Thornton who came out on top. As only class 1 cars were eligible for overall honours it was Derek Mackarel and Peter Deery who were deemed 2nd overall with Graham O’Donaghoe and Damian Connolly 3rd overall.
Class one honours went to Karl O’Donoghoe and Evin Hughes in their Rover 200, followed by Enda McLoughlin and Declan Tynan 2nd in class 1 and Paul Gibbons/Mark Reilly 3rd. Class 2 was won by the ultra quick Kieran McCarra in a Mitsubishi Colt followed by Michael and Ciaran Tynan in the 998cc daihatsu cuore. 3rd in class went to Conor Meehan and Brendan Keenan in their starlet. Class 3 went to Peter and Shane Farrell in their Honda civic, followed by Darren McCague and Mark Sheridan in their rover which bore the scares of battle at the finish! Mark Hamill and Greg O’Reilly were 3rd in class 3. Andy Mackarel and Richard Cassidy topped class 5 in their 2 litre opel ascona with Eoghan Corr and Damian Treanor 2nd in class in the Mazda MX5, both crews using there rear wheel power to maximum effect throughout a thoroughly enjoyable day for all competitors.
That’s the endurance trial over for another year and CoC Ronnie Hawe would like to thank everyone who helped organise the event, The Four Seasons Hotel, marshals, land and property owners and anyone else who helped make this a successful event. Next up for Monaghan Motor Club is the first night navigation trial of the new season on Saturday 4th October.

1. Martin Tynan/Stephen Thornton 08:45
2. Kieran McCarra/Gary McCrudden +0.03
3. Andrew Mackarel/Richard Cassidy +0.19
4. Derek Mackarel/Peter Deery +0.55
5. Graham O’Donaghoe/Damien Connolly +1:15
6. Karl O’Donaghoe/Evin Hughes +1:15
7. Eoghan Corr/ Damien Treanor +1:35
8. Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan +1.50
9. Enda McLoughlin/Declan Tynan +2.13
10. Peter Farrell/Shane Farrell +2:36

MOFFETT SET FOR WRC DEBUT
Monaghan’s Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly are set to make their World Rally Championship debut this weekend. The Monaghan pair will tackle the ADAC Rallye Deutschland in their Fiesta WRC. The Combilift Rallying team has secured the sponsorship of DSV for the event and will be looking forward to a massive learning curve on the German stages. The team have had a great year on the national scene so far.

NIGHT NAVIGATION CLASSES
Monaghan Motor Club will once again run their highly successful night navigation classes this year ahead of the upcoming night navigation season starting in October. These class’s are designed for beginners who would like to dip their feet into the world of motorsport, with night navigations being the grass roots of the sport and the first step on the ladder. So if your interested in learning about the sport and how to read maps and indeed pace notes for stages rally why not come along to the first of our classes which start on Friday 29th August. Time and venue to be confirmed next week and also keep an eye out on our Monaghan Motor club face book page as well as http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net Please text your details to Conor on 0861677446 to book a place on this course.

R.I.P. TIMOTHY CATHCART
Monaghan Motor Club would like to extend its sympathies and thoughts to the family and friends of Timothy Cathcart who tragically lost his life at the Ulster Rally yesterday. R.I.P. Also we extend our best wishes to Dai Roberts for a speedy recovery

It was a day to remember for Shane Maguire and Stephen Thornton as the pair led from start to finish to take an impressive Group N win at the Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally. With championship leader Josh Moffett not starting the event the Maguire International pair knew a good result could have great benefits to their championship ambitions.
It was a close fought battle over the first two tests with Maguire and Dublin’s Neil and Gerard Tohill separated by 4.6 seconds however after stage 3 Maguire had increased his advantage by 27.2 seconds with Gus Kearney and Eddie O’Neill just 6.4 seconds further back. Stage 4 saw Maguire extend his lead even further. The Monaghan man said he made the right decision by putting extra cuts into his tyres as he extended his lead to 42.6 seconds. After the second loop Maguire had extended his lead to 57.7 seconds while Kearney had taken second off Tohill. The final loop saw the Maguire International pair increase their lead yet again. The pair took victory by 1:28.5 from Gus Kearney and Eddie O’Neill while Neil and Gerard Tohill finishing a further 1:26.6 behind in third.
Mickey Conlon and Ciaran McPhillips had a great event in class 13 also. The pair took the lead from Cavan’s Gary Kiernan on stage 3 and from there were involved in a great battle with Killkenny’s James Coleman. Conlon and McPhillips led the class for the second loop but a road penalty left them 1.4 seconds behind Coleman after stage 7. It was all out attack to the end and the pair managed to snatch the class win on the last stage by just 2.1 seconds. The crew also got 5th overall and second in the modified section for their efforts. Barry Treanor and Michael Brennan had a great run to second in class 11R in their Mk2 Escort. Paul Sheridan was in the navigators seat for Tyrone’s Vivian Hamill but the pair only managed three stages before retiring. Barry McKenna and Mac Kierans were competing in class 13 but failed to complete stage 1.
The event was won overall by Darragh O Riordan in his fiesta WRC, followed by James Stafford in the infamous Darrian, with Welsh man Steve Wood 3rd overall in a WRC subaru.

Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally Top 10
1 Darragh O’Riordan/Tony McDaid (Fiesta WRC) 63m 43s,
2 James Stafford/Amy Ryan (Darrian T90 GTR) 64m 28s,
3 Steve Wood/Keith Moriarty (Impreza WRC) 65m 45s,
4 Kevin Barrett/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 65m 58s,
5 Mickey Conlon/Ciaran McPhillips (Escort) 67m 12s,
6 James Coleman/Liam Brennan (Escort) 67m 14s,
7 Pat Donegan/Alan Keena (Escort) 67m 32s,
8 Jonathan Pringle/Martin Byrne (Escort) 67m 41s,
9 David Condell/Eugene McGrath (Escort) 67m 54s,
10 Mickey Curran/Enda Gerety (Escort) 68m 15s.

Monaghan Motor Annual Endurance Trial
All roads lead to Monaghan this weekend for the Monaghan Motor Clubs annual endurance trial. The event which is based out of the Four Season’s Hotel promises a fantastic day’s motorsport. Entries are still being accepted and entry forms can be downloaded from the Monaghan Motor Club Website, http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net Any enquiries can be directed to CoC of the event, Ronnie Hawe on 0868277779. Scrutineering will take place in Sams Bridge (Across from the Four Seasons) at 7.30 a.m. with the event starting at 10.00 a.m. As always, marshals are in very short supply so please if anyone is interested or available please contact Ronnie as soon as possible and be at the Four Seasons before 8.30am Sunday morning.

McKenna And Wright All Set For Ulster
Daniel McKenna will start the Toddsleap Ulster Rally tomorrow knowing that a good result will bring him another step closer to his first British Rally Championship title victory. The Scotshouse driver goes into Round 4 of the BRC with a 20 point lead over his nearest rival Welshman Osian Pryce.
McKenna, who had a pre – event test in his Citroen DS3 last week says that despite his lead in the championship he will still be approaching the event in a sensible fashion. The BRC section of the event was won by Pryce last year but depite this McKenna is in a confident mood stating that he has more experience on this type of terrain.
Stephen Wright will also be tackling the event in his Peugeot 208 R2. The Newbliss man has been impressing in the Belgian Rally Championship this year and it will be his first Irish event since the Laois Heartland Rally back in June . Wright says the competition in the R2 category will be stiff and he’s relishing the challenge.
Despite his time away from Irish events he’s confident he has a good set up for the car ahead of the event. Emmett Sherry will be challenging him in the R2 category, navigating for Calvin Beattie.

It was announced last week that Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly are to make their World Rally Championship debut at Rally Germany next month. The pair will compete in their Combilift Rallying Fiesta WRC. The pair have had a successful year so far in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the National Rally Championship and are seeded at 23 for their maiden WRC voyage.

Good Result for the Wrights in Luxembourg

Stephen and Suzanne Wright travelled abroad last weekend to attack Rally Luxembourg in their Peugeot 208 R2 and the Monaghan pair had a successful event. The Wrights finished a fantastic 13th overall and 5th in the R2 class. They also netted 2nd in the 208 class. There was a few hiccups along the way however. A difference in the local rules to Irish regulations resulted in Stephen suffering a big time loss after a stage cancellation. The pair also lost 10 seconds having to stop at an accident on Day 2. Apart from that it was a good run for the pair. The next outing for Stephen will be the Ulster Rally next month. This event will also see Daniel McKenna continue his bid for British Rally Championship glory. Since it was announced recently that the final round of the BRC has been cancelled, so the Ulster Rally will become the second last round of the championship. The Moffett brothers will also continue their attack on the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship at this event.

Stephen and Suzanne Wright will return to the Belgian Rally Championship at the Tour of Flanders on the 5th of September

Mayo Motor Club Autocross

Congratulations to Martin Tynan who took victory in his Mitsubishi Evo in last weekends Mayo and District Motorsport Club Loose Surface Autocross event. Martin finished just under half a second ahead of second placed John McGettrick with a fastest time of 03:57.66. This result leaves Martin joint championship leader with Derek Deane going into the final round in approximately 4 weeks time.

Elsewhere Michael Conlon had a good day in his buggy with fourth overall and third in class 6 with a best time of 04:00.09. Derek Mackarel also had a good event in his Nova. Derek posted a fastest time of 04:09.59 and finished 10th overall and took the win in class 2. Derek still leads the national loose surface autocross championship after this event.

Monaghan Motor Club Endurance Trial

Monaghan Motor Club’s annual Endurance Trial will now take place on Sunday the 17th of August. Please note the date change and also if your available to marshal please make yourselves available to any committee member as soon as possible. More details to follow next week.

MOFFETT AND ROWAN CLAIM VICTORY IN SLIGO It was a day to remember for Josh Moffett and the Combilift Rallying team as the young Monaghan driver took his first overall rally win at the Sligo Stages Rally, round 4 of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship. Co-driven by John Rowan the crew won eight of the nine stages to take victory by over three minutes. When it was announced mid – week that Josh would be taking the Fiesta WRC from his brother Sam for the event everyone was keen to see how his transferral from Group N to WRC machinery would go. Things didn’t start well as he had to ask his brother how to start the car in Parc Fermé! But that was the only blip for the local man and he certainly didn’t disappoint during the event taking the lead from earlier pace setter Paddy McVeigh on stage 2 and never looked back to take his maidan rally victory to add to a great year thus far for the Combilift team. Sam Moffett was out in a brand new class 20 Mitsubishi Evo 9 and lay 3rd overall after the opening loop behind Tyrone’s Paddy McVeigh. However McVeigh retired with gearbox problems before stage 5 promoting Sam to 2nd overall and potentially setting up a Combilift Rallying 1-2. Sadly it wasn’t to be as the Evo 9 broke a wishbone on stage 8 forcing Sam’s retirement. Further down the field there were plenty of great results for local crews. Justin Smith and Sharon Clarke recorded a fine top 10 result in the class 13 escort. David Moffett and Fintan Sherry took another class win in 11R. A brilliant battle with Kevin Bradley and Graham Henderson as well as fellow Monaghan crew, Barry Treanor and Colm Connolly saw them switch position a number of times Treanor and Connolly were the early class leaders but unfortunately only completed four stages before retirement. Moffett & Sherry took the class win by nearly two minutes and also lifted the drive of the day award. Emmett Sherry navigated Armagh’s Calvin Beattie to victory in class 6 in the Ford Fiesta. Michael Carbin and Emmett McCooey were the sole survivors in class 20 in their Evo 4 and came home 20th overall. Cathal Sheridan and Peter Deery took their Nova to 2nd in class 10 with a blistering time on the final stage to jump ahead of his rivals. In class 12 Mark Tierney navigated Brian Armstrong to victory beating fellow Monaghan co-driver and runner up in class, Gary McCrudden who was navigating Martin Toner. Steven Corey and Vinnie Boyd took their Escort to 4th in class 13R. Declan Connolly and Alison Hughes took their Honda Civic to 4th in class 9. In the junior rally Stefan McCann and Stephen McElroy came home 6th in their Peugeot 205. In class 14 Jack Maguire and Andy Hayes were leading right up until their retirement in stage seven. Laurence Sherry and Mark Sheridan were 4th in class until retirement on the final stage. Sligo Stages Rally Top 10 1. Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1:22:10.4 2. Martin Doherty/Kevin Flannagan (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 1:25:10.5 3. Pat Kirk/John McElhinney (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 1:25:35.7 4. Gary Kiernan/Niall Tierney (Ford Escort MK2) 1:25:50.0 5. Trevor Bustard/ John McCafferty (Mitsubishi Evo 9) 1:26:10.9 6. Brian Armstrong/Mark Tierney (Ford Escort MK2) 1:27:29.9 7. Martin Toner/Gary McCrudden (Talbot Sunbeam) 1:27:39:7 8. Anthony Cairns/Mark Preston (Subaru Impreza) 1:27:39.8 9. Ian Gunning/Jeff Gunning (Ford Escort MK2) 1:27:53.7 10. Justin Smyth/Sharon Clarke (Ford Escort MK2) 1:28:11.0 Cork LS Autocross Congratulations to Derek Mackarel on 4th overall and first saloon car home in the Skibbereen Loose Surface Autocross on  Sunday last. Derek also won his class and now finds himself in the lead of the National Loose Surface Autocross Championship after round 3, with 4 remaining.

McKenna/Kierans take top spot in Scotland

Daniel McKenna and Arthur Kierans took an important step towards British Rally Championship glory last weekend as the Monaghan duo claimed their second BRC victory of the year at RSAC Scottish Rally in Dumfries. McKenna and Kierans overcame visibility issues caused by a build-up of dust in their Citroen DS3 to win the event by over two minutes. Crucial to their championship aspirations was the retirement of their main rivals Osian Pryce and Dale Furniss. The Welsh crew came into the event level on points with McKenna and Kierans but gearbox problems led to their retirement on the penultimate stage. 2nd overall went to Callum Black and Paul Wakely, whilst another Irish crew in Dean Rafferty and Aileen Kelly finished 3rd overall in their Fiesta R2.

            This result for Daniel and Arthur means that the Monaghan crew now lead the championship by 20 points going into round 4, the Todds Leap Ulster Rally in August.

Mixed results for Monaghan Competitors in Waterford

It was a good day for Monaghan crew Michael Conlon and Ciaran McPhillips at the Ravens Rock Rally in Waterford last weekend as the pair took third place in class 13 in their Escort. The Monaghan pair moved into the top 3 on stage 2 and held their position until the end and in doing so also took a fantastic 6th overall. The event was won by Irish rallying star Craig Breen in his Fiesta WRC with Alan Rind 2nd in an EVO 9 and Eoin Doyle 3rd in a focus WRC. Cavan’s Gary Kieran and James Fulton took the two wheel drive honours and 4th overall ahead of Virginia man Chris Armstrong, both in class 13 escorts.

Local competitor Declan McKenna entered the event navigating for Northern Ireland’s Alan Atcheson. The pair contested class 13 in an Escort but unfortunately failed to reach the finish. Local man J. P. McAree also entered class 13 in an Escort. The Monaghan man was navigating for Meath’s Jack Newman but unfortunately also failed to make the finish.