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Gary McPhillips and Paul Sheridan made it a Monaghan double in Donegal this year, winning the Donegal Harvest Stages Rally last Saturday.

This followed on from Sam Moffett and James O’Reillys empathic win on the Donegal International Rally earlier in the year. Mc Phillips/Sheridan were made to work for their win on the narrow and bumpy roadways of Northwest Donegal around the Gweedore and Dungloe regions of the picturesque Donegal Gealtacht area. Number 2 seeds and local men, Declan and Brian Boyle crossed the start ramp as favourites and held the early lead but Gary McPhillips and Paul Sheridan took over at the front on stage 3 as the Boyle cousins succumbed to the tricky conditions. The iconic red escort of McPhillips/Sheridan never looked back and increased their lead with every stage to take a well deserved win by a minute and fifteen seconds from Donegal men Patrick McHugh and Padraic O’Donnell. 3rd overall went to another Donegal crew who were on a blistering pace in a class 11 twin cam, Patrick Boyle and Donal Cole. Gary and Paul would like to thank their service team of Cathal and Francis and all who help in their quest for the overall win.

            This event was also the final round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship and with four crews still in contention pre-event it was all to play for. Cavan man Gary Kiernan with Monaghan’s Niall Tierney on the notes had held a one point advantage over their rivals and a class 10 win on the day ensured the 2103 Sligo Pallets Border Championship was headed for Cavan. A fitting tribute to Gary’s older brother Paddy who passed away earlier this year.

            Raymond Conlon and Darren McCague also made the trip to Donegal and it paid dividends with a superb 5th overall and 1st in class in the Conlon travel backed twin cam. This result left Raymond 2nd in class 13 in this years border championship. Double Border champions, Arthur and Mac Kierans did all they could to make it a treble this year with a class 12 win on the day but it wasn’t to be as they fell short by a point to Kiernan/Tierney. Indeed the Aghabog men were made to work hard all day with only a second separating them and James Cassidy going into the final loop of 3 stages but in true Kierans fashion the KES escort steamed to a class win and 11th overall. Cavan’s Damian O’Reilly and Damien McCabe took the class 9 spoils and 14th overall after a hard fought battle with Justin Smyth and Gregory McQuillan but the Lisnalong men retired on stage 5. Justin and Gregory finished 2nd in class 9 in this years championship.

            Barry Treanor and Colm Connolly were another crew to excel in the tricky Donegal terrain with 2nd in class 11 and 16th overall in an escort. David Smyth and Mark Deery finish their border campaign with 26th overall and 5th in class but more importantly their consistency paid off with a class win in the border championship. John and Niall Kelly were another Monaghan crew to reap the rewards of consistency with 2nd in class 10 on the day but also lifting the class 10 crown in this years championship. Seamus Connolly and Gary McCrudden had a troubled day in the Donegal hills to eventually finish 42nd overall in an escort and were 3rd in class 11R in this years championship. Francie McKenna and Sean Craig finished off their year on a high in the unique Rover MG with a class win on the day and a class win in the championship.

            As always there must be losers and non finishers and the Donegal countryside was to claim over half of the starting 127 in the main field! Class 4 which is the group N production category threw up some great results for Monaghan crews this year but unfortunately Donegal was to bite back. Josh Moffett and James O’Reilly were lying in 3rd overall before a bad stage time on 3 dropped them back to 17th overall. Nevertheless they punched in some great time over the next 5 stages and were back up to joint 4th overall but they disappeared off the leader board on the final stage and into retirement. However Josh still did enough to claim 1st in class 4 in the border championship. Shane Maguire and Enda Sherry also made the start ramp and were giving a good account, lying 4th overall after the sixth stage but they two were to encounter mechanical woes which forced them into retirement. Shane finished 2nd in class 4 in the border championship. 

 

Moffett and Connolly take the win in Baltinglass

Richard Moffett and Martin Connolly made their trip south to Baltinglass last Sunday very worthwhile, coming away with the overall win in their trusty class 13 starlet amongst some very stiff competition.  The Monaghan men laid down the gauntlet to their rivals early on, pulling out a 10 second lead on the opening stage but with four different drivers destined to share the lead over the next five stages it was to be a battle to the wire for the Moffett Engineering backed starlet. Fortunately Richard and Martin turned a one second deficit into a three second win through the final stage to take a well deserved first overall win of their short rallying career, the first of many hopefully. Mike Quinn finished 2nd overall in a class 14 escort, followed by Shay Power and Paul Collins in 3rd, also in an escort.

            Barry and Darren McKenna made their trip worthwhile also with a 12th overall finish and 2nd in class 13 in the McKenna Agri/New Holland backed escort. Unfortunately David Moffett and Fintan Sherry’s day was short lived with retirement on the opening loop, but with the overall win going to big brother Richard they still had something to celebrate!

 

Rallye Sunseeker

Best wishes to Daniel McKenna and Arthur Kierans who travel to Dorset this weekend to compete in the final round of the British Rally Championship. Daniel and Arthur are currently leading the R2 category in the championship, but need a top 5 class finish to ensure that they take the title back to Monaghan. Full report next week.

 

Newbliss brother and sister pairing of Stephen and Suzanne Wright capped off a hugely successful rallying year last weekend at the Cork 20 International Rally with a 7th overall finish and 3rd in class 4, enough to be crowned 2013 Group N Irish Tarmac Champions. In what was one of the toughest battles all year, Stephen and Suzanne had a measured drive amidst stiff competition in their EVO 9 on the millstreet based event to lift the title for 2013.             Closest championship rival’s and fellow Monaghan crew Josh Moffett & Jason McKenna, put up a great fight to the Wrights all weekend which seen them finish a superb  8th o/a. This result sees the Combilift team finish 2nd in the group N category for 2013 and coupled with their recent successes in the Irish Forestry Championship and Dunlop National Championship end a superb rallying year for the young Monaghan team also.

            The event was won by Daragh O’Riordan and Tony McDaid in a fiesta WRC, ahead of Fermanagh man Gary Jennings and Rory Kennedy in their Subaru Impreza WRC. This result ensured Gary and Rory were crowned 2013 Irish Tarmac Rally Champions. 3rd overall went to Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan, also in a subaru.

            Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly had another fantastic International result and claimed 6th o/a and 2nd in class 4 to round off a great year for this winning crew also.

            In the National category, Monaghan’s Jim McKenna and Thomas Treanor finished an excellent 4th overall and 1st in class 14 in their MK2 Escort. The pair had a fine run mixing it with the top teams as they held 3rd O/A for part of the event. The national category was won by Roy White in an S2000 rover, ahead of the super quick escorts of Wesley Patterson and Phil Collins.           

 

Connolly/McElhinney Win Monaghan Navigation Opener

Damien Connolly, driven by Donegals Gary McElhinney proved once again they are a hard team to beat in the North Monaghan region after taking another win on last Saturday nights Monaghan Motor Club navigation trial, this the first event of the new season. CoC’s for the first time, Jonathan Mc Govern and Damien Treanor laid on a fantastic and compact event circling the quaint North Monaghan village   of Carrickroe with the community centre providing ample facilities for plotting and results.

            31 crews left the Carrickroe area to tackle the 75mile route which bordered the villages of Tydavnet and  Emyvale before heading northwards through Killybrone and then to the Bragan mountain area before the last few time points at the Wattersons Quarry complex. All in all an enjoyable and demanding route with no room for error, this evident from the many wrong approach and departure penalties on results sheets. Michael and Ciaran Tynan had led the event right up to the final two time points where they dropped 2 penalties in all through Wattersons Quarry, enough to push them back to 3rd overall as the novice pairing of Ashley McAdoo and Laurence Keenan also finished on two penalties to be deemed 2nd overall behind Connolly/McElhinney.

            Evin Hughes came out of retirement for this event and teamed up with Shane Maguire to take 2nd in the expert class behind the Tynan’s, proving that he hasn’t forgotten any of his navigation skills which saw him take many overall wins in the past few years. Monaghans Donal McArdle teamed up with Donegal veteran Ciaran Coyle and finished 3rd in expert and 6th overall.

            The most unlikely pairing of Andy Mackarel and Arthur Kierans also teamed up for this event with Arthur taking to the maps, proving that he can compete in any motorsport discipline in any side of the car!! Would be fair to say there was two drivers and two navigators in this subaru and they proved their experience with 1st in semi-expert class and 10th overall. Matt and Enda Hume finished 2nd semi-expert after a troubled night.

            Ashley McAdoo and Laurence Keenan had a great night with their 2nd overall finish and a novice class win, 2 penalties at time point 12 was their only downfall. Eoghan Corr and Brendan Treanor are improving with every event and took 2nd in novice class on this occasion and 8th overall. Jonathan Treanor drove midlands man Seamus McTigue to 3rd place in the novice class.

            Derek Mackarel, driven by Fintan McGorman  picked up where they left of last year taking the beginner class win and a superb 5th overall. Yet another unlikely switch to the navigators seat was Michael Carbin, driven by Emmet McCooey and they too hit it off with 2nd in the beginners class and 9th overall. Father and son team of Peter and Shane Farrell also had a good run to take 3rd in beginners class.

            So that’s the navigation season up and running for another year. Well done to first time CoC’s Jonathan McGovern and Damien Treanor on a job well done. Jonathan would like to thank all the team for their efforts, including Carrickroe Community Centre, Coyle Crash Repairs, all the marshals that showed up, residents along the route, results teams, the tea ladies for their hard work late into the night and everyone else who helped in any way, big or small. Next up is the Drumlin navigation event on 9th November with CoC’s Gary Farrelly and Sean McKenna. This event is also the final round of the traders club championship which is going down to the wire with Damien Connolly only a point or two ahead of Martin Tynan with Derek Mackarel also close behind in 3rd. All three have the potential for a good result in the Drumlin so an exciting finish is in store.

                 

Monaghan Motor Club Navigation Top 10

1/ Gary Mc Elhinney/Damien Connolly 1penalty

2/ Ashley McAdoo/Laurence Keenan 2pens

3/ Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan 2pens

4/ Shane Maguire/Evin Hughes 4pens

5/ Fintan McGorman/Derek Mackarel 7pens

6/ Donal McArdle/Ciaran Coyle 8pens

7/ Martin Tynan/Stephen Thornton 18pens

8/ Eoghan Corr/Brendan Treanor 20pens

9/ Emmet McCooey/Michael Carbin 29pens

10/ Andy Mackarel/Arthur Kierans 38pens

 

 

 

 

a superb 7th and 8th o/a in the event.

Another fantastic International result was claimed by another Monaghan team – Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly, who took 6th o/a and 2nd in class 4.

In the National category, Monaghan’s Jim McKenna and Thomas Treanor finished an excellent 4th overall and 1st in class 14 in their MK2 Escort. The pair had a fine run mixing it with the top teams as they held 3rd O/A for part of the event. Well done to all crews!

 

Daniel McKenna and co-driver Arthur Kierans hit their goal of taking a fourth victory in a row in the Rally 2 category of the BRC at the Trackrod rally of Yorkshire after a fantastic battle with their closest championship rivals. The Pickering based event used the classic Yorkshire stages such as Dalby, Langdale and Staindale made famous by the RAC rally having been used for many years by some of the world’s best drivers. Their result on this event means Daniel and Arthur have really put themselves in pole position to become the R2 champions with one round remaining.

            Daniel and Arthur were in confident mood approaching the start of the event as it began with two night stages and with lots of experience under darkness, confidence was high in the Scanbitz camp.      The Monaghan men hit the ground running on the opening night stage and set the pace ending the first leg of the event with a 15 second lead, extracting almost a second a mile from his closest rival, Steve Rokland. On Saturday morning the crews were greeted to fantastic weather and perfect rally conditions. Daniel again kept up his high pace on the first stage of the morning but this time was a second of the pace, but still held a 15 second lead. On the second stage of the morning, a six mile test through Gale Rigg, Daniel felt quite happy with his pace crossing the finishing line of the stage, but the stage times told a different story. Jon Armstrong who lay second had slashed 8 seconds of Daniel’s lead and Steve Rokland had taken 9 to remain third.

            After a short service the classic 15 miles of Langdale lay ahead and it could possibly decide the outcome of the event despite there being a repeat of the two Friday night stages after it. Daniel decided maximum attack was the only option to try and build on his 6 second lead. Everything was going to plan until about half way through the stage where they had an overshoot losing around five or six seconds. Nevertheless they kept the pace up towards the end of the stage hoping he had done enough to hold on to the lead. Daniel surrendered only one second to Armstrong but Rokland really made a move in this stage leaping into 2^nd  place and cutting Daniel’s lead to a mere 0.1 of a second.          

            Another a short service before the final two stages, Daniel and Arthur had no intentions of losing the lead they had worked so hard for on the Friday night. Daniel again went out on maximum attack with no mistakes and really stamped their authority on the battle taking eight seconds out of Rokland and six seconds out of Armstrong on the first of the two last stages. The same approach for the final stage saw Daniel going fastest again to win the event by 11.9 seconds. An added bonus for Daniel and Arthur was that their closest rival for the R2 title Rokland, was beaten to second place by Armstrong on the final stage by 0.1 of a second.

            This now gives Daniel and Arthur a 10 point lead over Rokland after dropping their worst score of the season. As a result, if Rokland were to win the final round, Rallye Sunseeker, Daniel and Arthur could afford to finish fifth and still win the championship by one point, which is an even better position than Daniel could have hoped for before the Yorkshire rally.

 

Monaghan Navigation Trial

Monaghan Motor Club kick off the new night navigation season this Saturday night, 5th October. CoC’s for the event Jonathan McGovern and Damian Treanor have the hard work done with a demanding 75mile route on the cards. HQ for the event is Carrickroe Community Centre with route card 1 out at 6.30 and first car away 9.01pm. As always marshals are very much in demand. If you are available please contact Jonathan or Damian as soon as possible and be in the community centre, Carrickroe no later than 7.30pm. Reg’s and entry forms are available on the club website. Full report next week.

 

Bushwacker Forestry Rally

Congratulations to Monaghan crew Josh Moffett and Jason McKenna on their excellent success in the 2013 Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship. Jason secured 3rd overall co-driver in the Championship while Josh took an impressive win in the hard fought Gp N category. This Championship win came after finishing 10th O/A on the recent Bushwacker Rally in Omagh last Saturday. Josh has also been nominated for the Billy Coleman award after a string of superb performances in 2013.

            The event was won by Derek Mc Garrity and James McKee in a subaru. Enda Mc Nulty and Monaghan’s Paul Sheridan were 5th overall and won class 9, also in a subaru. Frank Kelly had a mere second to spare over Shane Mc Girr for the two wheel drive honours, finishing 6th and 7th respectively after a day long battle in the forests of Fermanagh and Tyrone. Sam Moffatt and James O’Reilly had to settle for 4th in class and 12th overall on this occasion as they gained valuable experience on the loose surface in the Subaru. Michael Conlon and Ciaran McPhillips had a great run to 16th overall and 3rd in class. Maurice Moffatt made the switch to gravel in his starlet and along with Martin Connolly had a very enjoyable day by all accounts to finish 27th overall and 2nd in class 7.

 

Last Sunday the Oakwood Arms Hotel Clare Stages took place, this event was the penultimate round of the 2013 West Coast Rally championship. Going into this event the championship had many drivers who could stake a claim to being outright champion.

            As ever a number of Monaghan crews made the journey south to contest the event.

Stephen and Suzanne Wright opened their account on the event posting a creditable 4^th fastest time on the opening stage thus continuing their fast pace of late. As the day progressed the duo surpassed all expectations to finish an incredible second overall behind the eventual winners Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan in their WRC Ford Focus.

            Next Monaghan crew where Shane Maguire and Martin McGarrity who were mindful of their championship position deciding to set a steady opening pace, as the day progressed they upped the pace to climb to 5^th overall and the group N win, this result sees them lead the West Coast championship going into the final round.

Jack Maguire/Andy Hayes also made the trip south in their Mitsubishi Evo9 taking the lead in his class from the outset and as the day progressed they held that lead to the end and climbed the overall leader board to finish 9^th overall. Aaron Duffy/Keith McConnan took their Ford Fiesta to a class win making their trip also worthwhile having battled their way up the order during the day. It was on the fourth stage that they claimed the class 9 lead which they held to the finish.

 

Monaghan Navigation Trial

Monaghan Motor Club kick off the new night navigation season on Saturday night week, 5th October. CoC’s for the event Jonathan McGovern and Damian Treanor are hard at work with their final preparations and as always marshals are very much in demand. If you are available please contact Jonathan or Damian as soon as possible. Reg’s and entry forms are available on the club website. More news next week

Monaghan Crews Fair Well on Galway Summer Rally

The highly popular Galway Summer rally was contested at the weekend, based in the West Galway town of Ballinasloe. The event was supported by several mainland UK crews as Hugh Hunter from Wales led the rally from start to finish followed by fellow countryman James Belton both in WRC Subaru’s.  Third overall on the day was Darragh O’Riordan from Cork in the latest spec Fiesta WRC.

            A strong Monaghan contingent was headed by Josh Moffett/John Rowan as the duo continued their great run of form taking the group N lead on the opening stage, a position they held to the end. This result ensures them of the group N title in the Dunlop National Rally Championship. Josh was closely followed by brother and sister pairing of Stephen/Suzanne Wright who claimed a fine 2^nd in GpN and 9^th Overall. Donegal’s Declan Gallagher and Ryan Moore were once again tops in the two wheel drive section in their starlet, closely followed by Cavan’s Jonathan Pringle/Martin Byrne who were 5th overall with Frank Kelly a further 15 seconds adrift in 6th overall. Maurice Moffett/Jason McKenna made a return to the Irish tarmac and had a brilliant run all day to claim the runner up spot in the highly competitive class 14 and 10^th overall in their Toyota Starlet. Liam Bowhan with Damien Connolly on the notes, just edged into 11^th overall by a slender half second, taking third in class. Shane Maguire/ Martin McGarrity claimed 12^th overall and held a strong third in GpN all day, which duly strengthens their Top Part West Coast championship campaign. Raymond Conlon wheeled his trusty twin-cam out and was partnered by Sarah Whelan, they eventually finished fourth in class. David Moffett/Fintan Sherry had a fine run until a stage four puncture dropped them from 2^nd in class to fifth in class, however they battled away to finish 44^th overall and 4^th in class. Aaron Duffy/Keith McConnon finished a creditable 4^th in class and 58^th overall in their little Fiesta.

            Some hard luck stories included Jim McKenna/Thomas Treanor who had held a fine 9^th overall and second in class 14 until driveshaft failure put them out of the event. Also going extremely well was Richard Moffett/Martin Connolly who had held 10^th overall and third in the hotly contested class 13 until their clutch cried enough on stage six. Justin Smyth/Gregory McQuillan had led their class after five stages but unfortunately stage 6 ended their fine run. The next tarmac rally for many of the local crews will be the Clare stages rally on September 22^nd.