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Major win for Monaghan Crews in Donegal

 

Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly led a procession of Monaghan crews to victory in their respective classes at the Donegal International Rally last weekend. In what may well go down as a milestone event for the Monaghan club, Sam and James followed up on their overall win on the recent Monaghan stages with a minute and a half to spare over their nearest rivals after 3 days and 20 stages on what is now classed as Irelands biggest rallying event. Setting some fastest stage times along the way, the Combi-lift backed S14 was never outside the top 5 and with consistent stage times quickly moved up the leader board where they found themselves embroiled in a three horse race with Gary Jennings and Darren Gass who had Monaghans Enda Sherry on the notes. Unfortunately for the Armagh/Monaghan based team of Gass and Sherry it was to be unlucky 13 as their event ended on stage 13 with a visit to the Donegal scenery. Sam and James moved into the lead on Sunday morning when Jennings was allotted a three minute road penalty but with six Donegal stages to traverse on Sunday the pressure was on. Thankfully for the Billy Coleman award winner they held their nerve and made it back to the Mount Errigal Hotel in Letterkenny for a historic win for the young Monaghan team.  Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan had a consistent drive to claim 2nd overall whilst Gary Jennings and Neil Doherty picked themselves up after their 3 minute penalty with some great pace through the Sunday stages and climbed back up to 3rd overall, gaining valuable points for their championship campaign.

            The group N production class could be considered a two horse race for most of the weekend as the Newbliss brother and sister team of Stephen and Suzanne Wright were embroiled in a battle with Donegal natives Martin Doherty and Damien McCauley  for most of the Saturday and Sunday stages with no more than 15 seconds separating them at any time. Josh Moffett and John Rowan had also been in contention through the early stages but retired on stage 7 which left Shane Maguire and Martin McGarrity 3rd in group N, a position they never relinquished to the finish for a great result and 10th overall. Back at the front the race was very much alive as Doherty/McCauley traded stage times with the Wrights until stage 17 where Dohertys engine cried enough and the Span Wright EVO 9 coasted home for a memorable victory and 7th overall. Seamus Heron was 2nd in group N, also in an EVO 9.

            Donegal’s Joe McGonigle called on the navigator services of Aghabog youngster Mac Kierans for the weekend and things could not have went any better as they had a superb run in the R3 Clio to an incredible result of 8th overall and class 3 winners. Matthew McKenna teamed up with Dara Leonard once again in the fiesta but their weekend was short lived with retirement on stage 8 whilst lying 2nd in class, only 2 seconds off the lead.

            The National Rally could be considered the crowd puller to Donegal and it certainly never failed to disappoint on this occasion either. Monaghan’s Gary McPhillips and Paul Sheridan laid down the gauntlet on the opening stage, pulling out a 5 second lead over the nearest rivals and good friends Manus Kelly and Donal Barrett. Indeed this was to be the story of the weekend for these leading two wheel drive crews as they traded stage times right up until the last stage. Incredibly over the 20 stages these crews were never any more then 13 seconds apart but unfortunately Kelly/Barretts charge ended on the final stage with an off road excursion and Gary McPhillips and Paul Sheridan went on to take a memorable 1st overall victory on the national stages event.  Gary would like to thank the service crew of Francis and Martin McPhillips and Cathal Sheridan who kept the car going all weekend and also Dessie and Emmet from Keenan Rally Prep for preparing the car in the weeks leading up to the rally. He would also like to thank all his sponsors without whom it would just not have been possible to compete on the event. And finally to Deborah and Jennifer for all that they had to endure over the past two weeks whilst Gary and Paul were preparing and competing.

            Frank Kelly took the now infamous baby blue escort home to 2nd overall in the national event after a consistent run with some near misses, whilst Damian Gallagher was 3rd, also in a class 14 escort. James McCarville took up his usual role as navigator for Cavans Paddy Kiernan in the class 13 escort and they too had a memorable run through the Donegal hills to claim 3rd in class and 7th overall. Rodney Wilton and Conor McMahon finished 3rd in class 14 and 9th overall. Gerard McQuaid and Gareth Quinlan also made the finish in their class 13 escort. Unfortunately John McQuaid/Seamus O Connor failed to finish with retirement on stage 8 whilst lying in 9th overall. Cootehill man Mark Wedlock finished in 40th overall after a testing weekend on the Donegal stages. Results sheets suggest that Seamus Connolly and Gary McCrudden had a troubled weekend on the Donegal stages as they were lying 2nd in class after the opening test but slipped back down the leader board and finally into retirement on stage 16.

            In the junior rally, Maudabawn men Damien O’Reilly and Damien McCabe had a great spin through the Sunday stages to claim 3rd overall, a memorable result following some recent bad luck on their local stages. Ryan and Nicola McKenna gained valuable experience in Donegal and brought their twin cam home to 13th overall.

            So that’s a preview of a highly successful Donegal Stages Rally from a local point of view and with overall winners in both the International and National categories as well as the group N production class, this feat may never be repeated again so well done to all involved.

 

DONEGAL INTERNATIONAL RALLY RESULTS

1 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 22m 44s,

2 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 24m 14s,

3 Garry Jennings/Neil Doherty (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 24m 53s,

4 Seamus Leonard/Paul McLaughlin (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 25m 02s,

5 Daragh O’Riordan/Tony McDaid (Ford Fiesta WRC) 2h 25m 58s,

6 John O’Donnell/Aidan Friel (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 26m 21s,

7 Stephen Wright/Susanne Wright (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 29m 42s,

8 Joe McGonigle/Mac Kierans (Renault Clio R3 Maxi) 2h 34m 22s,

9 Seamus Heron/Gerry McVeigh (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 37m 05s,

10 Shane Maguire/Martin McGarrity (Subaru Impreza Gp N) 2h 37m 30s.

 

GROUP N:

1 Stephen Wright/Susanne Wright,

2 Seamus Heron/Gerry McVeigh,

3 Shane Maguire/Martin McGarrity.

 

NATIONAL RALLY:

1 Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan (Ford Escort) 2h 27m 11s,

2 Frank Kelly/Stephen Quinn (Ford Escort) 2h 29m 07s,

3 Damian Gallagher/Mac Walsh (Ford Escort) 2h 29m 34s,

4 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Ford Escort) 2h 29m 47s,

5 Daniel Conaghan/Terence Magee (Ford Escort) 2h 31m 16s,

6 Paul Reid/Karl Reid (Ford Escort) 2h 31m 21s.

 

HISTORIC RALLY:

1 Wesley Patterson/Sean Hayde (Ford Escort) 2h 03m 44s,

2 Seamus O’Connell/Sean Magee (Ford Escort) 2h 05m 02s,

3 Ian Millar/Ronan O’Neill (Ford Escort) 2h 14m 34s.

 

JUNIOR RALLY:

1 Kevin McLaughlin/Kieran McGinley (Honda Civic) 60m 50s,

2 Jonathan Orr/Martin McBrearty (Honda Civic) 60m 55s,

3 Damian O’Reilly/Damien McCabe (Ford Escort) 61m 23s.

Mc Kenna produces Star Drive performance at the Jim Clark

After a very tough weekend’s rallying in the Scottish Borders at the 2^nd round of the BRC, the Jim Clark Rally, Daniel McKenna and Co-Driver Arthur Kierans finished a very impressive 7^th O/A, won the R2 category and an extra bonus was securing the much coveted Pirelli Star Driver (PSD) nomination based on his performance on the weekend’s event.

At the wheel of his Scanbitz Ltd and Ravenol Motoroil Lubricants Ford Fiesta R2, Daniel had a mixed weekend. The event started at 7pm on Friday evening as the first stage was a short blast around the town of Duns before heading to the mammoth 16 mile Abbey St. Bathans stage.

Then a shorter 4 mile test, which were all then repeated. Daniel set the joint 2^nd fastest time on the town stage with no drama, but about 6 miles into the Abbey stage the car dropped down on power getting progressively worse as the stage went on and the crew found themselves 15 seconds off the pace with no chance to repair the unknown problem until after the 6 stages on Friday night were completed before overnight service back at Kelso Racecourse.

After some investigation a faulty fuel pump was diagnosed as the problem. Daniel and Arthur put in a massive effort on the remaining stages that were completed in the darkness of Friday night, doing their best to minimize their disadvantage and finished leg 1 of the event 2^nd in the R2 category and 18 seconds behind the leader, local man Gary Pearson despite the car being very uncompetitive.

A second hand fuel pump was fitted to the car with the hopes of the power loss problems eliminated before Daniel and Arthur could launch their attack for the lead of the R2 class. Leg 2 of the event was a scheduled 90 stage miles, but with the longest stage of the day was cancelled due to marshal problems, thus reducing the route by 27 miles which was going to make Daniel’s job even harder. However, undeterred the Monaghan crew set fastest R2 time, taking 8 seconds off the leader and reduced the gap to 10 seconds but unfortunately the power loss problem was not fully rectified but was a lot more manageable than Friday night.

For the next test Daniel found himself on the front foot and was confident of taking the lead from Pearson and the pressure applied to the leader was enough as Daniel was promoted to the lead as his leading rival had a spin and dropped 30 seconds. On the next test the battle was over as Pearson crashed out of the event and Daniel and Arthur had a 58 second lead over the next R2 car. A string of fastest R2 stage times throughout Saturday stretched  their lead to a 1min 40 secs in the R2 category and 7^th O/A by the finish.

At the finish ramp in Kelso town centre, it was announced that Daniel was the chosen nominee for the PSD competition which was the perfect way to cap of a brilliant performance on a very challenging event. Daniel and Arthur now find themselves joint leading the R2 category in the championship and lying joint 5^th O/A in the main championship ahead of the 3^rd round of their campaign, the Scottish rally in Dumfries which is back on gravel.

 

Limerick Circuit of Munster Stages Rally

 

The 2013 Circuit of Munster Rally had a nail biting finish at the Limerick Racecourse. Edward O’Callaghan was leading the event by 4.8 seconds coming in to the last stage but it was the Impreza WRC of Kevin Kelleher who was quickest on the last stage by 7 seconds to take a memorable win. Paul Purtill was 3rd overall, also in an escort.

This event was a counting round of the West Coast Rally Championship. The sole Monaghan representatives where the pairing of Shane Maguire and Martin McGarrity who where rewarded with the Group N win and a seventh overall, a valuable points haul for their championship bid.

1 Kevin Kelleher/Sean Mullally (Impreza WRC) 43m 28s

2 Ed O’Callaghan/Ger Clancy (Escort) 43m 30s

3 Paul Purtill/Diarmuid Falvey (Escort) 44m 26s

4 Ed Synan/Denis O’Connell (Escort) 44m 56s

5 Alan Callaghan/Cathal McGrath (Impreza) 45m 41s

6 Frank Sweeney/Jane Cogan (Escort) 45m 42s

7 Shane Maguire/Martin McGarrity (Impreza Gp N) 46m 13s

8 Stephen Greaney/Keith McHugh (Escort) 46m 24s

9 Sean Lyons/Dean Raftery (Impreza Gp N) 46m 25s

10 Benny Kennedy/Brendan Ryan (Escort) 46m 31s

Group N Production class:

1 Shane Maguire/Martin McGarrity

2 Sean Lyons/Dean Raftery

3 Pat Price/Stephen Price (Impreza) 47m 06s

Historics:

1 P J O’Dowd/John Young (Sunbeam) 31m 00s

2 Philip McKibbin/Padraig Brick (Escort) 32m 14s

3 David Dee/Rita Dee (Mini) 35m 17s

Juniors:

1 Damien Boyle/Joseph Boyle (Civic) 28m 02s

2 Darren Young/Sean Walsh (Civic) 28m 04s

3 Andrew Ryan/Tommy Hayes (Civic) 28m 38

Sol Rally Barbados

A big well done to club members Raymond Conlon/Darren McCague and Maurice Moffett/Jason McKenna who were competing in the Sol Rally Barbados over the past two weekends. Both crews finished the event with Conlon/McCague finishing 24th overall and 5th in class. They also lifted the highest oversea’s rear wheel drive award. Moffett/McKenna finished just two places behind in 26th o/a and 2nd in class. Its evident from the many videos and photo’s available that both these crews had an enjoyable event, along with their many travelling supporters. Hopefully full report and photo’s to follow in the coming weeks when they return.

On The Boyle in Cavan

Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle proved too hot to handle once again on last Sundays Hotel Kilmore Cavan Stages Rally. The Tir Connell men had a start to finish win on the demanding Cavan roads with tight and twisty stages proving popular yet unforgiving. Indeed it was a blistering time on the 4th stage, 22 seconds ahead of their nearest rivals which ultimately sealed the deal for the Boyles to take a 1min 14sec win. Eugene Donnelly and Paddy Toner made a return to Cavan once again, where he started his rallying career twenty nine years ago and proved that he is still as competitive as ever in the trusty Corolla to take 2nd overall. Welsh competitors James Belton and Mark Glennerster went one better than his Monaghan Stages result with 3rd overall in Cavan in his Subaru WRC.

            Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry came home with 4th overall and a class 8 win after a steady run through the tight Cavan stages which covered the North East Cavan areas of Clifferna, Mountain Lodge and Bunnoe. Roy White and James O’Brien rounded off the top 5 with a class 20 win in the super quick MG S2000. 

            Newbliss siblings Stephen and Suzanne Wright made the short trip to Cavan very worthwhile with a superb run once again to take 6th overall but even more important the Group N victory. The Killyhevlin/SpanWright backed EVO 9 was in a great battle throughout the day with Eugene Meegan and Jonathan Treanor, also in an EVO but Meegan/Treanor had to settle for 2nd following a stage 9 cancellation which saw their scratch time drop them back a few seconds. Josh Moffett and John Rowan were 3rd group N and 9th overall on this occasion. Older brother Sam with regular navigator James O’Reilly were forced into retirement on stage 4 with mechanical issues. Shane Maguire and Martin McGarrity were out in an EVO 9 once again but had another troubled run after a good start to eventually finish 4th in class 4 and 15th overall.

            The two wheel drive battle was as entertaining as always in Cavan with local men Rodney Wilton and Conor McMahon finally getting their hands on the title, finishing 7th overall and class 14 winners. Paddy Kiernan and James McCarville had a fine run in the class 13 escort to round off the top 10 and take a class 13 win. This crew also lifted the drive of the day award for fastest class 13 car on stage 4. Jonathan Pringle and Martin Byrne were 2nd in class 13, with veterans Paddy Boyle and Marty Sherlock rounding off a great return to the stages with 3rd class 13. James Cassidy and Declan Smith took a class 12 victory ahead of Arthur and Mac Kierans. The Aghabog men and double Sligo Pallets Border champions hit trouble on stage 2 with a puncture dropping them almost three and a half minutes to their rivals. Incredibly they bounced back and climbed the leader board from 84th overall to 31st at the finish, ensuring that their treble border championship hopes remain very much alive with 2 rounds remaining in Sligo and Donegal.

            The ever competitive class 11 was no different in Cavan with the ultra quick corsa of Dermot O’Hagan and Pierce Doheny taking the front wheel drive honours ahead of Eamon O’Connell and Mark Linehan in a Civic. The rear wheel drive battle in class 11 was fierce throughout the day with joint border championship leaders Seamus Connolly and Gary McCrudden in top form and lying just outside the top 20 but their engine cried enough at the end of stage 7. Only 10 seconds were separating the top three in class 11R following Connolly’s demise with two stages remaining but this battle failed to materialise with the cancellation of stage 9 as Tommy Rodgers and Phillip McEntee took the class win by a mere 3 seconds from Martin McPhillips and Ciaran Tynan in the McPhillips Engineering backed twin cam. Donegal men Paul Carron and Andrew Brown were 3rd, also in a twin cam. David Smith and Mark Deery finished 4th class 11R with valuable points gained in the border championship.

            Gary Kiernan and Niall Tierney had a fantastic run in the class 10 escort to take the win but also finished 29th overall on their local stages rally. John and Niall Kelly followed up on there class win in Monaghan with a 2nd in Cavan to keep their border class hopes alive, although it didn’t look good at one stage with a visit to the scenery, nevertheless the Tydavnet men got back on solid ground and went on to take 2nd in class.

            Class 9 always throws up some great battles but most of the top runners left their luck at home on this occasion. Lloyd Hutchinson retired his mini on stage 6 with Justin Smyth/Gregory McQuillan retired on stage 1 with mechanical difficulties. This left Cavan men Seamus and Stephen Cooke to lift the class 9 honours ahead of Gene Callan and Sean Brunton with Maudabawn men Damien O’Reilly and Damien McCabe 3rd, albeit after a few trips to the Cavan country side!

            Daniel McKenna and Stephen Hagan had their first outing on tarmac in the fiesta, ahead of this weekends upcoming Jim Clark Rally and came away with the class 6 win. Daniel was using Cavan as a shakedown and reported learning valuable entities on suspension and tyre choice. Indeed Daniel was feeling very unwell in the 24hours leading up to the event and did well to make the finish at all! Class 6 also saw the citroen trophy competitors do battle with Galway’s Stephen Greaney taking the citroen honours on this occasion with Welsh man Steve Wood  2nd and Paul Manton/Martin Connolly 3rd. Francie McKenna and Sean Craig were the sole finishers in class 1.

            The junior rally was won by Kerry’s Robert Duggan and Mike Galvin with Richard Moore 2nd and Conor Moore 3rd. Pre-event junior favourite’s Darren O’Brien and Johnny Rooney were once again troubled with gear box woes forcing their retirement, this following a long week of late nights replacing a blown engine.

            64 finishers from 106 starters in the main field is testament to the demanding nature of this event with tight and technical stages coupled with the dry tarmac proving all too much for some. John McQuaid and Peter Deery were forced into an early retirement as there gearstick became undone. Jack Maguire and Andy Hayes picked up a puncture which dropped them back to 5th in class 13. Mark Wedlock returned from Australia for his local event and teamed up with Adam Kinkade once again to finish in 25th overall. Gerard McQuaid and Gary Quinlan were one behind in 26th overall in their escort. Paddy O’Reilly and Declan Connolly were also on the retirement list in the G5 escort.

            So that’s the brief over view of a fantastic event that was the Hotel Kilmore Cavan Stages Rally 2013. Well done to CoC Stephen Kellett and his team. Monaghan Motor Club would like to thank the many marshals who turned up on the day to help with the running of stage 3, Bunnoe and to ensure the event ran as safely as possible.

 

2013 Hotel Kilmore Cavan Stages Rally Top 10

           

1 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Impreza WRC) 76m 04s,

2 Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Corolla WRC) 77m 18s,

3 James Belton/Mark Glennerster (Impreza WRC) 78m 33s,

4 Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 78m 46s,

5 Roy White/James O’Brien (MG ZR S2000) 79m 34s,

6 Stephen Wright/Suzanne Wright (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 81m 15s,

7 Rodney Wilton/Conor McMahon (Escort) 81m 16s,

8 Eugene Meegan/Jonathan Treanor (Lancer Evo 10 Gp N) 81m 36s,

9 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 82m 03s,

10 Paddy Kiernan/James McCarville (Escort) 82m 04s.

 

Historics:

1 Berian Richards/Frank Curtin (Escort) 64m 41s.

 

Juniors:

1 Robert Duggan/Mikie Galvin (Civic) 58m 14s,

2 Richard Moore/Stephen Quin (Civic) 59m 13s,

3 Conor Moore/Ella Ryan (Civic) 60m 00s.

 

 

Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly carried on their momentum from their overall victory in Monaghan as they returned to the wheel of their faithful Mitsubishi Lancer for Round 2 of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the Killarney Rally of the Lakes. They were involved in a battle with local men Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy for Group N honours, renewing their rivalry from the opening round in Galway. Ring held the advantage after the opening day, but their event would end on Stage 13. Moffett/O’Reilly inherited top spot in Group N and 4^th overall to boot. Indeed Monaghan crews cleaned up in Group N with Stephen Wright/Suzanne Wright taking 2^nd and Josh Moffett/John Rowan 3^rd in the class.

            Gary Jennings/Neil Doherty took the overall honours in their Subaru Impreza with Derek McGarritty/James McKee 2^nd and Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan 3^rd respectively. The 3^rd Round of the Tarmac Championship is the Donegal International Rally on 21^st – 23^rd June.

 

Daniel McKenna & Kierans 3^rd in class on BRC opener

2012 Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year winner Daniel McKenna got his British Rally Championship campaign off to a fine start by taking 3^rd in class and 9^th overall on the Pirelli International Rally in England two weeks ago. The event was spread over two days with a total of 10 stages including some classics in the notorious Kielder forest complex. Daniel & co-driver Arthur Kierans made a steady start to the event and slotted into 3^rd in class after the opening Pundershaw stage. However a puncture on the second test demoted them to 7^th in class. Despite suffering another puncture on stage five, the pair would go on to complete the day in 5^th place and 15^th overall in their Fiesta R2. Determined to overcome their disappointments from day 1, the Monaghan pair reeled off four straight fastest class times and recovered to 9^th overall & 3^rd in class by the finish. All in all it was a solid start to their BRC campaign and secures some useful championship points. Class honours went to Steve Rockland who also scooped the coveted Pirelli Star Driver award which qualifies the winner for an end of year shoot-out with the prize of a free drive in a Citroen DS3 on offer for the shoot-out winner. McKenna & Kierans will continue their assault on the series on Round 2, the Jim Clark Memorial Rally which takes place from 31^st May to 2^nd June.

            Brendan Cumiskey/Conor Foley were also competing on the Pirelli event in their Citroen. They held an impressive 8^th overall after the opening day’s action but unfortunately their event came to an end early on day 2.

 

Cavan Stages Rally

The 3^rd Round of the  Dunlop National & Sligo Pallets  Border Rally Championships takes place in Cavan on Sunday 26^th May. Monaghan Motor Club is once again tasked with organising the running of one of the stages. As such, there is a great demand for marshals for this event and anyone willing to give a hand is asked to contact the Club Secretary Cora Maguire as soon as possible.

 

Carlow Stages Rally

Full report next week

 

Perhaps this headline is not one normally associated with motor sport but never before has it been more relevant. On Sunday last, Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly took an outstanding win on the 2013 Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally. Sam and James drove a faultless event to take the win by a minute from Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry with Daragh O’Riordan and Tony McDaid in 3rd in a WRC focus. English crew James Belton and Mark Glennerster were 4th overall in an S11 subaru with Roy White and James O’Brien 5th in the MG 2R Rover.

            This win for Moffett/O’Reilly only scratches the surface of what was to be an eventful weekend for the Monaghan duo. On Friday evening while testing his EVO9, the engine malfunctioned and was sure to put an end to the Monaghan duo’s hopes of a run on their home event. Not to be phased, Sam lifted the phone and hired the Mc Kinstry Motor sport S14 Subaru. Sounds simple but given the fact that Sam had never driven a WRC spec car before and with added difficulties of left hand drive, paddle shift etc. the ex-Billy Coleman award winner quickly adapted to his new mount through the opening loop of three stages. Sam and James took over the rally lead on stage 5 following the demise of the Boyle cousins from Donegal, and never looked back to go one place better than last year and lift the 2013 Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally Trophy in the Combilift backed S14 Subaru. Niall Maguire and Enda Sherry had a measured drive on their home event and a good result of 2nd overall promotes them to joint leaders of the Dunlop National Championship along with the Boyle cousins.

            The group N production class in which Sam and James would normally be front runners was a close affair all day with Sam’s younger brother Josh in a close battle with Donegal men Martin Doherty and James McCauley throughout the day. Unfortunately Josh with John Rowan on the notes had to settle for 2nd on this occasion to the Donegal men but still a superb drive and 7th overall to boot. Some would say Martin and Declan Tynan were unlikely candidates for 3rd in the group N production class but considering this was Martins first real finish in his EVO8 after some engine problems the Clones pairing dealt with the conditions well and set some good times to take 3rd group N.  

            To say that the 2013 Monaghan Stages Rally was a finishers event would be a grave understatement with 80 finishers from 141 starters. Indeed it seemed to be the more high profile competitors that succumbed to the tricky weather conditions. Tyre choice was a lottery with the opening three stages dry when it seemed they would be wet and then the middle three stages witnessed same torrential rain with most crews on dry or intermediate tyres. In the WRC class, Darren Gass and Donagh Kelly both failed to finish whilst in the group N category, Steven Wright and Shane Maguire both retired their EVO 9’s with engine and gearbox issues as did Eugene Meegan and Jonathan Treanor with transfer box woes. 

            Class 14 which is the top end two wheel drive modified class is what brings most spectators to the Monaghan ditches but not one finisher from ten starters gives a good indication as to the difficulties faced through the North Monaghan Stages. Last years winner, Daniel McKenna was seeded at 1 but retired at the last junction of the second stage having gained suspension damage on a  mucky section leading up to the junction. Gary McPhillips and Mark Tierney rapidly moved up the leaderboard throughout the day and were 5th overall before their retirement with alternator failure. Frank Kelly retired his escort on the final stage when he got stuck in a field. The darrien of James Stafford also failed to finish as did Rodney Wilton, Jim McKenna, Mick Curran, Raymond Drury to name but a few in class 14.

            Class 13 was a much closer affair with the Starlet of Richard Moffett and Martin Connolly out of the blocks the quickest and incredibly up to 8th overall and first two wheel drive after the opening loop of three. Richard enjoyed a great battle with the similar starlet of Declan Gallagher from Donegal but disaster was to strike on the fourth stage as torrential rain and a failed window screen heater saw Richard screen mist up and had to drive most of the stage at road car pace and hence dropped 40 odd seconds to Gallagher and ultimately missed out on the class win by 8 seconds. Cavan’s Jonathan Pringle was 3rd class 13 Russell Woods 4th. Raymond Conlon had new suspensions fitted and confessed to them not being set to his liking over the opening stages but played about with them in service and set some good times towards the end of the event in the Fitzpatrick Oils, Clones Shavings and Gribben Plumbing backed class 13 twin cam to finish 16th overall.

            Aghabog’s Arthur and Mac Kierans took yet another class 12 win in the pinto escort but admitted to being under some pressure throughout the day from Enda Haran who retired on the final loop with suspension damage. Brian Armstrong was 2nd class 11 with James Cassidy 3rd. Arthur and Mac also won “the drive of the day award” This win leaves Arthur and Mac joint leaders of the Sligo Pallets Border Championship with Seamus Connolly and Gary McCruddan who were class 11 winners in Monaghan to coincide with their Mayo class win. Martin McPhillips teamed up with brother-in-law Paul Sheridan for the day and enjoyed their run through the mucky Monaghan stages to take a well deserved 2nd in class 11 in the overhauled twin cam, this being Martins first event since last years stages so a good result for the McPhillips Engineering backed team.

            Recent Rally launch organiser John Kelly with brother Niall on the notes had a great run in the white twin cam to claim top honours in class 10. The Monaghan pairing had a comfortable win over Martin Ewing in a 205 with Gary Kiernan in 3rd after a troubled day. John and Niall would like to thank McAree Eng, Mallons Sausages and Jonny Coyle Plant Hire for their support and also to their top service man Malachy.

            Class 9 saw the ultra quick mini of Lloyd Hutchinson take the class spoils. Lloyd admitted that he would be used to have little or no competition in this class but Monaghan was an exception. Justin Smyth and Gregory McQuillan were on his tail throughout the day and ready to take over the reigns should the mini slip up. Unfortunately for the Lisnalong duo the mini screamed its way to the finish and they had to settle for second and 30th overall.

            The top three overall places came from class 8 so that left England’s James Belton taking the class win and 4th overall. Paddy McVeigh was 2nd with the Boyle cousins 3rd after a troubled day which saw them stuck for up to 5 minutes. Tommy Doyle and Liam Moynihan were winners of class 7 in the Clio R3 with veterans Rodger Kennedy and Wendy Blackledge 2nd.

            Class 6 saw the Citroen Ireland trophy competitors added following the demise of the Easter stages due to snow. Armagh’s Sean Agnew with Peter Deery on the notes took a great class 6 win in a C2 and 41st overall. Worth noting here that Peter brother Mark who was navigating for David Smith in a twin cam was 42nd overall and just 0.5 of a second behind at the finish so great sibling rivalry between the Stonebridge men.

            Class 2 was won by Mark Boyle and Sean Gallagher in a civic ahead of Eamon Russell and upcoming Cavan CoC Stephen Kellett also in civics. Francie McKenna and Sean Craig were the only finishers in class 1 in their newly built Rover, having overcome boiling issues earlier in the day.

            Michael Tynan and Derek Mackarel teamed up for their local event and emerged as class 15 winners in the EVO 5. They had to overcome a puncture on the 3rd stage which dropped them almost 6 minutes and Michael reported a few brushes with the scenery but enjoyed their day, this being Derek’s first stages event. Class 20 saw the MG 2R rover of Roy White take class honours ahead of Johnny Leonard and Niall Burns in 2nd with David Leonard and Darragh Mullen 3rd.

            The junior class 16 category was won by Kevin Eves and Adrian Reynolds in a twin cam, ahead of  Richard Moore and Sean Brunton in a civic with Barry and Sean Brady in 3rd. The historic class was won by Stanley Orr in an escort ahead of Berian Richards and Paddy Brennan in 3rd, both in escorts. Unfortunately with every event there has to be somebody last and this years title goes to ex-CoC Conor Maguire and Peter Farrell. To be fair this result does not paint a true picture of the lads day in the immaculate Mark 1 escort as they were stopped on stage 4 a dropped a massive 24 minutes to their rivals. Its evident from the many photo’s and videos available that these lads were trying hard and enjoyed their day, the Mark 1 now bearing the haul marks of their determination.  

            Other hard luck stories throughout the day through the stages which covered the Emyvale, Glaslough and castleshane areas included Kieran “Bilko” McCarra/Mark Hamill retire with a burst radiator, Chris Armstrong off on ss1, Barry Ryan/Emmett Sherry with suspension damage, Paddy Kiernan/James McCarvill off on ss3, Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes with engine blown to name but a few.

            So thats the jist of the 2013 Hillgrove Hotel Monaghan Stages Rally. Apologies for not being able to include all competitors in the report and well done to CoC Paul Hughes, his assistants and the stages commanders and all there many helpers who organised and set up the stages. Thanks to the many residents for their co-operation in running this event. To the hundreds of marshal’s who turned up to ensure the safe running of the event. To the Main sponsors, Hillgrove Hotel for their continued support and also to McAree Engineering for donating the start/finish ramp arch which looked very well and will suffice for many a year to come. To everyone else who helped out in any way, big or small for you time and effort. Fair to say the Monaghan Stages Rally is going from strength to strength, year on year which is down to the hard work and dedication of its organisers, this is evident by the large entries of top class competitors and something the county of Monaghan should be proud to host.

 

Sympathy

Monaghan Motor Club wish to extend their deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the late Patsy Tracey, Emyvale. Patsy was an avid motor sport fan and rarely missed marshalling duties on Monaghan and Cavan Stages. Indeed Patsy was to marshal on this years Monaghan Stages Rally but unfortunately passed away on Sunday morning after a brave battle with illness. 

 

Upcoming Events

National Navigation prize giving Saturday 27th April in Portlaoise. Kilmore Hotel Cavan Stages Rally Sunday  26th May.