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Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins recorded their third win from three starts in this seasons Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championship in Dromard, Co. Longford last Saturday night. On what was deemed a truly enjoyable event in wet and windy conditions, Mackarel and Higgins pulled out all the stops to take a 3penalty win from Michael and Ciaran Tynan in 2nd overall on 7 penalties. Local semi-experts, Pickier Duffy and Nigel McCloughery were 3rd overall.

With only 4 experts starting the event their was enough crystal to go around but it wasn’t to be as championship chasers Colin Duffy/Sam Johnson and Daniel McKenna/Stephen Hagan both failed to finish the event. This left Michael and Ciaran Tynan taking the expert class. Pakie and Colin Duffy took a 7penalty win in the semi expert class ahead of Ashley Mc Adoo and Francis Keenan. Ciaran Coyle and Arthur Kierans teamed up at the last minute with Arthurs navigation skills coming along nicely to take 3rd semi-expert. Novice award winners were once again Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin with locals Michael Reilly and Shane Dalton 2nd. Dermot and Laurence Keenan rounded off the top 3 in novice class. It was a Donegal/Cork partnership which won the beginners class as Aidan Friel piloted Eoghan McCarthy to a class win and 5th overall to boot. Roscommon men Gerry Kelly and Seamus McTigue were 2nd with Keith McConnon and Michael McCluskey 3rd. Only two rounds remaining in this years Squealing Pig Border Championship with Cavan MC on 2nd March and Monaghan MC on 9th March

 

Midland MC Navigation Trial Top 12

1 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 4 marks

2 Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 7m

3 Packie Duffy/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Impreza) 10m

4 Ashley McAdoo/Francis Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 17m

5 Aidan Friel/Eoghan McCarthy (Subaru Impreza) 26m

6 Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 35m

7 Shane Dalton/Micheal Reilly (Subaru Impreza) 40m

8 Dermot Keenan/Laurence Keenan (Honda Accord) 61m

9 Gerry Kelly/Seamus McTigue (Subaru Impreza) 70m

10 Ciaran Coyle/Arthur Kierans (Subaru Impreza) 78m

11 Keith McConnon/Micheal McCluskey (Subaru Impreza) 85m

12 Ryan Connolly/Martin Swinburne (Subaru Impreza) 104m

 

Locals Fair Well on Forestry Opener

Sunday last saw Limerick Motor Club host the opening round of the 2013 Valvoline Forestry Championship. This short 4 stage event proved popular with scrutiny on the morning of the event as a field of 85 entries crossed the start ramp. Michael O Brien and Greg Shinnors held the lead through the opening 3 stages but were pushed out to 2nd o/a by a mere second on the final test by Philip Morrow and Jonny Hart in an EVO 9. Corks Owen Murphy and James O’Brien were 3rd o/a, also in an EVO 9. Vincent and JP McAree made a return to the stick’s for another year and quickly got into their stride with a top 3 stage time on the opener and finishing in 4th o/a, just 13 seconds off the rally winner and taking a class win.

Josh Moffatt and Jason McKenna were once again on the pace with very little experience on the gravel to take 7th overall. Paul Sheridan was navigating for Enda Mc Nulty in an impreza and finished in 8th overall. There was a great battle for two-wheel-drive honours throughout the day with Shane McGirr and Jackie Elliott just edging out Seamus O’Connell by 3 seconds to finish 12th and 13th respectively. Monaghans Michael Conlon with Sorcha Kelly on the notes were 3rd escort and 15th overall. Michael Carbin had his newly acquired EVO 4 on the loose surface for the first time and wasn’t long getting into the swing of things as he and navigator Stephen Thornton finished in 14th overall and 3rd in class. David Smith and Austin Hamill were also in Limerick and slid their EVO 4 home to 24th overall and 6th in the highly competitive class 20.

 

West Limerick Forest Rally Top 10

1 Philip Morrow/Jonny Hart (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 22m 07s

2 Michael O’Brien/Greg Shinnors (Focus WRC) 22m 08s

3 Owen Murphy/James O’Brien (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 22m 12s

4 Vincent McAree/J P McAree (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 22m 20s

5 Martin Cairns/Barry McNulty (Impreza WRC) 22m 25s

6 Pat O’Connell/Mark Wiley (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 22m 37s

7 Josh Moffett/Jason McKenna (Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 22m 38s

8 Enda McNulty/Paul Sheridan (Impreza) 22m 58s

9 John Reid/Enda Shiels (Corolla WRC) 23m 09s

10 Liam Regan/Damien Duffin (Peugeot 206) 23m 10s

 

Daniel Mc Kenna Announces Plans for the 2013 Season

The 2012 Irish young rally driver of the year and recipient of the Billy Coleman

Award prize fund of €50,000, supported by Motorsport Ireland and the Irish Sports Council, will be competing in the 2013 British Rally Championship (BRC). Daniel and co-driver Arthur Kierans will commence their assault on the 7 round championship using a Ford Fiesta R2, with the goal of securing a good haul of championship points and trying to lay claim to a nomination for the coveted Pirelli Star Driver Shootout Competition (PSD). They will continue with this plan until such time as they secure the nomination for the PSD and from that point forward they will then upgrade to an R3 Class car in order to make an assault at the championship overall.

Daniel has recently completed an extensive gravel test in the Fiesta R2 and has adapted to the car quite quickly getting onto a good consistent pace with the new package and is feeling very confident on the approach to the championships first round in North Wales in April. Daniel plans on competing in an Irish gravel rally in the coming weeks to improve his pace in preparation for the championship and is also planning a full days testing in the rented Fiesta R2 he will be using in North Wales prior to the event.

Daniel has a few different options for the R3 class car he will compete in for the remainder of the championship, which will be announced in due course. Also he would like to say that tickets for the fundraiser to help support the crew in their BRC championship endeavors are still available and anyone interested in being Daniel’s Co-Driver for the day in his Trusty Escort Mk2 can get information on purchasing a ticket on Daniel’s website www.danielmckenna.net or on Daniel’s Facebook page.

Daniel is also seeking new sponsors for the BRC campaign and anyone that may be interested in promoting their business by getting their name on the car can contact Daniel via his website or Facebook page where all of his contact details are available.

 

Monaghan Motor Club Autotest

This Sunday see’s Monaghan Motor Club host their annual Autotest at Wrights Quarry, Swanns Cross. Once again Brendan Flynn is CoC and he and his team have laid on some challenging tests. As always their is a clubman’s section so we hope to see many members taking to the slippy concrete surface for a days competitive  fun. The test trial is also a counting round of the Hewison National championship with competitors from all over the country in attendance. Marshals are still required so please make yourselves available if at all possible. Sign-on starts at 10.30 with practice from 11am and competition starting at 11.30am.

Galway Motor Club kick started the 2013 Irish Rally calendar in earnest last weekend with their International Rally. Customary wet and mucky condition’s greeted the 100 strong field at the start of this 8 stage event. Reigning Tarmac champions Darren Gass and Enda Sherry were number 1 seeds but their day was short lived, getting stuck after a visit the scenery and unable to get back in the running. Eugene Donnelly emerged as the early leader in the Mini while three time British Tarmac champion Keith Cronin used the early stages to get acquainted with the all new WRC right hand drive Subaru. Once the Cork man found his rhythm he was unstoppable and posted 3 fastest stage times through the final five stages to record a memorable win. Eugene Donnelly and Mark Kane had a consistent run through the Galway lanes to record another 2nd overall in Galway. Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle had a great result in their WRC Impreza to take 3rd overall by 7seconds from Derrek McGarrity in 4th with Donagh Kelly 5th.

WRC cars held the top seven overall positions followed by a quintuplet of group N production cars. Kerry man Alan Ring had a start to finish win in the group N class but was pushed all the way by the hard charging Sam Moffett who had closed the deficit to only 2seconds for the final three stages. Unfortunately for Sam and James O’Reilly they encountered a misfire on the final test which dropped them back to 3rd group N, less than a second behind brother and rivals Josh Moffett and John Rowan. All in all a good day for the Combilift team. Indeed there were four Monaghan crews in the top 5 group N as Stephen Wright and Gregory McQuillan had a consistent run all day and a great class battle to eventually settle for 4th, 23seconds ahead of Shane Maguire and Damian Connolly in their Subaru.

The National and Junior Rally’s threw up some fierce battles throughout the day but drive of the day must go to Paddy Kiernan and James McCarville who fought their way up the leader board throughout the event to eventually take a 19second overall winning margin amongst much more powerful machinery in their class 13 escort. Monaghans Jim McKenna and Thomas Treanor also had a great day in Galway, up the 2nd overall in the National through the early stages and eventually settled for 5th overall and a class 14 win. Threemilehouse man Stephen Hagan got a late call up to sit with Cavan’s Rodney Wilton but they disappeared off the time sheets after stage 5 whilst lying in 7th overall and 2nd class 14. Seamus Connolly and Gary McCrudden were setting top three times in class 11 but an altercation with a Galway stone wall ended their campaign.

Cavan lad Darren O Brien with Gary Kiernan on the notes got off to a flyer in the Junior Rally and incredibley recorded a 13th fastest stage time overall on the opening test, in a class 11 civic! To put that in context only two group N cars were quicker and was 2nd fastest twd time overall behind Tom Flaherty in a class 14 escort. Unfortunately for this young Cavan crew there day was to end on ss4 with gear selector trouble whilst holding a 41 second lead in the junior event.

 

Galway International Rally Top 10

1 Keith Cronin/Marshall Clarke (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 05m 51s

2 Eugene Donnelly/Mark Kane (Mini WRC) 1h 06m 04s

3 Declan Boyle/Brian Boyle (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 06m 50s

4 Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 06m 57s

5 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 08m 01s

6 Garry Jennings/Neil Doherty (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 10m 24s

7 John Joe Fleming/Robbie Ward (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 10m 46s

8 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 1h 10m 59s

9 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N), 1h 11m 20s

10 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 1h 11m 21s

 

Group N Production class:

1 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy

2 Josh Moffett/John Rowan

3 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly

 

NATIONAL EVENT:

1 Paddy Kiernan/James McCarville (Ford Escort) 1h 12m 33s

2 Tom Flaherty/Patrick Curley (Ford Escort) 1h 12m 53s

3 Stephen Hernon/Jeff Case (Subaru Impreza Gp N) 1h 13m 12s

 

JUNIOR RALLY:

1 Richard Moore/Paul Twomey (Honda Civic) 59m 43s

2 Kenneth Quirke/Seamus Skinner (Honda Civic) 1h 02m 44s

3 Justin Ryan/Gary Collins (Honda Civic) 1h 03m 13s

 

Cork 1000 Isles Navigation Trial

Skibbereen and District Car Club played host to the 6th round of the National Night Navigation Championship on Saturday night last. A difficult night was had by the travelling local crews as Midlands men Sam Johnston and Colin Duffy took a slender 1 minute win from locals David Beamish and Daire Hayes with Ger O’Connell and Denis O Donovan 3rd overall.

The plot and bash sections seemed to cause most concern for navigators with all crews forced to miss some time points. Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins came home in 5th overall to record a good points haul towards their National hopes with two local rounds remaining. Richard Cassidy and Paul Phelan finished in 7th overall despite a broken drive for the final five time points and had it not been for the exploits of Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin they would of had a no score in Cork. The latter novice crew of Tynan/Clerkin finished in 10th having missed some time points through the plot and bash sections and took 2nd in class.

All roads lead to the Longford village of Dromard this Saturday night as the Squealing Pig Border championship resumes with three rounds over the next five weekends. Full report next week

 

Cork 1000 Isles Navigation Top 12

1 Colin Duffy/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 65 marks,

2 David Beamish/Daire Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 66m,

3 Ger O’Connell/Denis O’Donovan (Subaru Impreza) 82m,

4 Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill (Ford Mondeo) 83m,

5 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 84m,

6 Brian O’Mahony/David Swanton (Vauxhall Vectra) 88m,

7 Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 90m,

8 Trevor O’Callaghan/Iarla McCarthy (Vauxhall Vectra) 94m,

9 Joe Shinnors Jnr/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 94m,

10 Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 125m,

11 Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan (VW Golf) 142m,

12 Pakie Duffy/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Impreza) 149m.

 

The novice pairing of Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin recorded their first navigation win with a clean sheet on last Saturday night’s Eamon Harvey memorial navigation trial based in Glenswilly, Donegal. Indeed this is Fintan’s second win of the year, having taken the overall win with local driver Paul Reid on the November Donegal navigation trial to record two wins from two in the Tir Chonaill county this season.

            There were 35 starters departed the Glenswilly GAA club, home of the now famous Donegal All-Ireland winning manager Jimmy McGuinness. Thirty time points and three via’s defined the route which beared West from HQ to the town of Glenties almost 30 miles away. A wet and windy night during the early time points made life all the more difficult as the event took in some typical bumpy and narrow Donegal roads and forest lanes. Most crews were managing to stay on top of their times and by petrol halt in Glenties there were clean sheets aplenty. The second half headed back in the direction of Letterkenny, circling AghlaMountain and on towards the Glendowan  Mountain range.

            With arrival back at final control it became clear that eight clean sheets were still intact, with the novice pairing of Tynan/Clerkin emerging as winners on the novice beats semi-expert ruling. Local semi experts James Greenan and Darren Harvey were awarded 2nd overall in their nissan almera with a three way tie for 3rd overall as per results below.

            Other locals to make the trip North to Donegal included navigator Stephen Thornton who coaxed local Donegal veteran Joe Friel out of retirement and they too recorded a clean sheet to share the spoils of 6th overall and 1st experts. On most night’s a one minute deficit would win many an event but not this time as Michael and Ciaran Tynan dropped a minute on the SRS section,  dropping them way back to 9th overall! Mac Kierans teamed up with Paul Reid for this event and dropped 4 minutes on the first SRS section to finish in 10th overall. Arthur Kierans took to the navigators seat for this event, partnering Donegal’s Bobby Sharkey in his all new impreza. Arthur reporting that he enjoyed the event but was glad he took his glasses! There biggest downfall was missing time point 10 although they reckon they passed it but didn’t stop. Damian Connolly partnered Gary McElhinney once again but disaster struck on the speed regularity section as Damian’s stop watch gave up the ghost leaving them with no option but to second guess and dropped a massive 12 minutes. Sean McKenna and Gary Farrelly were also in Donegal but were troubled with mechanical woes. Eoghan Corr and Brendan Treanor picked up valuable novice class points towards their border campaign. Conor Meehan/Brendan Keenan along with Cathal Harry/Peter Deery both made the trip to contest the novice class picking up class points also. Father and son team of Peter and Shane Farrell left their luck at home with a non-finish in Donegal.

            So at the half way stage of the 2012/13 Squealing Pig Border navigation championship things are still very much to play for. A lot of the top crews didn’t make it to Donegal for one reason or another thus leaving the championship wide open with Midlands, Cavan and Monaghan to host events over the next five weekends.

 

DONEGAL MC EAMON HARVEY NAVIGATION TRIAL TOP 10

1 Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 0 marks

2 James Greenan/Darren Harvey (Nissan Almera) 0m

3 (tie) Ciaran Coyle/Kevin Gallagher (Subaru Impreza), Shane Dalton/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Impreza), Karl Reid/Ciaran Geaney (Subaru Impreza) 0m

6 (tie) Charlie McMonagle/Aidan Friel (Subaru Impreza), Conor Harvey/Kevin McDaid (Subaru Impreza), Joe Friel/Stephen Thornton (Subaru Impreza) 0m

9 Mickey Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 1m

10 Paul Reid/Macartan Kierans (Subaru Impreza) 4m

 

Class winners:

Semi-experts: James Greenan/Darren Harvey

Novices: Paul Reid/Macartan Kierans

Beginners: Noel O’Donnell/Ronan Murrin 38m.

 

Upcoming Events

Best of luck to all local crews heading to the Galway International Rally this weekend and also the Cork 1000 Isles navigation trial. Full Reports next week.

Saturday night last saw Monaghan crews take top three positions on the Cork 1000 Shakes Navigation Trial. Fresh from two wins on the previous two rounds, veterans Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins made the trip South after a three-year sabbatical. Their gamble paid off however with a start to finish win and consolidated their strong position in this year’s National championship. Richard Cassidy and Paul Phelan had a great run and kept Mackarel/Higgins on their toes throughout the 110mile event with 70 time points to finish in 2nd overall, only two marks off the overall win. Ashley McAdoo and Francis Keenan made their trip to Cork pay off also with an excellent 3rd overall and the semi expert class win to boot.
Frost and fog were the mitigating factors in making this gruelling event even more challenging through the Cork mountains and valleys. Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin are virtually unstoppable for a novice class win in this years championship having finished in 8th on the night but more importantly gaining maximum points with another class win. Had it not been for a tricky double visit this novice pairing could have been up to 4th overall at least.
It proved to be a difficult night for the travelling midlands crews with Colin Duffy and Sam Johnston forced into early retirement with mechanical woes following a visit to the scenery after only a few time points. This non-finish disrupts the Midlands men’s assault on this year’s championship. Gerry Kelly and Seamus McTigue finished in 11th overall and in doing so took a commanding win in the beginner’s section. Packie Duffy and Nigel McCloughery were running number 1 seeds but the Cork terrain proved difficult as they finished in 12th overall.
All roads lead to the hometown of the now famous “Jimmy’s winning matches” as Glenswilly Football Club in the heart of Donegal plays host to the 3rd round of the Squealing Pig Border Navigation Championship this Saturday night. Entries are still available. Full report next week

CORK MC Navigation Trial Top 12
1/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 22 marks
2/ Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 24m
3/ Ashley McAdoo/Francis Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 37m
4/ Ger O’Connell/Denis O’Donovan (Subaru Impreza) 39m
5/ David Beamish/Daire Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 45m
6/ Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan (VW Golf) 49m
7/ Joe Shinnors Jnr/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 49m
8/ Martin Tynan/Fintan Clerkin (Subaru Impreza) 59m
9/ Martin Dolan/Eoghan McCarthy (Subaru Impreza) 81m
10/ Michael Murphy/Pat Cashman (Subaru Impreza) 191m
11/ Gerry Kelly/Seamus McTigue (Subaru Impreza) 208m
12/ Pakie Duffy/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Impreza) 238m

AGM
Monaghan Motor Clubs annual general meeting will be held this Friday night 25th January at 8.30 sharp in the Hillgrove Hotel, Monaghan.. During the meeting the election of officers for 2013 will take place. All 2012 members are eligible to vote for the committee. It is important that all club members attend as this is your chance to contribute to the running of our club going forward.

Upcoming Events
25th Jan Monaghan Motor Club AGM, 26th Jan Donegal MC Navigation, 27th Jan Cavan Quarry, 2nd Feb Cork MC Navigation, 9th Feb Midlands MC Navigation, 17th Feb Monaghan MC Autotest, 24th Feb Birr MC Stages, 2nd Mar Cavan MC Navigation, 9th Mar Monaghan MC Navigation & 10th Mar Mayo MC Stages

Young Scotshouse man Daniel McKenna has been selected as the 2012 Billy Coleman award winner at the Champions of Motorsport ceremony in Dublin recently. Daniel scooped this prestigious award on merit of his results to date which include an overall win on the Monaghan Stages Rally 2012 and top 5 finishes in many other high profile events throughout the past few years. This is the third year that Daniel has received a nomination for this award.

There were eight nominees for the award with four of these from the Monaghan club which is a clear indicator of the talent currently within the club. Shane Maguire, Vincent McAree and Stephen Wright were all in contention with Stephen making it through to the last three. There were jubilant scenes as Daniel was announced as the overall winner with his prize including €50,000 worth of support for the 2013 season. Daniel is committed to competing in the British Rally Championship in 2013 which is a seven round championship starting in April and finishing in October. In an effort to raise further funds the DMK motorsport team have organised a draw with first prize offering the chance to navigate for Daniel on the upcoming Midlands rally in March. Tickets are available throughout Ireland with a list of tickets sellers on the DMK motorsport website.

There were also many other award winners from Monaghan at the Champions of Motorsport ceremony. Enda Sherry became the first Monaghan club member to win the Tarmac Rally Championship and along with his driver Darren Gass were recoginsied for their efforts. Arthur Kierans was presented with his Forestry Navigator champion award to round off another memorable year for the Aghabog man. Michael Carbin and Evin Hughes were also in attendance to collect their awards for the 11/12 National Night Navigation Championship.

January Navigation

Monaghan Motor Clubs January navigation has been postponed until further notice.

AGM

Monaghan Motor Clubs annual general meeting will be held on Friday night 25th January at 8.30 sharp. During the meeting the election of officers for 2013 will take place. All 2012 members are eligible to vote for the committee. Nomination forms are available on club website at http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net and must be returned to secretary before 22nd January. It is important that all club members attend as this is your chance to contribute to the running of our club going forward.

Sympathy

Monaghan Motor Club wish to extend their deepest sympathy to the family and friends of the late Jason McGovern. May he rest in peace