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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

Please be advise that Club AGM has been rescheduled to January 25th same venue same time. This was deemed to be a more preferable for many club members as original schedule meeting clashed with Cavan Motor Club event. We apologise for any inconvience and look forwrad to seeing you on the 25th. 

This Saturday night, 1st December 2012 see’s Monaghan Motor Club host their annual awards ceremony and ladies night. Following on from last years success this is sure to be a night not to missed as we honour all of our award winners throughout our eight events during 2012 as well as Gary Nesbitt navigation championship winners and our 2012 traders club champion, Andy Mackarel. Once again there will be a special emphasis on the ladies, all of whom are the unsung heroes of our sport. MC for the night is our very own club member and mister Northern Sound himself, Sean McCaffery. Dinner will be served at 8pm sharp with awards ceremony and disco following afterwards.

Club navigation points will be available on website shortly at http://www.monaghanmotorclub.net

There will be spot prizes galore and all members are asked to support with tickets readily available from all committee members. Hope to see you there!

 

Midlands Night Navigation Trial

Midlands Motor Club held the first of their two night navigation trials on Saturday night last. Drumlish, Co. Longford was the venue and in keeping with tradition it was a frosty night in the Midlands. Coc was Colin Duffy, who along with Sam Johnston and their team laid on a tight, intricate route which caused major problems for all competitors. Andy Mackarel and Liam Higgins continued on from their Drumlin win with a convincing victory, 144 penalties off their nearest rivals. Michael and Ciaran Tynan were 2nd after a disappointing result on the Drumlin with Joe & Greg Shinnors from Cork taking 3rd over-all and picking up a valuable points haul towards their National campaign.

Crews were under severe pressure as early as time point 5 with a plot and bash section through one of the many bog lanes, dropping a minimum of 3 penalties. Time points 6 and 7 were on trace plot and bash and once again the terrain left many crews floundering as it became apparent that time points would have to be skipped. By time point 7 the route had passed over some lanes three times with convoys of cars on the same lanes heading to their various time points. By tp20,  which was at the now infamous Fearglass chapel only 4 crews managed to navigate the

anticlockwise tulip to the time point without incurring wrong approach or double visit penalties. By petrol halt it was Andy and Liam already well out in front on 19penalties from the Shinnors brothers in 2nd on 41 penalties. Local men Packie Duffy and Nigel McCloughry were in 3rd overall at the petrol halt in Drumlish.

Anything the first half lacked, the second half certainly made up for it with lanes coming thick and fast once again, and proving impossible to meet the times. Only two crews within the 31 starters managed to make tp34 and 35, albeit with some considerable time lost and through the next 6 time points to the end it was a case of get whatever time points you can! A huge sigh of relief to get to the end of this demanding event which saw 11 non-finishers from 31 starters! Andy and Liam were out on their own on this event which leaves them with two wins from two in the Border Championship. Michael and Ciaran Tynan were best of the rest and had to skip an incredible 10 time points throughout the night but it paid off with 2nd overall and an expert class win. The Shinnors brothers were forced to skip 10 time points alone through the 2nd half but once again their perseverance paid off with 3rd overall and 2nd expert. 3rd expert went to Trevor Farrell and Noel Hall.

Locals Packie Duffy and Nigel McCloughry won the closely fought semi expert class ahead of Ashley McAdoo and Francis Keenan. Ciaran Coyle and Kevin Gallagher had done enough to secure 3rd, despite being off and having to skip 5 time points in a row to get back on time. On a tough night for novice and beginners there was only 3 crews to finish in the novice class as Arthur and Mac Kierans lifted the winners trophy. Martin Tynan and Fintan Clerkin, who were seeded No.1 on the road following their recent results in the National had a troubled night and skipped the entire 2nd half but made the controls and took 2nd novice. Eoghan Corr and Brendan Treanor were 3rd novice, only 2 penalties off Tynan/Clerkin. Local Roscommon men Gerry Kelly and Seamus McTigue were sure to find the going tough also but were convincing winners of the beginners class. Peter and Shane Farrell were 2nd beginners ahead of Shane Sorohan and James Canning.

So that’s it for the first half of the navigation season, indeed the second half will be much more intense with 4 rounds of the Border series within 7 weeks and 6 navigations including the national series within 8 weeks.

 

MIDLAND M C NAVIGATION TRIAL TOP 12

1/ Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 121marks

2/ Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 265m

3/ Joe Shinnors Jnr/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 295m

4/ Pakie Duffy/Nigel McCloughry (Subaru Impreza) 317m

5/ Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 320m

6/ Ashley McAdoo/Francis Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 332m

7/ Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 344m

8/ Gerry Kelly/Seamus McTigue (Subaru Impreza) 367m

9/ Ciaran Coyle/Kevin Gallagher (Subaru Impreza) 372m

10/ Arthur Kierans/Macartan Kierans (Toyota Celica) 374m

11/ Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 419m

12/ Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody (Subaru Impreza) 427m

 

Donegal Mini Stages Rally

Well done to Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly who were 4th overall on last weekends Donegal Mini Stages Rally and won the Group N class. Sam had been 2nd fastest on the opening test but the local men’s knowledge seems to have been a major factor as they were relegated to 4th throughout the remaining 5 stages. The event was won by local man Martin Doherty and Damien McCauley in and EVO9 ahead of the entertaining Declan Gallagher and Ronan Murrin in the class 13 starlet with Columba Henna and Ryan Moore 3rd o/a in their twin cam.

Other locals to make the trip include Patrick Brides navigating for Gareth McMonagle to finish 3rd in class 11 in their civic. Jonny Treanor was in the navigators seat with Simon Devlin in a class 11 twin cam and finished 36th overall.

 

DONEGAL M C CLOSED MINI STAGES TOP 5

1 Martin Doherty/Damien McCauley (Lancer Evo 9) 43m 26s,

2 Declan Gallagher/Ronan Murrin (Starlet) 43m 54s,

3 Columba Heena/Ryan Moore (Corolla) 43m 59s,

4 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Lancer Evo 9) 44m 06s,

5 Stuart Darcy/Eamonn Walsh (Lancer Evo 6) 44m 21s,