| Donnelly extends his Irish Tarmac Rally Championship lead. |
15-Apr-09
Current Irish Tarmac Rally Championship leader Eugene Donnelly extends his lead following an emphatic victory on last weekend’s Larsen Circuit of Ireland, the second round of the Irish tarmac Rally Championship. |
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Driving a Skoda Fabia WRC Donnelly finished the Easter classic forty eight seconds ahead of current Tarmac champion Eamon Boland (Subaru WRC). Third place was claimed by Gareth Mc Hale (Ford Focus WRC) who was 15 seconds adrift of Boland. Alan Carmichael won the showroom category for Group N cars in a Mitsubishi Lancer, ahead of the similar car of Rory Byrne.
The 14 stage rally was held on the traditional Easter weekend. Based in Dundalk, with eight demanding stages on Saturday in south Down, including the daunting Hamilton’s Folly and six more stages on Sunday in the south Armagh area. While the stages were dry, there were slippery patches on the early Sunday tests.
Donnelly was fastest out of the box with the best time on the first stage on Saturday. Derek Mc Garrity and Peader Hurson lead the rally by small margins after stages two and three, but Donnelly got the Fabia really flying on Stage four to reclaim the lead, and he stayed in command to the finish. It is Donnelly’s second Circuit victory and he extends his Tarmac Championship lead to ten points. While the venerable Fabia handles very well it is known to be at a power disadvantage against the Fords and Subarus, but Donnelly is a four times Tarmac champion and is generally regarded as the most talented driver of his generation.
Eamon Boland won his first Circuit of Ireland last year and he crowned a great year by claiming his first ever Ta rmac Championship. Having retired his Impreza with engine problems while leading this years Tarmac opener in Galway, the Wexford man will be glad he opened his account this weekend with a tally of 12 points.
For Gareth McHale, it is another case of what might have been. Like the first round in Galway he was slowed by niggly problems with the Focus on day one, very quick on day two, he was fastest on five of the six stages.
Tim Mc Nulty was quick on six stages, with a stage win, three seconds and two thirds but he dropped sufficient time on the other tests to be one minute off the podium places. The top five was completed by Darren Gass who suffered an overheating problem on stage four and he opted for a steady pace and seven Tarmac championship points.
The principal retirements were Peader Hurson and Derek Mc Garrity. Hurson led the rally after the third stage and was in a close second for most of the first day, but an oil leak in the Impreza WRC forced his retirement at final service on Saturday. Der ek Mc Garrity was another early leader, and he had his Impreza WRC in the top three, but a puncture and a spin forced his retirement on stage eight.
In Group N, Tarmac Championship debutante Alan Carmicheal gets off to a great start, with first non WRC finisher bonus points added to his 6th overall tally and he currently shares the Group N lead with Sean Flanagan. Flanagan’s hired Impreza retired with broken transmission on stage six, while leading Group N. In Class 6A, current leader Daragh O'Riordans change of car from Opel Corsa to his recently acquired Renault Clio proved troublefree and he finished a fine 8th overall and first two wheel drive car home.
The Modified section saw Wesley Patterson extends his Modified challenge lead taking maximum Championship points from a fine second overall in the National B rally.
In the Historics class, Championship leader from the first round in Galway, Philip Kerlin extends his advantage. The Post Historics was a family affair with father and daughter team Derek and Roisin Boyd pulling out a 2 point Championship lead from fellow Porsche driver Keith McIvor. |
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