Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes International Rally Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly could scarcely belief as they arrived at Killarney’s Gleneagle Hotel on Sunday evening as winners of the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes. The County Monaghan due survived Sunday’s challenging route that saw two different rally leaders crash out in the space of four stages. It marks the Ford Fiesta World Rally Car crew’s second international rally win after they claimed the spoils on last June’s Donegal Rally too. Donegal driver Declan Boyle, fresh from his victory on the Circuit of Ireland over Easter weekend led from the outset although he was complaining that his Subaru Impreza was down on power and that he was overdriving it as a result. Fellow Donegal man Donagh Kelly slotted was in second place and started day two less than ten seconds off the lead car with Moffett the best part of a minute behind. The rally got turned on its head when Boyle crashed out on stage ten, the first running of the Lough Allua test and this left Kelly will a solid lead. He elected to back-off over the remaining four stages in an effort to secure his first international win. However he backed off too much and Moffett reduced the gap to just 25 seconds with 25 kilometres left to run. Once again the rally got turned on its head when Kelly put his Ford Focus off the road and out of the rally on the penultimate test at Fuhiry Moffett said: “When Declan crashed out I could see there was a chance of the win. I don’t know if I put Donagh under pressure. That last stage was one of the slowest I ever drove but I just wanted to make sure I got to the finish.” Local driver Alan Ring and his West Cork co-driver Adrian Deasy were second overall in their first outing in a Subaru Impreza WRC. The Castleisland man spent the early stages getting used to his new mount, especially the incredible braking power of the supercar, but they did set the fastest time on the reverse run over Moll’s Gap to close the rally. Other locals in the top ten of the international rally included Athea driver Johnny O’Connor and his Abbeyfeale co-diver Keith Moriarty who ninth overall and first in class in their Citroen C2 R2. National Rally The national rally was equally dramatic with the lead changing several times over the course of the two days. Clonmel’s Roy White and his Kanturk co-driver James O’Brien were the eventual winners over Wesley Patterson and Killarney Historic Rally winner Daclan Gallagher. Young Killarney driver Rob Duggan put in the drive of the rally to take fourth overall in his little 1600cc Honda Civic. The Aghadoe youngster set some implausible times , especially on the three runs up Moll’s Gap, many of which would have seen him running in the top four in the international section and against much more powerful four-wheel drive and turbocharged machinery. Duggan, 20, and his co-driver Noel O’Sullivan were awarded the John Mullane Cup (for the best all Kerry crew) for their efforts and is the youngest driver to win this much coveted trophy in Kerry motorsport. Kilorglin’s Fergus O’Meara and Mikie Galvin were in contention for this award for much of the rally but rear axle problems in their Ford Escort Mk2 during Sunday’s loop dropped them down the order and they eventually finished fifth in the national section. Other Kerry crews to finish in the top ten of the national were Vincent O’ Shea/ Brian Hickey (Kenmare) Ken O’Neill/ Ronald O’Riordan (Milltown), Charlie / Johnny Hickey (Killarney) and Colin and Liam Moynihan (Millstreet). Tadgh O’Sullivan finished just outside the top ten in his Escort while Tralee’s Darren Young and his Eindhoven based co-driver Ray Stack recorded their first Rally of the Lakes finish – it was Stack’s tenth attempt! Cyril Wharton and Helen Duggan (Firies) won class 12 from Denis Hickey/ Eoin O’Leary (Glenflesk). Paudie O’Callaghan and Dan Murphy (Barraduff) were second in class nine , ahead of Noel O’Sullivan and Nicky Burke. FIA European Historic Rally For the second year in a row the rally was a round of the European Historic Rally championship and attracted entries from all over the continent. Millstreet driver Denis Moynihan and his Listry co-driver Ger Conway won this section after a massive three-way battle. He described the win as the biggest in his career. Mark Falvey and Diarmuid Lynch (Rathmore) were in contention for much of the rally but rolled their Ford Escort Mk1 on stage 11. UK visitors Rob Smith and Alun Cook were leading this category by just 0.6 of a second with just two stages to run but hit a wall on the penultimate test and had to settle for second. Austrian driver Karl Wegner was third with Sweden’s Mats Myrsell fourth. Isle of Man driver Declan Jackson won the IRL Historic section while County Louth’s Phillip McKibbin , guided by Tralee co-driver Padraig Brick, were fourth in this category. Juniors The junior category ran over the Sunday loop and was won by the all-Cork crew of Fergus Hurley and Eric Deane in a Ford Escort Mk2. CARTELL.IE INTERNATIONAL RALLY OF THE LAKES AT KILLARNEY (ROUND 3 OF CLONAKILTY BLACKPUDDING IRISH TARMAC CHAMPIONSHIP AND ROUND 2 OF PLASTICBAGS.IE SOUTHERN 4 RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP): 1 Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Ford Fiesta WRC) 1h 59m 28s, 2 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 02m 07s, 3 Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 07m 34s, 4 Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 11m 19s, 5 Stephen McCann/Lisa O’Dowd (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 11m 54s, NATIONAL EVENT: 1 Roy White/James O’Brien (MG ZR S2400) 2h 04m 03s, 2 Wesley Patterson/Johnny Baird (Ford Escort) 2h 04m 37s, 3 Declan Gallagher/Ryan Moore (Toyota Starlet) 2h 05m 05s, 4 Rob Duggan/Noel O’Sullivan (Honda Civic) 2h 06m 43s, 5 Fergus O’Meara/Mikie Galvin (Ford Escort) 2h 07m 45s CARTELL.IE INTERNATIONAL RALLY OF THE LAKES AT KILLARNEY (ROUND OF EUROPEAN HISTORIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP): 1 Denis Moynihan/Gerard Conway (Ford Escort) 2h 37m 32s, 2 Robert Smith/Alun Cook (Ford Escort) 2h 37m 57s, 3 Karl Wagner/Gerda Zauner (Porsche 911) 2h 40m 52s, 4 Mats Myrsell/Esko Juntilla (Porsche 911) 2h 42m 28s, 5 Ernie Graham/William Graham (Ford Escort) 2h 43m 18s, IRISH HISTORIC EVENT: 1 Declan Jackson/Barry McCarney (Ford Escort) 2h 19m 30s, 2 Guy Woodcock/Ross Weir (Ford Escort) 2h 21m 05s, 3 Philip McKibbin/Padraic Brick (Ford Escort) 2h 25m 51s, 4 John Spiers/Susanne Niedrum (Porsche 911) 2h 36m 20s. JUNIOR RALLY: 1 Fergus Hurley/Eric Deane (Ford Escort) 1h 13m 20s, 2 Cathal Quill/Iarla McCarthy (Honda Civic) 1h 13m 41s, 3 Andrew Beamish/Sean Walsh (Vauxhall Nova) 1h 14m 32s, 4 Eric Calnan/Cillian Crowley (Peugeot 106) 1h 14m 52s, 5 Cathal McCarthy/Eamonn Creedon (Honda Civic) 1h 15m 35s.
Posted on: Mon, 05 May 2014 16:10:40 +0000
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