McNULTY AND NESTOR TAKE ALL-WEATHER WIN IN KILLARNEY
Killarney Ireland, April 30th 2006.
Having captured the lead on the third of the event's seventeen special stages, Tim McNulty and Anthony Nestor have won the 2006 Ordnance Survey Ireland Rally of the Lakes in their Subaru Impreza WRC S11. They claimed their first Killarney victory in fine style, setting the pace in the sunshine of Saturday and exerting caution amidst the heavy rain on Sunday. Their eventual winning margin was 42.4 seconds over the second placed finishers, Eugene Donnelly and Paul Kiely, who retain the lead of the 2006 Pirelli Irish Tarmac Championship.
The Toyota Corolla WRC crew of Donnelly and Kiely, who have dominated the top level of Irish rallying so far this year, were off their usual pace during the early stages of the event, but later upped the ante, and battled hard with with third placed finishers, Derek McGarrity and Dermot O'Gorman (Subaru Impreza WRC S11). McGarrity's cause was not aided when he developed a stomach bug on Saturday evening, or when he picked dry weather tyres for the Caragh Lake stage on Sunday, just as the heavens opened.
The initial leaders of the event were Killarney man, Donie O'Sullivan, and his Limerick-based co-driver, Sean Mullally. They set the fastest time on the opening stage, Molls Gap, and remained ahead over the next test, Gortnagane. However, they then damaged the clutch of their McKinstry Motorsport Subaru at the start of stage three, Rockchapel, and later retired on stage four, Breenagh River, when the Impreza's engine blew.
Gareth Jones and finished fourth, 14.2 seconds down on McGarrity. The young Welshman had been as high as second on Saturday, but then lost time with a brief off-road excursion. Nevertheless, fourth place was a very impressive result from Jones and his Mallow-based co-driver, David Moynihan.
Wexford's Eamonn Boland (partnered by Cushendall's Francis Regan) was expected to mount a challenge for overall victory, but his efforts were stymied on the first two stages of the event on Saturday morning when his Ford Focus developed a gearbox problem, dropping him outside of the top twenty. With the problem sorted in service at Millstreet, he fought back up the order, and eventually grabbed fifth place on the very last stage of the rally, finishing just four tenths of a second ahead of Stephen Murphy and Michael Morrissey, who spun their S11 Subaru on that last test.
Denis Cronin and Helen O'Sullivan were the highest placed Killarney & District Motor Club crew. They had to contend with rising temperatures in the engine of their Subaru during the event, and later picked up a puncture on the road section to the Beallaghbeama stage on Sunday afternoon, but overcame the dramas to finish seventh overall, mirroring their result on this event last year.
One place behind, in eighth, were Aaron MacHale and Craig Parry. It was McHale's first event in the Ford Focus WRC03 normally driven by his father, Austin, and Aaron used the car to good effect to record his best international finish.
Seamus Leonard and John McCafferty took first place in the Group N Production category, finishing ninth overall in their Mitsubishi Evo 9. Nigel Hicklin, who was co-driven by Killarney man Diarmuid Falvey, completed the top ten.
The highest placed Kerry crew were Alan Ring and Brian Duggan in a Subaru Impreza N12, who finished twelvth overall and took second in Group N.
In the National Rally of the Lakes, the Hereford-Monaghan pairing of Phil Collins and Enda Sherry led from start to finish in their Ford Escort RS. Mark Courtney/Paul Kelly (Dublin) in their Toyota Celica ST205 finished second, 32 seconds ahead of Lisburn's Wesley Patterson and his Welsh co-driver, Llinos Jones-Edwards, in another Escort RS.
Ray Cunningham and Richard Hyland won the Historic section in a Mini, with Killarney & District Motor Club members, Todd Falvey and Dan Barry, taking the honours in the Post-Historics in a Porsche 911.
The Kanturk crew of Barry Meade and Colin Fitzgerald won the Junior Rally of the Lakes for competitors under 27 years of age.
The 2006 Ordnance Survey Rally of the Lakes was also the second round of both the 023 Tiles Southern Four Rally Championship and the West Euro Cup. The Southern Four series is now jointly led by Wesley Patterson and Killarney driver, Kevin O'Donoghue, who finished fourth in the Group N category on this event. Denis Cronin's seventh place finish promotes him to third position in the Southern Four standings.
Flintshire's Guy Woodcock (Ford Escort Maxi) finished seventeenth overall, which, combined with his result on the Zuiderzee Rally in the Netherlands last month, sees him take a clear lead in the 2006 West Euro Cup.
The International Rally of the Lakes is organised and promoted by Killarney & District Motor Club, and supported by Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Gleneagle Hotel.
Ordnance Survey Ireland Rally of the Lakes 2006
Results
1: Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Meath/Limerick) Subaru Impreza WRC S11; 2hrs 13mins 39.6secs
2: Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Maghera/Sligo) Toyota Corolla WRC; 2:14:22.0
3: Derek McGarrity/Dermot O'Gorman (Glengormley/Athlone) Subaru Impreza WRC S11; 2:15.21.7
4: Gareth Jones/David Moynihan (Wales/Mallow) Subaru Impreza WRC S10; 2:15.35.9
5: Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Wexford/Cushendall) Ford Focus WRC 05; 2:15:54.1
6: Stephen Murphy/Michael Morrissey (Carlow/Waterford) Subaru Impreza WRC S11; 2:15:54.5
7: Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Kealkill/Kilgarvan) Subaru WRC S6; 2:18:11.5
8: Aaron MacHale/Craig Parry (Dublin/England) Ford Focus WRC 03; 2:18:22.5
9: Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 (Omagh); 2:20:32.3
10: Nigel Hicklin/Diarmuid Falvey (Belfast/Killarney) Subaru Impreza WRC S6; 2:21:35.5
The Toyota Corolla WRC crew of Donnelly and Kiely, who have dominated the top level of Irish rallying so far this year, were off their usual pace during the early stages of the event, but later upped the ante, and battled hard with with third placed finishers, Derek McGarrity and Dermot O'Gorman (Subaru Impreza WRC S11). McGarrity's cause was not aided when he developed a stomach bug on Saturday evening, or when he picked dry weather tyres for the Caragh Lake stage on Sunday, just as the heavens opened.
The initial leaders of the event were Killarney man, Donie O'Sullivan, and his Limerick-based co-driver, Sean Mullally. They set the fastest time on the opening stage, Molls Gap, and remained ahead over the next test, Gortnagane. However, they then damaged the clutch of their McKinstry Motorsport Subaru at the start of stage three, Rockchapel, and later retired on stage four, Breenagh River, when the Impreza's engine blew.
Gareth Jones and finished fourth, 14.2 seconds down on McGarrity. The young Welshman had been as high as second on Saturday, but then lost time with a brief off-road excursion. Nevertheless, fourth place was a very impressive result from Jones and his Mallow-based co-driver, David Moynihan.
Wexford's Eamonn Boland (partnered by Cushendall's Francis Regan) was expected to mount a challenge for overall victory, but his efforts were stymied on the first two stages of the event on Saturday morning when his Ford Focus developed a gearbox problem, dropping him outside of the top twenty. With the problem sorted in service at Millstreet, he fought back up the order, and eventually grabbed fifth place on the very last stage of the rally, finishing just four tenths of a second ahead of Stephen Murphy and Michael Morrissey, who spun their S11 Subaru on that last test.
Denis Cronin and Helen O'Sullivan were the highest placed Killarney & District Motor Club crew. They had to contend with rising temperatures in the engine of their Subaru during the event, and later picked up a puncture on the road section to the Beallaghbeama stage on Sunday afternoon, but overcame the dramas to finish seventh overall, mirroring their result on this event last year.
One place behind, in eighth, were Aaron MacHale and Craig Parry. It was McHale's first event in the Ford Focus WRC03 normally driven by his father, Austin, and Aaron used the car to good effect to record his best international finish.
Seamus Leonard and John McCafferty took first place in the Group N Production category, finishing ninth overall in their Mitsubishi Evo 9. Nigel Hicklin, who was co-driven by Killarney man Diarmuid Falvey, completed the top ten.
The highest placed Kerry crew were Alan Ring and Brian Duggan in a Subaru Impreza N12, who finished twelvth overall and took second in Group N.
In the National Rally of the Lakes, the Hereford-Monaghan pairing of Phil Collins and Enda Sherry led from start to finish in their Ford Escort RS. Mark Courtney/Paul Kelly (Dublin) in their Toyota Celica ST205 finished second, 32 seconds ahead of Lisburn's Wesley Patterson and his Welsh co-driver, Llinos Jones-Edwards, in another Escort RS.
Ray Cunningham and Richard Hyland won the Historic section in a Mini, with Killarney & District Motor Club members, Todd Falvey and Dan Barry, taking the honours in the Post-Historics in a Porsche 911.
The Kanturk crew of Barry Meade and Colin Fitzgerald won the Junior Rally of the Lakes for competitors under 27 years of age.
The 2006 Ordnance Survey Rally of the Lakes was also the second round of both the 023 Tiles Southern Four Rally Championship and the West Euro Cup. The Southern Four series is now jointly led by Wesley Patterson and Killarney driver, Kevin O'Donoghue, who finished fourth in the Group N category on this event. Denis Cronin's seventh place finish promotes him to third position in the Southern Four standings.
Flintshire's Guy Woodcock (Ford Escort Maxi) finished seventeenth overall, which, combined with his result on the Zuiderzee Rally in the Netherlands last month, sees him take a clear lead in the 2006 West Euro Cup.
The International Rally of the Lakes is organised and promoted by Killarney & District Motor Club, and supported by Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Gleneagle Hotel.
Ordnance Survey Ireland Rally of the Lakes 2006
Results
1: Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Meath/Limerick) Subaru Impreza WRC S11; 2hrs 13mins 39.6secs
2: Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Maghera/Sligo) Toyota Corolla WRC; 2:14:22.0
3: Derek McGarrity/Dermot O'Gorman (Glengormley/Athlone) Subaru Impreza WRC S11; 2:15.21.7
4: Gareth Jones/David Moynihan (Wales/Mallow) Subaru Impreza WRC S10; 2:15.35.9
5: Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan (Wexford/Cushendall) Ford Focus WRC 05; 2:15:54.1
6: Stephen Murphy/Michael Morrissey (Carlow/Waterford) Subaru Impreza WRC S11; 2:15:54.5
7: Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Kealkill/Kilgarvan) Subaru WRC S6; 2:18:11.5
8: Aaron MacHale/Craig Parry (Dublin/England) Ford Focus WRC 03; 2:18:22.5
9: Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 (Omagh); 2:20:32.3
10: Nigel Hicklin/Diarmuid Falvey (Belfast/Killarney) Subaru Impreza WRC S6; 2:21:35.5
Posts
