Gallagher Maintains Junior Lead in French Championship

Posted: October 14, 2003 12:14 PM

Le Rallye Touquet was a twelve stage, tarmac event, run just south of Calais. The event began on Friday night with two stages run in the dark. Shaun?s spotlights failed just 2km into the opening stage but amazingly he set a time just fifteen seconds slower than the leader. He fixed this problem on the road section and set 2nd fastest time on stage two, leaving him 5th overnight.

Saturday broke a dry, sunny day and there were six stages. From the beginning set-up problems where holding the young Donegal driver back. Shaun also suffered ECU failure on the way into the final service and pushed the car to his mechanics.

Day three consisted of four stages and hopes that the Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Award Winner would climb back up the leader board were quickly dashed when he lost 5th gear on the morning?s opening stage. However he battled on, determined to gain valuable experience and looked after the gearbox all day, dropping just two places to his rivals. It was enough to give him 8th position and keep his Junior Championship lead.

Shaun's next event is the Wales Rally GB in early November, his prize for winning the 2003 British Peugeot 206 Super Cup.

• www.shaungallagher.com

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Gallagher Moves into 2nd in French Peugeot Championship 24/09/03
Irish rally driver, Shaun Gallagher, 23, battled through a tough weekend to move into 2nd position in the French Peugeot 206 Cup and take 4th spot in the French Peugeot Gravel Championship.

The Terre des Cardabelles was a 14-stage gravel event and round 6 of the French Peugeot 206 Cup. The stages were fast and tricky with layers of loose gravel lying on top.

The event got off to a difficult start when Shaun suffered brake problems on the opening two stages. This problem has fixed during service but then suspension problems hampered his recovery and he finished the day in 12th position.

There were six stages to be contested on day two but Shaun's luck did not change. Three punctures during the day severely disrupted his progress back up the leader board. With only six tyres allowed for the event Shaun was now forced to run on repaired tyres, despite this Shaun battled through and moved into 8th position overnight.

Day three was a fresh start for the 23-year-old and he set 4th fastest time on days opening stage. This was quickly followed by fastest time on the next stage and Shaun had moved into 3rd place with two stages remaining. Bad luck struck again on the penultimate stage with another puncture leaving Shaun with no spare tyre for the final rough stage. With this in mind Shaun took the final stage cautiously but maintained position and finished the event in 3rd place.

Shaun is now lying 2nd overall in the French Peugeot 206 Cup. The next event in the championship is the Rallye Le Touquet in early October that Shaun competed in last year as part of the British Peugeot 206 Super Cup. Having won there last year he is looking for a good result again this year.

His next event is the Trackrod Rally (Yorkshire) next weekend (27th & 28th Sept.). It is the final event in the 2003 British Peugeot 206 Super Cup a championship that Shaun has already won.

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02/09/03
Gallagher's Run of Bad Luck Continues
Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Award Winner, Shaun Gallagher, competed in Round 5 of the French Peugeot Gravel Championship the Terre des Causse Rouergats this weekend.

The young Donegal driver was hampered by the tight, tricky stages early on but began recover on the third stage of the day. However his recovery was short lived when fuel pump failure on stage four caused instant retirement.

Shaun now returns home and begins preparations for the crucial Ulster Rally. A win on this event will secure Shaun the British Peugeot 206 Super Cup.

The Ulster Rally is a two-day tarmac event based in Armagh and is notorious for its gruelling schedule. The event starts on Friday at 3pm with day one finished at 10 o'clock that night. However the crews do not have much time to rest as the rally re-starts on Saturday morning at 6am running right through until 4:30pm.

• www.shaungallagher.com

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Gallagher Suffers 1st Retirement in 25 Events
20/07/03
Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Award Winner, Shaun Gallagher, suffered his first retirement in twenty-five events and fifteen months at Round 5 of the French Peugeot 206 Cup and French Peugeot Gravel Championship.

The Rally Terre des Langres was run near Dijon in France and the long gravel stages were rough with deep ruts and large rocks.

Shaun was instantly on the pace and even with a burst radiator he managed to set 2nd fastest time on the opening stage. On the next stage Shaun as just one second behind the leader and was lying 2nd overall by just eight seconds.

However, on stage three Shaun and co-driver Richard Pashley landed heavily following a 6th gear jump, the 206 bottomed out, bursting a hole in the sump, causing instant retirement.

"Obviously I am disappointed" commented Shaun "But the championship only counts five scores from the eight rounds so we're still very much in the running.

The French Championship now takes a break until late August.

www.shaungallagher.com

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29/06/03
Gallagher Moves into 2nd Position in French Peugeot 206 Cup

Irish Rally driver, Shaun Gallagher, and co-driver Richard Pashley battled through a troubled weekend in France to earn themselves valuable championship points and move himself into 2nd position in the race for the French Peugeot 206 Cup. The Donegal driver is also leading the Peugeot Junior Championship. The Rallye du Rouergue, run in South France, was a fifteen stage tarmac event, with fast, technical mountain stages. This was Shaun's first tarmac event since March and with temperatures over 30°C the Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Award Winner had a lot to adjust to.

The event did not start well for Shaun when on the opening stage he lost his brakes and was forced to drive that stage and the next without them. Stages four and five were run in the dark and Shaun began to adjust to the conditions and set two very quick times.

Day two did not get any better for the 23 year old when he bent a steering arm on the first stage of the day and there were another two stages to drive before service. Following service Shaun was happy with the handling of the car but an off on SS8 and a puncture on SS9 hampered his progress back up the leader board. The remaining two stages of the day were trouble free and Shaun finished day two 12th overall.

Following a difficult two days Shaun made a conscious decision to get the car to the finish fully aware that he needed the valuable championship points. He moved up a place into 11th on the second stage of day three and he maintained this pace to end, finishing 11th overall and earning ten important championship points.

"It was a very tough weekend," commented Shaun. "We just kept wondering what was going to go wrong next, but we battled through and the points we earned are vital in the championship race"

Shaun returns home on Monday and has just one day in Ireland before he leaves for then next round of the British Peugeot 206 Super Cup, the Jim Clark Memorial Rally.