Niall Maguire and co-driver, Paul McLaughlin (Subaru
WRC) won an exciting Hotel Kilmore Cavan Rally, the
third round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship.
Posted: June 1, 2004 4:49 PM
At the end of the day's nine stages, the championship
leaders were over a minute ahead of Patrick
Elliott/David Moynihan (Subaru WRC) with overseas
crew, Jim Harrison/Harvey Bell (Subaru WRC) taking
third spot.
The event was finely poised for six of the nine
stages, but a few mistakes by his rivals towards the
finish saw Maguire record a comfortable win and open a
twenty points advantage in the Dunlop series over
Cahal Arthurs, who was fourth in the event.
On a slippery opening stage, Crosserlough, it was the
Group N Subaru of Cavan native, Willie Fannin that
topped the time sheets. He was two seconds ahead of
both Patrick Elliott (Subaru WRC) and Cahal Arthurs
(Hyundai Accent WRC), who shared second place. Two
more drivers, Dunlop National Rally Championship
leader, Niall Maguire (Subaru WRC) and the Group N
Mitsubishi of Gabriel Martin shared fourth place.
British driver, Jim Harrison spun his Subaru WRC and
lost vital seconds, he was sixth with Kevin Lynch
(Subaru WRC) some eight seconds further adrift.
Maurice Gass, in yet another Subaru WRC was eighth in
the opening stage top ten that also included Kevin
Barrett (Subaru WRC) and top rear wheel drive
competitor, Mac McKenna (Peugeot).
Unfortunately, it was a short-lived rally for Daniel
Doherty, a late call from the reserve list ended
en-route to the opening stage with clutch failure.
There was little between Maguire and local hero,
Patrick Elliott on the remaining two stages of the
loop and it wasn't surprising that they shared the
lead at the first service at Ballyjamesduff. Indeed,
it was a pretty close affair with Arthurs only a
second behind. Kevin Lynch was best of the rest, he
was fourth - a mere second ahead of Harrison, who spun
on the third stage and lost considerable time before
he rejoined the action.
Maguire led briefly after the fourth stage but Elliott
took up the lead role on the next only for Maguire to
recapture top spot on the day's sixth stage. Elliott
opined that he should have extricated more from the
stage, nevertheless, he was only eight seconds off the
lead. Arthurs was third, a broken anti roll bar cost
him a few fleeting seconds.
Harrison's pace on the three stage of the second loop
was much improved, even though he was penalised 30
seconds for hitting a chicane bale, he slotted into
fourth spot from Lynch, who lost time with a spin on
the fourth stage.
In Group N, Gabriel Martin (Mitsubishi) held the
advantage over Willie Fannin, who realised that he had
accidentally switched off the electronic differential
switch, they were sixth and ninth respectively. In
between, Maurice Gass was happy with the performance
of his Subaru but remarked that he wasn't taking any
risks. Kevin Barrett (Subaru WRC) was eight overall
and Sean Gallagher, debuting the ex-Patrick Elliott
'99 specification Subaru, made his way to tenth.
Elsewhere, Mac McKenna, with an overshoot on S.S. 5,
saw the advantage in the rear wheel drive category
swing to his opponent, Pat Donegan (Escort) albeit by
a second.
On the closing loop, Maguire consolidated his lead as
his rivals hit trouble. Elliott looked to have lost
second place with a time consuming spin on the
penultimate stage. However, Arthurs stalled his
Hyundai on the start line of the final stage on no
fewer than three occasions. To add to his woes, he
collected a 30 second penalty for hitting a chicane.
That allowed Elliott net second, his first finish in
three rounds of the Dunlop series.
Jim Harrison made a late charge and it duly netted him
third spot and 16 valuable Dunlop points. He was a
mere second ahead of Arthurs, who had to be content
with fourth place.
Kevin Lynch (Subaru) was fifth and Gabriel Martin
(Mitsubishi) took a fine victory in the showroom
category. The top ten also featured Kevin Barrett
(Subaru WRC), second placed Group N driver, Willie
Fannin (Subaru) and the Escorts of Pat Donegan and
Camillus Bradley.
Gabriel Martin/Mark Kane took Group N honours
1 Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Subaru Impreza WRC) 63m 47s
2 Patrick Elliott/David Moynihan (Subaru Impreza WRC) 64m 54s
3 Jim Harrison/Harvey Bell (Subaru Impreza WRC) 65m 01s
4 Cathal Arthurs/Jakes Kelly (Hyndai Accent WRC) 65m 02s
5 Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Subaru Impreza WRC) 65m 09s
6 Gabriel Martin/Mark Kane (Mit Lancer Evo 7) Gp N 66m 42s
7 Kevin Barrett/Barry Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC) 67m 23s
8 Willie Fannin/Richard Price (Subaru Impreza N9) GpN 67m 47s
9 Pat Donegan/D Garvey (Escort 2.0) 67m 51s
10 Camillus Bradley/C O’Neill (Escort 2.0) 69m 33s
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