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Donegal Harvest Stages Rally - (Sat) 8 Oct 05Posted: October 9, 2005 9:05 PM - 17544 Hits Round 6 - 2005 Border Rally Championship
Posted: October 9, 2005 9:05 PM
Results
rally.connect.ie (Angus Sealy) Rallynews (by Brian & Liz Patterson)
James Burkee Photography - www.jamesburkee.com Sperrins Photography - John O'Neill Eymard Brennan Photography PRE EVENT NEWS
Eugene Donnelly who will have the winner of the Donegal International rally raffle Carl Moore on the Notes, will use one of the "family" Toyota Corolla WRC. Last year's winner and No 1 seed Paul Harris will have Eugene O'Donnell on the notes. Harris is also expected to use a hire Subaru Impreza WRC as his regular GpA Impreza will not be ready after the accident on the Clare Rally. 06/10/05 Scrutiny Times and Programme Outlets now available on L-R Dinny Mc Ginley (TD), Jim Callaghan (DMC Vice Chairman), Pat the Cope Gallagher (Junior Minister), Eamon Mc Bride (President of Gweedore Chamber of Commerce), Jimmy Boyle (Seaview Hotel), Fr Michael Sweeney (Donegal Person of the Year), Eamon Mc Gee (COC), Lottie Reid (Rally Secretary), Natasha Nic Gharbhaigh (Miss Ireland). 03/10/05 Border Championship - Shane Feely and Adrian Fox on match points entering penultimate round The Harvest Stages, this year run out of Bunbeg is the final round once again of the Quinn Group Border Rally Championship and with two crews placed on matched points at this crucial stage, all eyes will be on Class 6 and 10 on October 8th. Crews Shane Feely / Jim Mc Grath and Adrian Fox / Phillip Tobin have secured maximum points in winning their respective 1600cc classes at all of the five rounds to date placing them head to head entering Donegal.Should round six be a repeat of the previous five both crews will hold a total of 60 points each, or indeed should both finish in similar placings in their classes, the championship regulations state that, overall placing will then be taken account of, and added for the four counting rounds on a points for positions basics, the winner be determined by the holder of the lower points. An analysis of their performance at rounds to date is a clear indicator of the consistencies of the endeavors of both sets of sportsmen not alone within their respective closely fought classes but within the overall finishing field and with a matching points total following Donegal, it would be the overalls which would decide a winner. Among the fifteen classes there still remain a number to be sorted over the Gweedore stages and a ten pointer could also contribute to the third spot on the overall table. Class one in 2005 has displayed its particular edge predominantly led by Brendan Gormonly with Aidan Gannon on the notes, but with Aidan opting to move seat on his home event, apparently repeating for Donegal which dropped his navigator lead to Derek Mc Carthy while the ever emerging Kenneth Mc Hale in the Yaris could have his sights on the driver lead in preparation for his attack on Rally Ireland. Class two is a similar situation with two crews in contention as North Sligo crew Jarlath Barry and Kieran Ryan, also out the following weekend on the crossborder stages, relatively secure going into the final round with Fiacra Moran and David Walsh on the fringes .The leading field for the driver title Class 3 consists of Monaghan rivalry led by Brendan Cumiskey, who is also in sight of a third place on the overall table, while the navigator table led by Proncais Mc Kenna saw young Colin Duffy slip a place following a non finish in Sligo.The showroom catorgory class four currently displays the lead shared by drivers Ian Barrett and Mike Curran both on 22 points ,but as Donegal is a dropped National round which the Group N mainly focus , the top of the table may experience the reemergence of Willie Fannin who holds 21 points .Even though Andrew Mullen and Elaine Doherty have two maximums and a lead of three points on the class four table ,Eamonn Mc Cafferty and Toney Walsh could still match the Sligo crews score but this would appear a total outside possibility based on results to date.Thomas O Rourke and navigator John Mc Grath position in class seven is completely secure even if they don’t make the trip from Wexford.As a dropped national round it was expected that Donegal Harvest would not impact greatly on lead currently held by National champion Ray Breen ,and based on the entry field , the only emergence possible can come from reigning Border title holders Niall and Paul but not enough to take the lead .Kells crew Thomas Carolan and David Smith have advanced a substantial lead n class 9 with the best efforts of Enniskillen’s Ronan Cox who was plagued with retirements throughout the season unable to have any impact. Raymond Conlon and James O Reilly, a joy to watch, have three class wins to date, and on another occasion would be enough to put them in contention for the overall title but are well in sight of a third place on the overall table on this occasion .The ever competitive 8 valve modified two litre class is a three way battle between former title holder Trevor Lancashire, Garry Mc Phillips and Brian Armstrong while John Rowland, Noel Hall and Mark Tierney are in the navigator shake down but it will take the penultimate round to sort the chrystal.The Cavan men dominate the 16 valve category with Gordon Rodgers and Phillip Mc Entee confident of picking up the championship’s premier award in class 13 as early leaders Paddy Boyle and Marty Sherlock dropped remaining rounds following a retirement on their home event. The entertaining rivalry within class 14 between Maurice Moffitt and Jason Mc Kenna on notes and former title holder Enda Keenan and Paul Garry will be absent in Donegal but undoubtedly Moffitt will have a battle on his hands with the renowned ‘black Escort’ in the hands of Eugene Ferry .In the 4wd non homologation class 15, Brian Corey and Hugh Mc Kenna have a comfortable margin on David Mc Nulty and Martin Mc Garrity entering the final round 28/09/05 Entry List No Driver/Co-Driver (Car) Class 1 PAUL HARRIS/JOHN MC CAFFERTY (TBA) 8 2 EUGENE DONNELLY/CARL MOORE (SKODA FABIA WRC) 8 3 PATRICK ELLIOTT/TBA (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) 8 4 HUGH M DOHERTY/MICHAEL MC BRIDE (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) 8 5 NIALL MAGUIRE/PAUL MC LAUGHLIN (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) 8 6 JAMES GILLEN/JOHN MC CAFFERTY (SUBARU IMPREZA WRX) 8 7 IVAN STEWART/TBA (TBA) 15 8 ANDREW STEWART/FABIAN MC SHANE (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 8) 4 9 MARTIN DOHERTY/TBA (SUBARU IMPREZA WRC) 8 10 WILLIE FANINN/MICK COURTNEY (SUBARU IMPREZA N9) 4 11 BRENDAN KELLY/TBA (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 8) 4 12 DAMIEN GALLAGHER/MAC WALSH (FORD ESCORT) 13 14 CAMILLUS BRADLEY/DANNY O NEILL (FORD ESCORT) 13 15 PAUL GALLAGHER/KARL REID (TOYOTA COROLLA) 13 16 ROBBIE PEOPLES/KEITH STEWART (FORD ESCORT) 13 17 MAURICE MOFFETT/JASON MC KENNA (TOYOTA STARLET) 14 18 JAMES CULLEN/REBA GRAHAM (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO 6) 4 19 EUGENE FERRY/JOHN GALLAGHER (FORD ESCORT) 14 20 FRANK WRAY/JOE MC NULTY (MITSIBUSHI LANCER EVO 6) 4 21 GORDON ROGERS/PHILIP MC ENTEE (FORD ESCORT) 13 Full Entry List, Junior Entry list and reserves on: 21/09/05 Latest News Preparations for the up and coming “Rally an Fhómhair” Seaview Hotel Donegal Harvest Stages Rally 2005, are well under way. The rally, which is organised and promoted by Donegal Motor Club Ltd, takes place on Saturday 8th October 2005, and is based in Ostan Radharc na Mara, Gweedore, main sponsors of this years event. This year the Harvest Stages Rally promises to be more exciting than ever. We are at a crucial stage in the Quinn Group Border Championship and the Oil Burner Trading Club Championship with the top drivers battling it out to secure the title. The format of the rally is three stages, repeated three times, with a centralized service area at the Gweedore Business Park. The first car away is at 10.30am and will be at the finish ramp at the Seaview Hotel at 6.15pm on Saturday evening. An entry of almost 200 cars has been received for this very popular event with drivers from all over Ireland hoping to get a start. Leading the field is the current Tarmac Champion Eugene Donnelly. By using the three stage format the club can start 150 crews, plus a new initiative to be included this year is the introduction of 20 junior crews all of whom will tackle a group of challenging special stages. The Donegal Harvest Rally Committee has spent many hours of hard work and dedication over the past number of months to ensure that the rally passes off safely and smoothly. Heading up the whole operation is our very own Gweedore native, Eamon Mc Gee, Clerk of the Course. Think Safety To ensure a successful and safe event, Donegal Motor Club will have approximately 150 marshals on duty and would like to emphasize to spectators attending the event that they must obey marshals at all times. We cannot stress the importance of this point enough, as non-compliance of the marshals requests will mean instant cancellation of the stages which will no doubt put a damper on the whole event. Spectator Information Full details of the stage locations and competitor entry list will be included in the official programme which will be on sale in newsagents and service stations on approach roads to Gweedore, and Rally HQ - the Seaview Hotel on the week before the rally. The official rally website is now online, This site will be updated daily to provide the latest information to spectators, competitors, marshals and media. Harvest Rally Press Launch The Official Launch of the 2005 Harvest Stages Rally will take place on Monday 26th September 2005 at 8pm in The Seaview Hotel, Bunbeg. Regulations and details on:
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Donegal Harvest Rally
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