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Donegal Harvest Stages Rally - 11 Oct 08
Posted: October 19, 2008 6:34 PM - 26262 Hits
Round 10 - 2008 National Rally Championship
Round 6 - 2008 Border Rally Championship
Posted: October 19, 2008 6:37 PM
2WD winners: - Gary McPhillips/Mark Tierney
Posted: October 19, 2008 6:14 PM
Gp N Winners - Danny McBride/Rory McBride
ELLIOTT WINS DONEGAL HARVEST RALLY, RING REAPS GROUP N AWARD
(Report courtesy of Irish Dunlop – sponsors of the Irish National Rally Championship)
Posted: October 19, 2008 5:47 PM
Newly crowned Dunlop National Rally champions, Patrick Elliott/Paul
Goodman (Subaru) won the Ardara based Nesbitt Arms Hotel Donegal
Harvest Rally, the final round of the ten round series. In terms of
the Dunlop Championship, the major focus centred on the Pattersons
RallyNews Group N award that was won by Kerry’s, Alan Ring
(Mitsubishi) and his Cork co-driver, Adrian Deasy. They drove at a
steady pace to ensure a second Group N title in three years.
Elliott/Goodman finished the nine-stage event 59 seconds ahead of
Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru WRC), who secured third overall in
the Dunlop series.
Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (Subaru) finished third, seven seconds
further behind.
As expected, Kevin Lynch (Subaru WRC) set a strong pace on the opening
stage, Rossbeg and led Elliott by a margin of six seconds with Leonard
a further 12 seconds in arrears. Kevin Barrett, bidding to secure
third overall in the Dunlop series, occupied fourth – eight seconds
behind Leonard, who was making his first appearance in the Dunlop
series for several months. Donegal driver, Manus Kelly (Escort) led
the two-wheel drive category and also held sixth place.
Shaun Gallagher, driving his World Championship Citroen C2, was
seventh in a top ten that also featured Rodney Wilton (Escort), Group
N leader, Danny McBride and Alan Ring, who was intent on securing the
Patterson’s RallyNews Group N award.
Lynch set a superb pace through the second stage and extended his lead
to an impressive 44 seconds after just two stages. Second placed,
Elliott overshot a junction and ended up having to wait until after
Lynch had passed to get back on stage. Seamus Leonard was twelve
seconds further behind in third and recalled an incident where he was
very fortunate that his Subaru survived unscathed. Kevin Barrett
maintained fourth – the Maynooth driver was 14 seconds adrift of third
spot.
Fifth placed PJ McDermott reckoned the suspension set up of his Subaru
was unsuited to the Donegal roads. Manus Kelly maintained his lead
of the two-wheel drive category and sixth in general classification.
Shaun Gallagher in equal seventh with the Mitsubishi of Danny McBride
remarked that the tyre pressure was all askew due to a faulty pressure
gauge. Stuart Darcy (Subaru) and Frank Wray (Mitsubishi) completed
the top ten.
Alan Ring was outside that select group, but that fact didn’t worry
the Kerry driver, who was very much in championship mode as he kept
his focus on the Pattersons RallyNews award. His only rival, Sean
Flanagan (Subaru) ended the second stage with three damaged rims.
Rally leader, Lynch crashed out on the first stage of the second loop
and Elliott took up the role as he led Seamus Leonard by twelve
seconds. Several of the top drivers drove through the stage in
convoy following Lynch’s accident. Elliott and Barrett set identical
times on S.S 5 but Elliott, who endured a slight overshoot on the
fifth stage, was very much out on his own on the sixth stage.
At the final service halt Ardara, the newly crowned Dunlop champion
held a 32 second lead over Leonard, who remarked that the only places
he could match Elliott’s S12B Subaru was on the very tight and twisty
parts of the stages. Leonard and third placed, Kevin Barrett both
had moments at the end of the sixth stage.
PJ McDermott was another driver to have an overshoot, he was fourth
overall, fellow Donegal driver, Stuart Darcy was 36 seconds behind in
the race for local honour. S
Danny McBride, who had a major moment that damaged the right hand side
of his Mitsubishi, continued to lead Group N, he was sixth overall.
Following the demise of Manus Kelly, Garry McPhillips, who broke the
gear lever of his Escort on the first stage, took control of the
two-wheel drive category. The top ten also included Casimer Magill,
Frank Wray and Alan Ring. Sean Flanagan lost some nine minutes when
he rolled his Subaru three times on the fourth stage, nevertheless, he
was still in the top five of the Group N category. Shaun Gallagher
slid his Citroen off the road and out of the rally during the second
loop.
Elliott finished off with three fastest times on the final loop even
though he admitted that he slackened his pace. Leonard looked on
course to finish runner-up but the engine of his Subaru overheated on
the penultimate stage. The Tyrone man entered the final stage just a
second ahead of Kevin Barrett, but it wasn’t enough and Barrett
clinched second spot by a seven second margin. McDermott did enough
to fend off the challenge of fellow Donegal ace, Stuart Darcy to
ensure he finished fourth overall. McPhillips impressive drive
resulted in a superb sixth overall and victory in the two-wheel drive
category. Meanwhile, McBride took victory in the showroom category
while the top ten was completed by a trio of modified Ford Escorts in
the hands of Cassimer McGill, Damien Gallagher and Camillus Bradley.
Ring finished eleventh overall and second in Group N as he duly won
the Pattersons RallyNews Group N award for the second time in three
years.
Photos
Posted: October 19, 2008 5:37 PM
Results
Posted: October 19, 2008 5:23 PM
1 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC) 67m 30s,
2 Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru Impreza WRC) 68m 29s,
3 Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (Subaru Impreza WRC) 68m 36s,
4 P J McDermott/Paddy Robinson (Subaru Impreza WRC) 69m 55s,
5 Stuart Darcy/Enda Sherry (Subaru Impreza 555) 70m 20s,
6 Gary McPhillips/Mark Tierney (Ford Escort Mk II) 71m 24s,
7 Danny McBride/Rory McBride (Mit. Lancer Evo 8 GpN) 71m 39s,
8 Casimer McGill/Brian Boyle (Escort Mk II) 71m 41s,
9 Damien Gallagher/Mac Walsh (Escort Mk II) 71m 51s,
10 Camillus Bradley/Charlie Beattie (Escort Mk II) 71m 56s.
Group N Production class:
1 Danny McBride/Rory McBride,
2 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Mit. Lancer Evo 9) 72m 09s,
3 Fergal Costello/Shane Gilhooly (Mit. Lancer Evo 9) 72m 43s.
Leaders After
SS1-3 Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS4-9 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC)
Stage Winners:
SS1 Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS2 Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS3 Cancelled
SS4 All Crews given bogey time
SS5 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC)
& Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS6 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS7 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS8 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC)
SS9 Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman (Subaru Impreza WRC)
Full Results on:
Posted: October 11, 2008 11:53 AM
Alan Moore receiving sponsorship from Paul Gallagher of the
Nesbitt Arms Hotel for the Donegal Harvest Stages Rally
which takes place on the 11th of November in Ardara.
Also included are local drivers, Patrick Haughey,
Columba Heena and Casmir Mc Gill
Photo:John Mc Connell
Entry List Available
Posted: September 30, 2008 6:09 PM
ARDARA GEARS UP FOR THE 2008 HARVEST RALLY
Posted: September 30, 2008 6:42 AM
Normally known for it's "Cup O Tae" Festival and the Matchmaking weekend, Ardara, Co. Donegal is about to host another event but this time a four wheeled Festival! The Donegal Motor Club's Harvest Stages Rally will take place on Saturday 11th October and will be based in the magnificent Nesbitt Arms Hotel in Ardara. The event which is the final round of both the Dunlop National Rally Championship and The McAree Engineering Border championship. This years Clerk of the Course is Portnoo Native, Alan Moore.
Alan was Elected to position back in November and he and his team have been working non-stop since to make this event great for both the competitors and the local economy. Alan Commented "I am very proud to have been chosen by the club to run this years Harvest Stages Rally and its a great privilege to be able to bring the rally down to the people of Ardara and surrounding areas. I would like to pay a special thanks now to the Nesbitt Arms Hotel in Ardara for sponsoring the event! I would also like to thank the Ardara Traders Association and the GAA club for their support also."
Paul Gallagher, Manager of the Nesbitt Arms Hotel said " The Nesbitt Arms Hotel are delighted to be hosting the Harvest Rally here in Ardara as are the Ardara Traders association. We are confident that the event will be a great success and we wish Alan and his team all the best and look forward to seeing, the organisers, competitors, teams and spectators in Ardara in the coming weeks were they can expect a very warm welcome"
The event starts on the morning of Saturday 11th October and there will be centralised service in the grounds of Ardara GAA club. The stages which are still a well kept secret will be revealed at a later date. Maps and Programmes will be available for Purchase from the Headquarters and local outlets in Ardara and surrounding areas. There will be a small amount made available in the Letterkenny area but more details will follow shortly.
Further Information including accomodation listings can be found on the events website:
Event Website
Posted: September 24, 2008 8:40 AM
Regulations available
Posted: September 6, 2008 5:00 PM
Posted: January 28, 2008 10:43 PM
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