Cork 1000 Shakes Navigation Trial - 23-24 Jan 10

Event Report: Kierans/McAdoo a Class Apart in Cork

Posted: February 6, 2010 12:19 AM

Defending National Champions Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo swept away memories of their non-finish on the previous Midland Navigation Trial to claim a superb overall victory on Cork Motor Club’s 1000 Shakes Navigation Trial. After a fabulous and challenging 104 mile route, the Monaghan duo were 4 penalties clear of the opposition. Their main rivals throughout the night Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes and Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins both finished on 6 penalties, with “semi over expert” securing 2nd place for Fitzgerald/Hayes on their local event.

The Mills Inn in Ballyvourney served as HQ for the event which was Round 5 of the National Night Navigation Championship and also round three of the Munster Night Navigation Championship. Multiple event winners Ger Gowen/Paul Phelan left HQ as no.1 seeds followed by championship leaders Gareth Beagan/Stephen Thornton and Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo who were debuting a new Subaru Impreza. The first section of the event contained a famous departure at Via4, where crews departed down an access tunnel underneath the main Macroom-Killarney road. A fabulous 4 mile forestry lane from TP9-TP11 also proved enjoyable for competitors. By this time, the majority of leading crews were still on clean sheets. However Round 4 winners, Paul Doherty/Donny Riney who made the long trip down from Donegal, had dropped 36 penalties including a wrong approach at TP3 and missing Via 4. Local expert crew Donal Healy/Peter Keohane had also dropped 20 penalties after missing a timepoint. Following the first SRS section, the route tightened up over the last few timepoints before the petrol halt. Drivers and Navigators had to maintain concentration to avoid making a mistake, which could prove costly. By the petrol halt, only 4 crews now remained on clean sheets. Semi-Expert pair, Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes & Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes were once again mixing it with the experts. Also clean were Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins & Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo. Completing the top 5 were James Fitzgerald/Ed O’Neill on 1 penalty.

A further 66 miles were still to go, taking crews around the fabulous roads across the Derrynasaggert Mountains and as far south as Ballingeary and back. Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes were the first of the leaders to fall back. They dropped 1 penalty at TP105 after taking a slot too soon and having to back track. Indeed many crews also took a close look at a river, as a slot 30 metres before the intended route caught a number of crews out. Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes lost their clean sheet as they dropped 1 penalty on the second SRS section. The route from TP111 to TP112 had crews zig-zagging their way up the side of the mountain, looking for a slot left hidden behind a gate and back down the mountain and around a farm. This really challenging section was cleaned by only two crews. Both Kierans/McAdoo and Mackarel/Higgins dropped 1 penalty at TP112, but James Fitzgerald/Ed O’Neill cleaned this timepoint and they now took over the lead on “semi over expert”.

The event now headed further south taking plot & bash timepoints at TP125 & TP126. This section saw Fitzgerald/O’Neill drop back losing 16 penalties. Andy Mackarel & Liam Higgins’ bid for victory came to an end dropping 3 penalties at TP122 after missing a slot for Via121 and had to turn around. Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo moved into a clear lead. TP124 was a long, wet, grassy lane and most of the leading crews dropped time here. Plot & Bash at TP125 & TP126 was relatively straight forward. More time was dropped by crews over this section and by the final control the leaderboard looked as follows: Out front were Kierans/McAdoo on two penalties. In 2nd place on “semi over expert” was Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes on six penalties. 3rd overall was Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins also on 6 penalties. 4th overall was Gareth Beagan & Stephen Thornton on 8 penalties, with Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes completing the top five finishers on 10 penalties.

Expert:
Arthur & Ashley clinched their second win of the season and got their campaign back on track after a non-finish on round 4. Andy Mackarel & Liam Higgins continued their consistent campaign with a well deserved 3rd overall and 2nd of the experts. TP122 was their only major setback of the night. Gareth Beagan/Stephen Thornton continued their ultra consistent season with a 4th place finish. They continue the lead the championship on points, but on dropped scores it swings in the favour of Kierans/McAdoo.

Alan & George Shinnors secured 6th overall and 4th expert, which keeps them well in the hunt for class honours. They too lost time at TP122, which probably cost them a position or two on the leaderboard. Ger Gowen/Paul Phelan took 5th in class on 21 penalties, but must be a little disappointed to be only 11th overall in the final classification. Locals Donal Healy/Peter Keohane were next home on 36 penalties. Completing the class finishers were Ger O’Connell/Philip Doherty on 62 penalties.

Semi-Expert Class:
This was one of the most competitive classes of the night. Indeed, four semi-expert crews finished in the top 10, having been challenging for the overall lead all night. Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes really excelled on the night. Having cleaned the first half, they only dropped 6 penalties in the second half to finish a well deserved 2nd overall.

Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes were left rueing a disappointing timecard 4, where they dropped 8 penalties, which was a lot more than the crews around them. Most of the time was lost at TP112, where they missed their slot left and ended up going up and down the top of the mountain trying to find it. They faired well on the last timecard, to pull back into the top 5 overall and 2nd in class.

Tadhg O’Shea/Brendan Fahy finished 3rd in class on 13 penalties. Another crew to lose time on the mountain at TP112, they had a strong consistent run all night to secure 3rd in class. James Fitzgerald/Ed O’Neill finished 4th in class on 17 penalties. Leading overall going into the last timecard, 16 penalties were lost which knocked them down to 9th overall by the finish. Paul Doherty/Donny Riney finished 5th in class. The Donegal boys were a long way from home, yet figured strongly. A bad start where they dropped 36 penalties would ultimately cost them a top 3 finish in class, but they still bagged vital championship points to keep the pressure on Fitzgerald/Hayes and Carbin/Hughes.

Ted Gaffney/Karen Gaffney and Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody completed the finishers on the night.

Novice class:
Local crew Andy Donaghoe/Eamon Hayes took class honours, just three penalties ahead of Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey in 2nd. Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan secured 3rd place on 40 penalties.

It was championship leaders Peter Hagan/Sam Johnston who took the initial advantage in the class, dropping just two penalties in the first half of the event. Monaghan crew Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey were their nearest pursuers both on the night and in the championship. They lost time after getting stuck in a ditch, after running wide on a tight square left en-route to TP24. Despite that, they were still just 4 penalties shy of Hagan/Johnston. In 3rd place by the petrol halt were Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan on 8 penalties, with Andy Donaghoe/Eamon Hayes a further penalty adrift. Completing the top 5 were John Buttimer/James Kingston on 11 penalties.

The second half of the event would prove more challenging for both driver and navigator. Class leaders Peter Hagan/Sam Johnston lost top spot in the class after picking up 21 penalties on timecard 4. Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey had now moved into the lead on 11 penalties. 2nd place was held by Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan from John Buttimer/James Kingston with both crews on 14 penalties. Andy Donaghoe/Eamon Hayes were also still in the running in 4th place on 16 penalties. The final timecard contained the trickiest section of the event; including two plot & bash timepoints. Andy Donaghoe/Eamon Hayes put in a storming performance over this section to drop only 1 penalty. Indeed, only the overall winners Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo could match them on the final timecard. It was a performance which resulted in them coming from behind to take the class spoils. Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey slipped to 2nd place in the end after dropping 8 penalties on the last timecard. Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan fell away from the top two crews, but still secured 3rd place on 40 penalties. Alwyn White/Adrian Tobin had an excellent run to take 4th place on 49 penalties. John Buttimer/James Kingston finished 5th in class, despite dropping 56 penalties on the last timecard. Championship leaders Peter Hagan/Sam Johnston must have been a little disappointed to finish 6th amongst the novices, after their great start to the event.

So, many thanks are due to COC Nial Murphy and his team for putting together an excellently run event. Some crews remarked that they felt it was the best 104 miles they had driven and definitely a contender for best round of the season so far. Round 6 takes the crews back to Cork, but this time its further south to Skibbereen Motor Club’s 100 Isles Navigation Trial. Brian O’Mahony retains the mantle as COC and hopes that this year’s event will be an evolution of last year’s 120 mile event. Regulations and Entry forms are available from the Skibbereen Motor Club’s website.

Full Results

Posted: January 24, 2010 10:27 PM

1 Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo (Subaru Impreza) 2 marks,
2 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 6m,
3 Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes (Subaru Impreza) 6m,
4 Garreth Beagan/Stephen Thornton (Subaru Impreza) 8m,
5 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Legacy) 10m,
6 Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 11m,
7 Tadhg O’Shea/Brendan Fahy (Vauxhall Astra) 13m,
8 Andy O’Donoghue/Eamonn Hayes (Honda Civic) 16m,
9 James Fitzgerald/Ed O’Neill (Subaru Impreza) 17m,
10 Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey (Subaru Impreza) 19m,
11 Ger Gowen/Paul Phelan (Subaru Impreza) 21m,
12 Donal Healy/Peter Keohane (Toyota Starlet) 36m.

Semi-experts:
1 Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes,
2 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes,
3 Tadhg O’Shea/Brendan Fahy.

Novices:
1 Andy O’Donoghue/Eamonn Hayes,
2 Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey,
3 Dermot Whelton/Barry O’Sullivan (Mazda 323) 40m.

Beginners:
1 Alwyn White/Adrian Tobin (Toyota Carina) 49m,
2 Peter Hagan/Sam Johnston (Toyota Sprinter) 121m,
3 Gearoid Beamish/Ivan Buchanan (Toyota Corolla) 158m.

Results

Cork Motor Club

Regulations and Entry Form Available

Posted: January 7, 2010 11:57 AM

Cork Motor Club

Plans for the '1000 Shakes' well advanced

Posted: December 21, 2009 1:19 PM

Note: This event takes place on 23-24 January

HQ: Mills Inn, Ballyvourney (on main Cork/Killarney Road)
Approx 115 miles long, with a compact route which will include, if all goes well, one of the most memorable departures from a time point seen in some time.
11 p.m. start (the initial section of the route should allow this), and, as usual, map references will be used to define the entire route, with arrows/diagrams only where the map refs would not be sufficient.
Despite the expected c. 4.30 a.m. finish, a full Irish breakfast will be available shortly after, and, not least as the route will pass Rally HQ twice on the night, we hope also to have results sorted in time for everyone to get home at a reasonable time.

More Details on the club website:

Club Website

Posted: December 21, 2009 1:14 PM

Cork Motor Club