Connacht MC Night Nav - 29-30 Jan '00

Posted: January 30, 2000 9:41 PM

The reigning Irish Champions simply cruised to victory on an event that contained some of the toughest navigation seen on a Trial for many years. Two successive victories have now put the Corolla crew in a strong position to retain their title.
All of their Championship rivals had a torrid night. Mervyn Dunn / Vincent Fagan fell foul of the intricate tulips and could only manage 8th o/a. Similarly Gerard O'Connell/Adrian Deasy found the tulips tough and incurred their highest score for some time. They will be hoping for better luck on the next event in Skibbereen.

Novice crew Kenneth Prior/John McCorry belied their lack of experience and took a superb second place overall. They are surely ones to watch for.

The large entry of 38 crews included so 20 Novices. They will surely have to go a long way before encountering such a tough event again.

Pos No.	Driver/Navigator				 Class Total	
1st   2	Bones O'Connor/Paul Phelan (Toyota Corolla 2.0)	 Expert	 76 	.
2nd  20	Kenneth Prior/John McCorry (Vauxhall Nova 1.4)	 Novice	192 1st Nov
3rd   9	Ger Gowen/Diarmuid O'Donovan (Toyota Starlet 1.3)Expert	197 1st Exp
4th   7	Sean McHugh/Liam Higgins (Peugeot 205 GTi)	 Expert	206 2nd Exp
5th   6	Packie Duffy/Harry Bleakley (VW Golf GTi 1.8)	 Expert	216 3rd Exp
6th  12	Gerry Kelly/Richard Howard (Peugeot 205 GTi)Semi Expert	273 1st Semi
7th   3	Mervyn Dunn/Vincent Fagan (Nissan Micra 1.3)	 Expert	297 	.
8th  19	Matt Hume/Doug Corrie (Hillman Avenger 1.5) Semi Expert	317 2nd Semi
9th  17	Donie Daly/Ger Fahy (Vauxhall Nova 1.6)	Semi     Expert	317 3rd Semi
10th 18	Arthur Kierans/Gareth Beagan (Volvo 340)    Semi Expert	325 	.
11th  8	Ray O'Neill/Stephen O'Neill (VW Golf GTi 1.8)	 Expert	326 	.
12th 16	Frank Farry/P J Cox (Ford Fiesta 1.3)	    Semi Expert	351 	.
13th  1	Gerard O'Connell/Adrain Deasy (Toyota Celica 2.0)Expert	355 	.
14th 23	John Duffy/Killian Duffy (Toyota Corolla 1.6)	 Novice	388 2nd Nov
15th  5	John Carroll/Vincent Coughlin (Ford Escort 1.6)	 Expert	402	.
16th  4	David Dixon/Paul Hughes (Escort Mexico 2.0)	 Expert	409	.
17th 14	Raymond Conlon/Damien Connolly (Astra) 	    Semi Expert	434	.
18th 15	Sam Johnston/Derek Johnston (VW Golf)	    Semi Expert	436	.
19th 26	Richard Cassidy/ Warren Carleton (Opel Kadett)	 Novice	448 3rd Nov
20th 37	Patrick Connolly/Enda McMahon (Mitsubishi Galant)Novice	459	.
21st 36	Gerard McLoughlin/Ciaran Dwyer (Acclaim 1.3)	 Novice	462	.
22nd 21	Patrick Moran/Thomas Byrne (Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9) Novice	466	.
23rd 24	Martin Quinn/Sean Henehan (Opel Ascona 1.6)	 Novice	472	.
24th 10	Noel Lappin/Sandy Mills (Vauxhall Nova 1.3)	 Expert	491	.
25th 32	John Comiskey/James Comiskey (Peugeot 104 1.1)	 Novice	537	.
26th 29	Dwayne O'Sullivan/Andrew Hill (Peugeot 205 GTi)	 Novice	579	.
27th 31	Joseph Shinners/Claire Walsh (Honda Civic 1.3)	 Novice	609	.
28th 39	Tony Mulcahy/Michael Mullane (Toyota Corolla 1.3)Novice	684	.
29th 28	Declan Lynch/Orla Murphy (Opel Kadett 1.3)	 Novice	685	.
					
					
Retirements					
11	Karl O'Donoghue/Frank O'Donoghue (Peugeot 205 GTi) Semi Expert
22	Keith Lord/Pat Roche (Opel Kadett 2.0)		   Novice	
25	Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Opel Kadett 2.0)	   Novice	
27	John Kelly/James Kelly (Toyota Corolla 1.3)	   Novice
30	Laurence Sherry/Dominic McArdle  (Peugeot 205 GTi) Novice
33	Fintan Larmer/Sean McCaffrey (Toyota Celica 2.0)   Novice
34	Martin McGuigan/Garry Hall (Opel Kadett)	   Novice
35	Kevin Quinn/Anton McGloin (Toyota Starlet 1.0)	   Novice
38	Brendan Treanor/Kieran Casey (Toyota Carina 1.6)   Novice

		38 Starters  -  29 Finishers