Yokohama Tyres/Kingdom Fast Fit Kerry Single Stage - 17 Nov 02

Posted: November 20, 2002 8:43 AM

The first stage Sunday was damp in places and all of the top crews reported that the road surface was very slippery. O Sullivan and Syan were the two fastest cars over stage 1 setting 7mins o7 seconds and 7.20 for the eight mile stage . Third man on the road was Donie o Sullivan (7.23) and Anthony O Halloran in a Manta closely followed him. Other Kerry driver in the top ten after stage 1 included Thomas Randles, John Kearney both driving escorts Peter Clifford (Subaru) and Pat Barry (Ford Sierra).

O Sullivan in his World Rally Car was fastest again on stage 1 albeit by only one second to Synan .The Killarney man was put his time loss down to a poor tyre selection. Anthony O Halloran was next on 7.24, four seconds off the leader. Thomas Randles (Kilgarvin) was next on the road but he never got to finish the stage because a mechanical failure forced him sideways across the road and impeded the passage of the following cars. The stage interruption rule was applied and the following competitors where given O Hallorans time. The overall positions at the head of the field were not affected and the only change to the top ten was the demise of Tale man John Kearney due to loss of oil pressure.

The final stage was due to be run in total darkness but due to the effiency of the organizing team the stage ran some 15mins earlier which meant must of the top cars went through at dusk. O Sullivan's was again fastest to secure his fourth outright win on this event. Ed Synan finished second for the second year running and Donie Sullivan marked a return to rear wheel drive rallying to finish a deserved third. Anthony O Halloran and Dessie Keenan battled it out for fourth with oHalloran getting the upper hand of the Monaghan man.

Peter Clifford had a fine drive to sixth overall which also netted him Top Kerry Motor Club driver and first place in the Group N class .The top ten was completed by Stephen Caraway (Limerick) in AN escort Cosworth Aiden Walsh (Askeaton) Escort and Lisseltons Pat Barry in a ford Sierra. Barry also won class 14.

With this year event concluded Clerk of the Course Donal Lynch praised the local residents and Kerry County Council for the assistance he received from them. He was also praised the marshals who did an exceptional job stewarding the large crowd that turned out on the day to watch the event. He said, "the large crowd behaved so well all day, by standing in safe places and respecting private property that it made my job on the day very easy and that's why we got we last stage up and running early. The crowd behavior to day was a credit to motorsport followers from all over the country and the no complaints received by the club "

1 Johnny O'Sullivan/Pat Cashman  (Ford Escort WRC)......22:05
2 Ed Synan/David Doherty (Opel Manta 400)...............22:26
3 Donie O'Sullivan/Paul Nagle  (Escort 2.5).............22:45
4 Anthony O'Halloran/Shane Brennan  (Manta 2.0).........23:02
5 Dessie Keenan/Enda Sherry  (Escort 2.5)...............23:12
6 Peter Clifford/John Young  (Subaru Impreza WRX)..GpN..23:14

• Results and Stage Times in Excel Format