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2003 Quality Hotels West Cork Rally - 15-16 Mar 03Posted: March 18, 2003 4:59 PM - 31549 Hits
Report by Conor Nash 
So after 2 days of hard rallying in near perfect weather the man from Banbridge won the Quality Hotels West Cork Rally 2003 in convincing style. Kenny arrived into the final service on Sunday in a cloud of smoke which was apparently coming from the gearbox. He was concerned about the unit but hoped that any problem could be fixed during the service period. Clearly all fears he had faded when he posted fastest time on the last two stages of the Rally. A relieved Kenny arrived at the finish ramp in Clonakilty town centre to a warm reception from the crowd who made their way back from the stages to greet the winner. He said that it was a 'super rally' with ' brilliant stages'. Photo: Seamus Counihan Posted: March 18, 2003 4:59 PM Eamonn Boland who had been in the top four all weekend was chasing Kenny hard and on Sunday it looked like he would eventually take second place until a puncture on the last stage ended his chances and the time lost put him back into third place behind last years winner Melvyn Evans. Melvyn Evans spent most of the weekend in the top three though on Saturday he dropped to 5th at one point but recovered to 4th by the last stage of the day. He continued a solid performance in his new Subaru on the Sunday stages without any major dramas. For a driver still getting used to a new car he must be delighted to come away from the weekend with such a good result. Liam McCarthy from Dunmanway in a Toyota Corolla WRC felt that the car was going far better than last year and comparing his times to the Subaru brigade in front of him confirmed that fact. The West Cork man drove a very steady rally throughout with the exception of a slide which collected a lot of mud in the wheel and so made the car feel as if it had a puncture. Maurice Gass started on Saturday with a faulty dash board readout which meant he didn?t have any gear selection indicator. This affected him throughout Saturday and he stayed firmly routed to 7th place for most of the day. After sorting out the problem with the dash read-out late on Saturday Gass tackled the Sunday stages with determination and on Stage 13 he was fastest. The Armagh man was happy with his weekends work and his car. Bob Fowden claimed the Group N prize after a battle throughout the weekend with Kieran O'Callaghan from Roscarberry. O'Callaghan looked to claim the Group N prize over the weekend but following some time card confusion he dropped behind Fowden on Sunday evening. The Quality Hotels West Cork Rally once again attracted the praise of drivers and officials alike for its organisation and stages. The spectators were out in force on Saturday and Sunday and were well-behaved and the event continues to enjoy unprecedented popularity.1 Kenny McKinstry/Sean Mullally (Subaru Impreza WRC)......1.58.19.9 2 Melvyn Evans/Marc Jones (Subaru Impreza WRC)............1.59.03.2 3 Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Subaru Impreza WRC).....1.59.17.3 4 Maurice Gass/Geoffrey Orr (Subaru Impreza WRC)..........2.00.16.0 5 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Corolla WRC)...............2.00.37.0 6 Steve Fleck/Andy Card (Subaru Impreza WRC)..............2.00.50.5 7 Phil Collins/Howard Davies (Escort 2.0).................2.03.48.4 8 Tony Davies/Wyn Thomas (Metro 6R4)......................2.04.03.7 9 Cathal Arthurs/Llinos J-Edwards (Toyota Celica GT-Four).2.04.55.7 10 Damian Cole/Nicky Grist (Darrian).......................2.05.15.8
Topics:
West Cork Rally
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