Posted: June 3, 2003 3:22 AM
DONNELLY DOMINATES CIRCUIT OF MUNSTER
TO TAKE THIRD VICTORY IN DUNLOP NATIONAL RALLY
CHAMPIONSHIP
Derry's, Eugene Donnelly and co-driver, Paddy Toner,
won the Woodland's House Hotel Circuit of Munster,
round five of the Dunlop National Rally Championship.
Driving a Subaru WRC, they finished the eight stage
Adare based event one minute and five seconds ahead of
Michael Barrable/Dermot O'Gorman, also in a Subaru
WRC. They secured second by just two seconds from the
Subaru WRC of Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor.
Last year's Circuit of Munster winner and top seed,
Tim McNulty topped the time sheets at the end of the
eleven-mile Ramhorn Lime stage near Dromcolliher.
Maurice Gass in a similar WRC was some four seconds in
arrears with reigning Dunlop National Rally
Championship leader, Michael Barrable occupying third
- two seconds further adrift. Cavan rally winner,
Eugene Donnelly made a cautious start to slot into
fourth - ten seconds off the leading pace. David
Armstrong, having finished the stage in equal fifth -
with Ollie O'Donovan (Subaru Impreza) - crashed out on
the second stage. Another driver to retire was Adrian
McElvaney, his Subaru WRC lapsed on to three cylinders
and the young Monaghan driver was forced out on the
same stage.
Donnelly turned in a star performance over the
remaining three stages of the loop. His performances
shattered the opposition and having taken a six second
lead over McNulty after the second stage, he stretched
his advantage to 48 seconds by the fourth stage. Out
on stage four, as he tried to stay the pace with
Donnelly, Tim NcNulty spun his Subaru WRC and lost
precious seconds. That allowed Maurice Gass close to
within two seconds, although he too lost time when he
caught the Subaru Impreza of Ollie O'Donovan, who had
endured a time consuming spin.
Gass was also under pressure from Dunlop championship
leader, Michael Barrable, another driver to overshoot
- special stage three was his location, nevertheless,
he was only two seconds behind Gass. Elsewhere, Ollie
O'Donovan, who was losing time due to water injection
problems, held fifth place from the similar car of
Nigel Hicklin - his feat was all the more noteworthy
considering he was using partially worn tyres.
Denis Cronin, in his BMW M3, led the rear wheel drive
category and also held seventh place, one place ahead
of fellow Cork driver, Liam McCarthy (Toyota Corolla
WRC), who lost time with tyre choice and a few spins.
The top ten was completed by Sean Gallagher (Escort
Cosworth) and Garry Jennings, in the nimble Peugeot
106.
In Group N. James O'Sullivan led the similar
Mitsubishi of Willie Fannin by a mere two seconds with
Eoin Doyle (Subaru) third in the showroom category.
Continuing to dominate, Donnelly pressed hard although
he wasn't taking any chances, he led by a minute at
the final service. McNulty opined that he was
"reasonably happy" and just wanted to secure second.
Barrable was within seven seconds of that second place
as he regained some of his early season confidence.
Maurice Gass lost time when the cable device snapped
and he couldn't select reverse gear at one junction
and had to rely on the spectators to get him out of
trouble. He was fourth in a top six that included
Ollie O'Donovan and Liam McCarthy. The former
continued to have water injection problems in his
Subaru that was down on power. Having fixed the anti
roll bar, Liam McCarthy's Toyota Corolla WRC was
handling much better.
The BMW M3 of Denis Cronin occupied seventh from the
Escort Cosworth of Sean Gallagher that blew a turbo.
Nigel Hicklin crashed out on S.S. 6 near the location
that brought about the demise of David Armstrong.
Garry Jennings dropped outside the top ten when his
Peugeot 106 jammed in fourth gear in the fifth and
sixth stages - he eventually finished sixteenth
overall.
On the final two stages, the only major change came
when Barrable edged out McNulty for second place by
some two seconds, the latter had an off road excursion
on the penultimate stage. The remaining places in the
top eight were unaltered with David McNulty (Escort
Cosworth) finishing ninth and Class 13 winner, Aidan
Walsh, driving a Mk., 2 Ford Escort claiming the final
place in the top ten.
In Group N, Willie Fannin (Mitsubishi) claimed victory
by the narrowest of margins ahead of the similar car
of James O'Sullivan. Derek Jobb, also in a
Mitsubishi, was third in the showroom category.
Donnelly's win was his third in the current Dunlop
National Rally Championship - adding to his previous
victories in Mayo and Cavan. Barrable, winner in
Monaghan and Carlow leads the Dunlop National Rally
Championship at the half way mark by twelve points.
Non starters included Niall Maguire, Peadar Hurson,
Patrick Elliott and J.J. Fleming.
1 Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1.11.06
2 Michael Barrable/Dermot O'Gorman (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1.12.11
3 Tim McNulty/Anthony Nestor (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1.12.13
4 Maurice Gass/Ger McMonagle (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1.13.47
5 Ollie O'Donovan/David Moynihan (Subaru Impreza 555) 1.14.37
6 Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC) 1.15.11
7 Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (BMW M3) 1.15.35
8 Sean Gallagher/Paul Nagle (Escort RS Cosworth) 1.16.29
9 David McNulty/Martin McGarrity (Escort RS Cosworth) 1.17.44
10 Aidan Walsh/Frankie Sweeney (Escort 2.0) 1.18.15
11 Willie Fannin/Brian Duggan (Mit. Lancer EVO 6) 1.18.45
12 James O'Sullivan/Rebecca Walsh (Mit. Lancer EVO 6) 1.18.46
13 John Kearney/Sean Moriarty (Escort 2.0) 1.18.55
14 Sean Lyons/John Devine (Escort RWD) 1.19.15
15 Derrick Jobb/Killian Duffy (Mit. Lancer EVO 6) 1.19.48
16 Garry Jennings/Derek Brannigan (Peugoet 106) 1.20.07
17 Anthony O'Halloran/Timmy Horan (Opel Manta 2.0) 1.20.22
18 Dan Mulcahy/Con Mulcahy (Escort RS Cosworth) 1.20.24
19 Andrew Purcell/Adrian Deasy (Honda Civic) 1.20.41
20 Mark Courtney/Michael Courtney (Mit. Lancer EVO 7) 1.20.52
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