Report: Mackarel/Higgins Are Coolest in Drumlish
Posted: December 8, 2010 5:59 PM
Round four of the National Night Navigation Championship took crews to Drumlish, Co. Longford for Midland Motor Club’s November Navigation Trial. Prominent navigator Sam Johnston took on the mantle of COC ably assisted by Chris Kelly, Peter Hagan and Patrick Higgins. A huge organisational effort was put into the event, offering crews a challenging 140 mile route through some classic navigation terrain. However things took another twist with the arctic conditions that fell on the night. As navigators were plotting their routes, snow started falling heavily and by the start of the event there was up to two inches of snow on the ground. The freezing conditions tested drivers to the limit and every crew had a story to tell by the finish. Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins demonstrated once again their abilities as a team as they streaked clear of the opposition to secure a handsome win. 2nd place went to Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes who picked up vital points for their Championship campaign, while their title rivals floundered in the conditions. Darren Babington/Francis Keenan secured their best ever result with a superb 3rd overall finish.
Michael & Ciaran Tynan led the 30 strong field out into the snow and the opening section which was in the Ballinamuck area. A change from the normal had crews actually finding the gravel lanes easier to negotiate than the tarred roads, with more grip available. TP2 and TP4 were at the ends of farm lanes. First major victims of the night were Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall who beached their Subaru after cutting a corner too close and falling into a ditch on the inside of a bend. Unfortunately by the time they extracted the car, they were out of the event. Joe Shinnors/Greg Shinnors also lost time stuck in a ditch, but at least they were able to keep going. Via A was around Pakie Duffy’s farm, where crews negotiated some tight hairpins and chicanes to find their way out. Via 1 was plot & bash, something a bit different using the hour and minute hands from a clock face to indicate the approach and departure from the junctions on the way to the via. Only nine crews managed to locate it. Those that did dropped significant time to TP6 after negotiating some 4 miles of bog lanes. Locals Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy now led overall from Mark McDermott/Alan Gibbons. More bog lanes followed at TP8 and TP9. By the TRS between TP9 and TP9A, some crews had gone over their maximum lateness. The surprise leaders were Ciaran McElroy/Thomas Wedlock on 10 penalties, with Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (12 pens), Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy (13 pens) and Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (14 pens), the only other crews not to have missed a timepoint or gone over their maximum lateness by this point.
The challenge now for navigators was deciding where to “jump and skip” timepoints to stay within their maximum lateness. Plot & Bash timepoints were at TP11, TP12 and TP14. The marshal at TP11 was not signing anyone’s timecard and only six crews realised the error and had it corrected, so for the others it was effectively a missed timepoint. TP14 was a tulip diagram with cumulative distances but some were on the other side of the page, causing even more problems for some crews. There were multiple uses of some classic bog lanes through this section as the ever present treacherous road conditions continued to trouble competitors before an SRS (with different speeds at different sections) took crews into the petrol halt. The top five overall at this point were Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (67 penalties), Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo (86 penalties), Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy (94 penalties), Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (105 penalties) and Darren Babington/Francis Keenan (109 penalties).
Following another SRS section, it was on to more lanes and a number of tricky loops around the backs of farms and garages. TP23 was one such trick, with the timepoint just 50 metres down the road. Anybody overshooting would be in with a wrong approach. Michael & Ciaran Tynan were victims here as they picked up a double visit penalty. TP24 & TP25 were at the end of more unmapped roads. TP27 was another loop around a farm, while the route to TP28 was through a cornfield. Mackarel/Higgins continued to fair better than most dropping far fewer penalties than the crews around them. Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo and Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy remained 2nd and 3rd. But there was a major change on leaving TP28A, the departure across open ground in a field was initially arrowed, but a left turn through a farmyard and a two bale chicane was hidden. The first two cars on the road Tynan/Tynan and Kierans/McAdoo both went past the left turn and by the time they realised they were wrong they were both stuck at the bottom of the field and unable to climb back out of it. As they looked for tractor assistance to regain the road, Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy followed on down the lane and they too became stuck. Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes had now moved into 2nd place with Darren Babington/Francis Keenan 3rd.
More forest lanes and tricky loops into Via8, Via8A and TP37, kept crews on their toes. With no let up in the weather conditions, more timepoints were missed. Andy Mackarel, with navigator Liam Higgins putting his local knowledge to good use, continued to fair better than most and they extended their lead at the top. More plot & bash followed at Via9, TP46 and Via11 with more bog passes and farmer’s lanes on the agenda, before crews looped back into Drumlish and the final control. So it was with great relief that competitors arrived to the finish of the event after such a challenging night in terms of both route and road conditions. 1st overall on 241 penalties were Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins. This multiple National Championship pair have lost none of their edge over the years and when things get difficult their experience and precision paid dividends. Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes, despite a 5mph collision with a post which knocked out all but one of their lights, survived to take 2nd place and enhance their Championship aspirations as their three main title rivals all finished well out of contention. Darren Babington/Francis Keenan followed up a strong run on the Drumlin, with another great performance on this event to finish 3rd overall. Another super performance came from local Beginner crew, Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry who took an amazing 4th overall; easily their best result on what is only their first season competing. Completing the top five overall was Sean McCaffrey who guided Martin Tynan home to victory in the expert class.
Expert:
Martin Tynan/Sean McCaffrey took class honours, where the usual big names hit trouble and finished right out of contention. Billy Coleman award winner, Robert Barrable had a baptism of fire as he and Damien Connolly took 2nd in class on Robert’s first navigation trial. Despite spending over an hour stuck at TP28A, Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo still managed to finish 3rd in class, but this is likely to be one of their dropped scores. Stephen Wright/Daire Hayes teamed up on the night and finished 4th in class despite missing every timepoint from Via8 onwards due to mechanical issues. Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan were next home after spending time in a field, with Joe Shinnors/Greg Shinnors and Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan completing the class finishers.
Semi-Expert class:
Only two crews made the start in this class, but both crews had great events finishing 2nd and 3rd overall respectively. Hopefully, this class will see more entrants in the second half of the season.
Novice class:
Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy took the class win, which was no mean feat considering a long stay in the field at TP28A. They only regained the route at TP41, but such was their performance up to and after that point they still had the measure of their class rivals. This crew are rapidly emerging as a force to be reckoned with and they were in the running for 2nd overall on the night, even though this is only Colin’s 6th ever event as a navigator.
Regular class performers, Sean McKenna/Gary Farrelly finished 2nd in class, just 11 penalties in arrears. Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey were next home in 3rd, rueing a controversial double visit penalty at Via1 which knocked them down the class positions. 4th place went to Mark McDermott/Alan Gibbons, who had a good run on their home event and were particularly strong early on. 5th in class was secured by Donal McArdle/Raymond Conlon despite also being in the field at TP28A. Completing the class finishers were Damien Ward/Laurence Keenan, Paddy Callaghan/Francis Dempsey, Martin McGuigan/Brendan Treanor and Peter Deery/Peter Farrell.
Beginners class:
Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry were in a different league to their class rivals, finishing nearly 300 penalties ahead of the next best beginner and an excellent 4th overall to boot. Gerry Kelly/Nicola Kelly took 2nd in class to make it a Midland MC one-two. Michael McCluskey/Catriona McCluskey were 3rd in class while Sean Mullervy/Sean Brady were 4th. They received the “spirit of the event” award after rebuilding their car after a break down and managing just to get it back to Drumlish to be classified as finishers.
Once again, a big thank you to Sam and his team for putting together such a challenging event. It was a pity about the weather which distorted the results somewhat but nobody can deny the amount of hard work put into the event. A big thank you to all the marshals who braved the arctic weather to marshal the timepoints, with only one timepoint unmanned all night. Evin Hughes now leads the overall & semi-expert standings in the navigators section, while Arthur Kierans leads the drivers overall & expert class. Ashley McAdoo is the leading expert navigator and Michael Carbin the leading Semi-Expert driver. Pakie & Colin Duffy lead the novice class with Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry out front in the Beginner’s class.
The Championship is now on a break until January 22nd, when the series returns to Cork for the 1000 Shakes Navigation Trial.
Full Results
Posted: November 28, 2010 9:38 PM
1 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 241m,
2 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Legacy) 317m,
3 Darren Babington/Francis Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 353m,
4 Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry (Toyota Sprinter) 392m,
5 Martin Tynan/Sean McCaffrey (Subaru Impreza) 408m,
6 Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy (Subaru Impreza) 482m,
7 Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 493m,
8 Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey (Subaru Impreza) 526m,
9 Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly (Subaru Forester) 543m,
10 Mark McDermott/Alan Gibbons (Honda Civic) 551m,
11 Donal McArdle/Raymond Conlon (Subaru Impreza) 578m,
12 Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo (Subaru Impreza) 583m.
Semi-experts:
1 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes,
2 Darren Babington/Francis Keenan.
Novices:
1 Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly,
2 Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey,
3 Donal McArdle/Raymond Conlon.
Beginners:
1 Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry,
2 Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy,
3 Mark McDermott/Alan Gibbons.
Regulations / Details
Posted: January 1, 2010 12:01 AM
The Olde Village Inn Drumlish Co. Longford
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