MOFFETT WINS HOTEL KILMORE CAVAN RALLY AS WHITE EXTENDS LEAD IN TRITON SHOWERS SERIES - Report courtesy of Triton Showers - proud sponsors of the Irish National Rally Championship.
Posted: May 30, 2016 6:44 AM
Monaghan Sam Moffett and his Bailieborough co-driver James Fulton (Ford Fiesta R5) won the Hotel Kilmore Cavan Rally, the fourth round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.
They finished the nine stage rally 29.5 seconds ahead of the Clonmel/Cork pairing of Roy White/James O'Brien (Ford Fiesta WRC), who have extended their lead in the series to 15 points.
Monaghan's Josh Moffett and his Antrim co-driver John Rowan (Ford Fiesta R5) were 46.1 seconds further behind in third.
Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan (Escort) were the top two-wheel drive crew.
The Group N category was won by Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath (Mitsubishi).
Meath's Gary McNamee/Kieran O'Donoghue (Honda Civic) won the Junior category, in the Historic section Belfast's Malcolm Pedlow and his co-driver Ivor Ferguson (BMW) took the spoils.
The Triton Showers Drive of the Day was won by Monaghan's Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden (Toyota Corolla).
White was quickest through the opening stage - 1.1 seconds ahead of Boyle with Sam Moffett in his Fiesta R5 some 3.2 seconds further behind in third. Daragh O'Riordan (Ford Fiesta WRC) occupied fourth in a top six that also included the Fiesta R5 of Josh Moffett and the Subaru S12B of top seed Peadar Hurson. Frank Kelly retired his Escort with a broken axle.
Boyle punched in the best times on the remaining stages of the loop and arrived at the Cavan service park with a lead of 12.2 seconds over the Fiesta R5 of Sam Moffett with White 4.8 seconds further behind in third.
It wasn't all plain sailing for Boyle as his Fiesta developed some transmission problems on the road section back to the service park.
Second placed Moffett reckoned his tyres were going off towards the end of the third stage. Meanwhile, the front of White's Fiesta WRC showed the scars of contact with a chicane bale on the second stage.
Although untroubled, fourth placed O'Riordan reckoned that he found it hard to find a rhythm through the entire loop. Josh Moffett (Fiesta R5) held fifth with six-time Cavan winner Niall Maguire sixth.
Taking time to get accustomed to his new car Peadar Hurson (Subaru WRC) admitted that the suspension set-up was far too soft.
Meanwhile, Gary McPhillips (Escort), who was eighth overall led the two-wheel drive category, he hit a chicane bale on the third stage. The top ten was completed by the Subaru WRC of Stephen McCann and the Escort of Damien Tourish.
McCann lost some ten seconds when he encountered the Escort of Russell Woods, who had spun on the stage. Seamus Leonard stalled the McKinstry hired S14 Subaru twice on the opening stage. In Group N, Aidan Wray (Mitsubishi) held a strong advantage. Paul Barrett (Subaru) made an early exit following a visit to the Cavan scenery.
Out on the repeat loop Boyle set a strong pace, posting the best times on Stages 4 and 5, he was held up on S.S. 6 when Hurson spun and the Donegal driver lost vital seconds. At the Cavan service park Boyle led Moffett by 4.7 seconds with White 23.2 seconds further behind in third.
Out on S.S. 4. O'Riordan retired from fourth spot when his Fiesta WRC slid wide, mounted a bank and broke the steering arm.
Meanwhile, on completion of the second loop, Josh Moffett moved up to fourth even though his Fiesta R5 was overheating forcing him to reduce the power. Niall Maguire (Subaru) was untroubled in fifth as sixth placed Seamus Leonard was pleased with his performance through the second loop. Stephen McCann (Subaru) in seventh was slowed by Adrian Hetherington, who slid his Escort off the road and out of the rally on S.S. 6. Gary McPhillips (Escort) and Kevin Barrett (Subaru WRC) completed the top ten.
Boyle retired on S.S. 7 with alternator woes, White was quickest on the stage while Sam Moffett posted the best times through the final pair of stages to take victory. White in second took maximum points "? 23 in total to extend his lead over Maguire, who netted 20 points (18 + two from the Power Stage) to 15 points. Josh Moffett (Fiesta R5) took third with Maguire fourth.
Series leader White said, "I'm delighted, it s a great result for us. Given that it was such a high calibre entry to take maximum points away is just brilliant."?
CAVAN CALL FOR TRITON SHOWERS - Preview courtesy of Triton Showers – proud sponsors of the Irish National Rally Championship.
Posted: May 27, 2016 4:43 PM
Former National Rally champion Peadar Hurson headlines the entry for next Sunday’s Hotel Kilmore Cavan Rally, the fourth round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.
The Warrenpoint driver, who won the event last year, will take to the wheel of an S12B Subaru WRC – the car driven by Chris Atkinson in Rally Ireland in 2007 - as he bids to cut the deficit to series leader Roy White (Ford Fiesta WRC). Hurson won the national series in 1992 at the wheel of an Opel Ascona 400, in the opening three rounds of the current series he campaigned his usual S10 Subaru, however, now with the switch to a S12B, he is set to crank up his title bid.
Another former champion Declan Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) had an all too brief outing in the last round in Carlow where a sensor issue meant he actually didn’t even get to the opening stage. Having also failed to score Triton Showers championship points in Mayo, he has no further room for error as he chases a third national title.
Series leader Roy White (Ford Fiesta WRC) has racked up 60 points from the opening three rounds. Ahead of Sunday’s event that marks the mid-point of the championship, he said, “It’s a massive top ten and Peadar (Hurson) with the new car will be a big threat as will Declan (Boyle) and Niall Maguire. The Moffett brothers Sam and Josh in their Fiesta R5’s have shown great pace this season.” He added, “I would like to feature at the sharp end of the field, we are making progress with the car the whole time. There are a couple of more things we want to try before the rally. The terrain in Cavan will be different to what we have seen so far this year and that will be another element. I haven’t competed in Cavan with the new car but I’m hoping we can put in a good performance.”
Making the relatively short journey from neighbouring Monaghan is former triple champion Niall Maguire, who won this event in 2014 and was second to Hurson last year. The Ballinode driver is second in the current series – twelve points behind Roy White. Another Monaghan driver Sam Moffett will campaign his Fiesta R5 and the comparison with the WRC drivers should be interesting.
Meanwhile, Omagh’s Seamus Leonard (Subaru WRC) is another driver capable of a strong performance through the nine stages in Cavan.
Josh Moffett (Fiesta R5) will also compete adding further interest, a few weeks ago he won the Monaghan Rally.
Cork driver Daragh O’Riordan (Ford Fiesta WRC) garnered 19 points from his Carlow outing and will face stiff competition to reap a similar reward in Cavan.
Meanwhile, Kevin Barrett in the Triton Showers liveried Subaru WRC lies equal fourth in the series, the Maynooth driver is seeded at number nine in a top ten that also includes the Subaru WRC of Paddy McVeigh. Welsh ace Steve Wood is seeded at eleven. McVeigh will campaign the ex-Patrick Elliott Subaru as Wood continues his return to form after crashing out of the Abbeyleix Rally at the beginning of the season.
The Modified entry is ultra competitive with local driver Chris Armstrong (Ford Escort) leading the challenge. Opposition includes Monaghan’s Gary McPhillips, Baileborough’s Garry Kiernan and the Tyrone trio of Adrian Hetherington, Vivian Hamill and Frank Kelly, all in Escorts. It also features last week’s Loughgall Country Park Rally winner Damian Toner and Ed O’Callaghan, both in Escorts.
Just outside the top twenty are the Skoda’s of former national champion Aaron McHale and Stuart Darcy and Stephen McCann in the ex-Denis Cronin Subaru WRC.
In Group N, the principal entries are Shane Maguire (Mitsubishi), Aidan Wray (Mitsubishi), Paul Barrett (Subaru) along with the Mitsubishi trio of Pat Kirk, Trevor Bustard and Neil Tohill.
Elsewhere, there are entries from Simon Chapman (Proton Satria), Tommy Doyle (Renault Clio) and Robert Moffett (Ford Fiesta WRC).
In the Junior category, Gary McNamee (Honda Civic), Colin Roche (Toyota Starlet) and series leader Michael Boyle (Honda Civic) are the top three seeds.
Hotel Kilmore Cavan Stages Rally 2016 Press Release 2
Posted: May 17, 2016 10:20 AM
Photo: Lorna Kennedy / Ben Kellett
It was great excitement that the 2016 Hotel Kilmore Cavan Stages Rally was launched at the Hotel
Kilmore on Wednesday night. There was a good crowd of supporters and well wishers for the event
who turned out to see some machinery that will be competing on Sunday the 29th of May and to chat
to some of the current crop of stars. In attendance was the Honda Civic of Darren O'Brien fresh off
the back of his junior victory in Monaghan. Darren will be competing on the main section of this year’s
event in class 11F. Secondly it was with great buzz that Pauric Sheridan unveiled his new Ford Fiesta
Proto which is a hybrid of Mitsubishi and Fiesta R5 technology. The car will see its Irish debut in the
hands of Sheridan in Cavan running in class 20. Last but by no means least Gary Kiernan brought along
his brother's the late Paddy Kiernan's Escort to celebrate the fact that this year will see the 3rd
running of the Paddy Kiernan Memorial cup for runners in class 13. This coupled with the Pinto
Challenge in association with Gordon Automotive and the Joe McGurk memorial cup for class 14
runners’ means there will be an awful lot to play for in Cavan this year coupled with Round 3 of the
Sligo Pallets Border Championship and Round 4 of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.
Also dropping by to offer his support was GAA pundit and commentator Michael Brennan as this
year's rally will coincide with the Cavan Football game that Sunday.
You can catch up on all the interviews from the evening on Northern Sound thanks to Sean McCaffrey
Hotel Kilmore Cavan Stages Rally 2016 Press Release 1
Posted: March 25, 2016 9:42 AM
The Hotel Kilmore Cavan Stages Rally will take for the 32nd time on the 29th May 2016 and will once again see the Triton Showers national rally championship competitors take the start for the half way point on the 2016 championship as round 4. The last time the event was included in the national championship the event was won by Donegal pairing Declan and Brian Boyle in their Subaru Impreza WRC.
For 2016 the Sligo Pallets border rally championship will once again return to the Breffni county as the event will host round 3 of one of Ireland's premier clubman championships which has seen local success in the past. Overall winner of the event in 2015 Peader Hurson and Damien Connolly will return to Cavan as they once again pursue the rally win and border championship points.
The event welcomes back longtime associate sponsors for the event in the form of Wilton Waste Recycling and Ford Autoparc who's continued support has been appreciated over the years and we look forward to working with them for the 2016 event.
After the success of the 2015 event the club are delighted to renew their association with Gordon Automotive Services for the Pinto Challenge for class 12 Pinto engined cars. This is part of a trio of modified class awards with the Paddy Kiernan Memorial award for class 13 and the Joe McGurk Memorial award for class 14, all will be hotly contested by competing crews.
Stephen Kellett will be Clerk of the Course for his fifth year and the Hotel Kilmore will once again be the Rally HQ. The format of the rally keeps the traditional loop of 3X3 over a very compact route with low road mileage offering the maximum 120 special stage kilometers. Once again the event will offer Historic and Junior classes along with the Rally2 option during the course of the event to offer maximum value for money for competing crews. More information will be available on www.cavanmotorclub.com in the coming weeks.
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