ALLEN CONSOLODATES LEAD IN BORDER SERIES

Posted: January 7, 1999 9:15 AM

For Round 4 of the Four Seasons Hotel Border Rally Championship, the cavalcade headed east to County Down for the Mourne Rally. And the happiest men back at Rally Headquarters in Newry that evening were undoubtedly Cookstown’s Glen Allen and Adrian Johnson who consolidated their lead in the drivers and navigators championship standings respectively. Another solid performance in their MK2 Escort to 4th overall in the 12 Special Stage event organised by the Newry and District Motor Club, led to another maximum points scoring in Class 11A for the fourth time in succession. As the Championship reaches the penultimate round at the Sligo Stages Rally on July 11th next, Allen and Johnston are now favourites to lift the overall Perpetual Trophy sponsored by Derryveagh Crystal. Fellow Northerners Roger Kennedy and Paul Doherty intend to push the leaders all the way after recording another impressive result taking Class honours en route to 38th overall. The Peugeot 306 GTi campaigners have chalked up 39 points from the four rounds held to date, and remain just one point behind Allen and Johnston.

Waiting in the wings for any hic-cups from the top two are David Armstrong and Herbie Blackburn who added another 8 points to their tally, thanks to their 5th overall and best registered scoring in the ‘Supercar’ Class 13. But for a puncture on Special Stage 11 Armstrong could have challenged eventual winner Robin Phillips (Toyota Celica) who won this event last year also. For the record, a mere two seconds separated Allen and Armstrong for 4th and 5th positions at the end of the day. Ballieboro duo, Peter Rogers and Bryon Davidson, are also in contention for the Border title by bringing home their Escort in 30th place. They now have accumulated 35 points in Class 10.

As four rounds out of the six count, three crews from different Classes still have an outside chance for top honours. Danny McBride (Class 1), Thomas McCreesh (Class 9) and Paul Parkes (Class 11) are equal on 30 points and look to Sligo to improve the situation. Convoy’s McBride (Suzuki Swift) was placed 45th in Newry while Thomas McCreesh took the advantage of competing on home turf with 16th overall in a Toyota Starlet and overtake long time Class leader Daniel Conaghan. Paul Parkes and Peter Savage made the long trip from Ballisadare only to suffer misfortune as their MK2 Escort went off the road on Special Stage 6. The 1 point added to their score for taking part offered little consolation. However, the popular crew must surely be confident of stretching their lead in the chase for the Derryveagh Crystal Brian McGrath Memorial Trophy (dedicated to Class 11 competitors) especially as the next round is their local event.

After another impressive result finishing 3rd in Newry, current Border champion, Eugene Donnelly (Maghera) is beginning to lose his grip on the title. With co-driver Paul McLoughlin, it looks like the 29 points on the board may not be enough to retain the crown despite their best efforts in the Escort G3.

Another Sligo pairing to hit bad luck in the Mourne Rally was Noel McCarrick whose Group N Subaru Impreza succumbed to gearbox gremlins also on Special Stage 6 which put an end to his days action and any attempt to claw back points from Class 4 leader Mick Shaw (Longford).
Yes, the Mourne Rally held around South Armagh provided a stern test for all the Border Series contenders. The next round of the ‘Clubmans Championship’ at the Sligo Stages will again see a bumper entry and of course hugely entertaining rallying right down the field.