Willie Loughman Memorial Carrick on Suir Forestry Rally - 23 Feb 03

Posted: February 24, 2003 9:44 PM

John set the pace on stage 1, Gurteen 1 with a 9.06 including a spin and nearest challenger was Garry Jennings in the rapid 106 Maxi on 9.28 followed by a line of serious 4WD machinery, John Donnelly and Eddie Kinirons were tied on 9.36, followed by Kevin o' Kane 9.51. Top seed Dermot Kelly had electrical trouble throughout the day costing him dearly. At service after ss 3 John McCarthy was 34secs ahead of Eddie Kinirons and this trend would contiue all the way to the finish. John's only trouble was very limited steering lock, which was sorted by adjusting the lock stoppers and now the Impreza seemed to go up a gear, pulling out an even bigger lead stage after stage all the way to the finish in Carrick.

Eddie Kininrons had his best result to date, finishing a solid 2nd this makes a good start to his championship hopes, really gettting it together although losing some time on the tight hairpins due to handbrake problems.Yet again rising star Garry Jennings shone as he powered the rapid 106 Maxi to 3rd despite losing the rear shocks on ss 9, doing last stage, Anner without any rear shocks at all! Kevin o' Kane was 4th and seemed to slip back after a serious charge setting fastest time on ss 5. John Shanahan finshed a very fine 5th on his first day in the newly built Gp N Impreza, this was a learning curve with some mechanical trouble along the way. Dermot Kelly was just a second behind in 6th after a frustrating day but when his Escort WRC was on song so was he, setting fastest time on ss 9. John Donnelly finished 7th, he was in the top 3 early on but a puncture on ss 6 cost nearly a minute dropping him down the leaderboard. John McGaffin had a steady run to 8th enjoying himself no end with that mighty Legacy. Paul Mulcahy finished 9th and won class 2. His cousin Alan (Mulcahy) in a similar 1600 16v starlet was 10th.

Retirements included no.8 James Murphy, who suffered a burst rad on ss 7, David James went off early in the day, Paul Staunton finished down in 23rd after a variety of troubles (battery, steering rack etc). Kieran Molloy broke a shaft on ss 2. Mike o' Sullivan no. 33, head gasket on ss 1. James Foley's civic retired on ss 3. But spare a thought for no. 26 Matt Shinnors who retired 10yrds into ss 1, his mk 2 stopped with some electrical bug!

This was the first round of the Ford Ka championship and the first time these lads came to the woods, series winner on the day Vivienne Noone had alot of fun and is looking forward to the next day for the Ka series in the woods.

 1 John McCarthy/Dan Maguire (Subaru Impreza 555) 	53m 35s
 2 Eddie Kinirons/Greg Shinnors (Toyota Celica GT-Four) 55m 07s
 3 Garry Jennings/Gordon Noble (Peugoet 106 Maxi) 	55m 59s
 4 Kevin O'Kane/Steven Griffith (Subaru Impreza 555) 	56m 20s
 5 John Shanahan/Liam McLaughlin (Subaru Impreza WRX) 	56m 56s
 6 Dermot Kelly/John Brennan (Ford Escort WRC) 		56m 57s
 7 John Donnelly/Greg McCarthy (Ford Escort WRC) 	57m 37s
 8 John McGaffin/Tom Graham (Subaru Legacy RS) 		58m 26s
 9 Paul Mulcahy/Kenny Walsh (Starlet 1.6 16V) 		59m 56s
10 Alan Mulcahy/Dermot Harrington (Starlet 1.6 16V) 	60m 42s

Ford Ka Class: 
1 Vivian Noone/Trevor Payne     66m 14s
2 Eoin Fogarty/Pat Nolan        66m 22s
3 Ian Chadwick/Donnacha O'Brien 67m 07s

Class 1 Llyod Hutchinson/ Lester Hutchinson  Mini    	 1.01.26
Class 2 Paul Mulcahy/ Kenny Walsh            Starlet       59.56 
Class 3 Noel Driver/ Joe Shinnors            Escort  	 1.01.40
Class 4 Allen Treacy/ Michael Coakley        Corolla 	 1.03.28
Class 5 Dermot Kelly/ John Brennan           Escort WRC    56.57
Class 6 Gareth McHale/ Joe Downey            Peugoet 206 1.01.18
Class 7 no finishers
Class 8 John Shanahan/ Paddy Loughman        Impreza 	   56.56

• Full Results and Stage Times (In Excel Format)
• Ford KA Championship
• Rallynews by Michael Patterson & Zoe Todd from Carrick www.rallynews.net
• Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club