2003 Midland Motor Club Mini Stage Rally - 23 Mar 03

Posted: March 25, 2003 5:46 PM

Spectators flocked to the Leitrim/Roscommon stages on Sunday morning to watch 130-rally cars speed by. Recce was held on Saturday with scrutiny on Saturday evening. But the real competition began on Sunday at 12pm. Last years winner Thomas Mc Govern was flagged off from the start ramp at no. 1 with the Carrick pairing of Sean Gallagher and Liam Costello hot on their heels at no. 2. Galway's George Cullen was giving his C-Sport prepared Castrol Celica 185 a shakedown at no 3 on the road. Sean and Liam lead from start to finish in their Escort Cosworth but didn't run away with it by any means. Due to a number of competitors beating the bogey time in the end there was only 1 second between 1st and 2nd spot. The Carrick crew brought the Costello Auto Trans Escort home to a rapturous welcome at the Bush hotel. Hopefully this is a sign of the season ahead for Sean and Liam as they contest the Dunlop National Tarmac Championship.

Coming home in second place was Alan Nesbitt in his maiden outing in a Celica 185. Pete Donegan brought his Escort home in third. This was an outstanding result as it was only his second rally finish ever. Pete races Dunlop RT2000's in Mondello but obviously the transition to rallying was an easy one for him. Noticable retirements during the day were James Cullen with a blown engine, the Mc Cann Brothers suffered drive failure in their Escort Cosworth, Adrian Quinn blew a turbo in his Evo 6 and John Spain was spotted being towed back into Parc Feirme.

All competitors congratulated COC Ciaran Dwyer for 2 of the best stages they had driven in a long time. They all commented on how fast they were but still managed to maintain a very high degree of safety.

Ciaran would like to thank all officials and marshals for their help in making this year's event the safest and most successful Midland Motor Club Mini Stage Rally yet. Ciaran would also like to thank the sponsors and Joe Dolan and his staff at the Bush Hotel for their outstanding quality of service over the weekend."

1 Sean Gallagher/Liam Costello (Escort RS Cosworth)     32m 18s
2 Alan Nesbitt/Enda Sherry (Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD)    32m 19s
3 Pat Donegan/P Wilson (Escort 2.0)                     32m 27s
4 Sean McArdle/Gerard McMonagle (Toyota Celica GT-Four) 32m 29s
5 George Cullen/Derek Brannigan (Toyota Celica GT-Four) 32m 31s
6 D McNulty/M McGarrity (Escort RS Cosworth)            32m 33s

• Full Results and Stage Times in Excel Format