Circuit of Ireland - 10-13 Apr 04

Posted: April 13, 2004 8:59 PM

Keenan/Sherry win Group N Having led all the way from Saturday’s opening stage at St Angelo airfield, Derek McGarrity of Belfast and his Athlone co-driver Dermot O’Gorman on Monday brought their Subaru Impreza to victory in the Buy & Sell Circuit of Ireland International Rally without any major dramas.

For both of them, it was a second victory in Ireland’s oldest International event, with McGarrity becoming the first driver in fifteen years to take back to back wins, while O’Gorman won with Austin McHale eleven years ago.

Their only serious challengers were Eugene Donnelly and Paul Kiely who brought their Toyota Corolla into runner up position, 36 seconds behind, giving them the lead in the Pirelli Irish Tarmac Championship by a single point, while Killarney pair Donie O’Sullivan and Paul Nagle completed a great month by taking third place in their Focus WRC, hot on the heels of their two major wins in national rallies.

Monday’s final seven stages in Fermanagh and Tyrone saw the leaderboard stay much the same as on Sunday night, with double Circuit winner Austin McHale too far behind to challenge for third position following a puncture late on Sunday on his Sanyo Focus, while the Doherty brothers from Carndonagh held station in fifth place despite a few last minute worries.

However, the Group N Production class provided all of Monday’s excitement, with Sunday’s leader Garry Jennings crashing his Lancer Evo out of the rally on the first stage of the day, Carren Bridge, only a few miles from his Ballinamallard home.

This left Billy Coleman Award winner Dessie Keenan, the Monaghan driver who led the class for much of Sunday, back in front, and he brought his Lancer home to Group N victory. With Jennings’ retirement, Aaron McHale climbed to second place in this class, but there was heartbreak for the son of the double winner when his Lancer was a late retirement just before the start of the final stage with a broken transmission.

The car stopped midway through the previous stage and had to be push started, and he limped to service, hoping to get slowly through St Angelo and hold his second place, but it wasn’t to be, and, as he said afterwards “something exploded inside” and he could go no farther.

1 Derek McGarrity/Dermot O’Gorman (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 37m 22.8s,
2 Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Toyota Corolla WRC) 2h 37m 58.7s,
3 Donie O’Sullivan/Paul Nagle (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 40m 09.9s,
4 Austin McHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 41m 07.8s,
5 Daniel Doherty/Michael Doherty (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 43m 31.4s,
6 Dessie Keenan/Enda Sherry (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Gp N) 2h 50m 16.8s,
7 Willie Fannin/Michael Courtney (Subaru Impreza Gp N) 2h 57m 55.7s,
8 Guy Woodcock/Phil Harrison (Ford Escort Maxi F2) 3h 01m 49.9s,
9 Charlie Mavitty/Nigel Frazer (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Gp N) 3h 05m 21.9s,
10 Alan Cathcart/Paddy Flanagan (Honda Integra Gp N) 3h 08m 02.2.

Class winners:
Frank Tuomey/Declan Tuomey (Suzuki Swift),
John Gallagher/Damien Duffy (Honda Civic),
Alan Cathcart/Paddy Flanagan,
Dermot Hanafin/Claire Mole,
John McElhinney/Ambrose Given (Suzuki Swift),
Andrew Bushe/Ian Regan (Peugeot 106),
Guy Woodcock/Phil Harrison,
Austin McHale/Brian Murphy.

NATIONAL RALLY:
1 Jaye Jordan/Stewart Graeme (Escort Cosworth) 1h 56m 05.2s,
2 Seamus O’Connell/Sean Magee (Escort) 1h 58m 19.2s,
3 Harold Brown/Mark Scollan (Vauxhall Astra) 1h 58m 59.6s.

Class winners:
Damien Tourish/Kevin Duggan (Honda Civic),
David Hyland/Chris Hamilton (Vauxhall Nova),
Neil Coalter/Mo Downey (Honda Civic),
Brian Durnien/Martin McGarrity (Ford Escort),
Gary Keenan/Brigid Averall (Escort).

HISTORIC RALLY:
1 Adrian Kermode/Marcus Cartwright (Porsche 911) 2h 04m 25s,
2 Mervyn Johnston/Richard Hyland (Mini Cooper S) 2h 09m 02.6s,
3 Niall Creighton/Greg Roberts (Lotus Cortina) 2h 09m 15.1s.

Class winners:
Philip McDowell/Gordon Buckley (Ford Escort),
Martin Ward/Linda Conroy (Opel Manta),
Alan Lemon/Jeremy Tomalin (Wolseley Hornet),
Stuart Hyland/Jonathan Charlesson (Ford Cortina),
Kevin Haselden/Tom Solomon (Mini Cooper S).

• Results and Stage Times on results.trapedza.com
• Rallynews (by Brian & Liz Patterson)
• Photos by Seamus Counihan
• Photos by John Bayly www.rallyfile.com