Moonraker Forestry Rally - 16 May 04

Posted: May 18, 2004 7:35 PM

Brian Murphy/ Joe Downey hold 2nd (56 points). Murphy did not enter the Moonraker due to his BRC committments with Austin McHale. Pat Norris/ Declan Timulty are up to 3rd on 52 points.

Weather conditions were pefect, bone dry and the sun was out – like never before on the Moonraker, dust even became a problem for competitor sand spectators alike. Lynch stopped the clocks 7 secs up on Kevin O’Kane/ Martin Hanna (Impreza WRC) through the opening 3-mile test near Dungourney. The event moved to Lismore for ss2, “The Vee” a famous fast flowing 7-mile stage that had not been used in three years. Lynch was again fastest and arrived into service in Cappaquinn 16 secs ahead of John Shanahan/ Liam McLoughlin. Shanahan pushing his Gp N Impreza to the limit emerged from “The Vee” second fastest despite a broken L/H front hub. O’Kane held third, 1 sec behind Shanahan.



Tyrone’s Stephen Moore/ Tony McHugh were fourth, Moore now much happier with his new suspension set up. Late entry Dermot Kelly/ Greg Shinnors (Escort WRC) lost time in the bushes on ss2 but held fifth – Kelly would not have made the start line only that Stephen Moore agreed to wait 2hrs in Armagh Saturday night to collect an ECU for his fellow competitor.

Pat Norris/ Declan Timullty (Impreza 555) held joint 6th Brian Lawlor/ Peter Kavanagh (16v Escort) who led the 2WD battle. Tommy Kiely/ Mike Cuddihy (16v Escort) had been off the road for 20 secs on “The Vee” but would push to the limit as the event moved towards Kiely’s doorstep. Paul Mulcahy/ Karl Baumann (Starlet) were forced to retire with engine trouble on the first stage. Bob Scanlon/ Peter Keohane rolled their Evo 6 on stage 2.

Lynch set another FTD on ss3 (Coolatour), next up was a hard charging Tommy Kiely only 2 secs adrift of the S9, Shanahnan was a second off rival Kiely. Dermot Kelly’s luck is long gone the former champion withdrew after Coolatour with power steering failure – leaking fluid near the turbo posed a fire hazard. Lynch continued to set FTD through ss4 and 5. Norris now on form was second fastest on both stages and up to third overall, 5 secs behind Shanahan. Moore held fourth, O’Kane fifth, Lawlor sixth – 9 secs up on class rival Kiely who was on a serious charge.

Pat Norris stopped the clocks on 6.18 through the repeat of Coolatour. Lynch S9, Moore Gp N and Kiely mk2 were second on 6.20. Brian Lawlor retired with sheared wheel studs. Lynch responded with another FTD on ss7, two secs up on O’Kane with Norris only 1 secs in arrears. Gp N front-runner Shanahan took to the scenery but lost little time. Moore broke a rear shock and Patrick Elliott/ Sean Moriarty (Evo 6) were worried by a whining rear diff. At Service before the final stage Lynch led 47 secs clear of Norris, Shanahan third, O’Kane and Moore joint fourth and Tommy Kiely was a solid sixth.

Kevin Lynch emerged from the final 3-mile test near Dungouney (a reverse of ss1) to take his third victory of this season, 48 secs ahead of nearest challenger Pat Norris. Both O’Kane and Moore equalled Lynch on the final stage tying on overall results. O’Kane took third as he was quicker on the penultimate stage, Stephen Moore was delighted with fourth and Gp N honours, having pipped rival John Shanahan who dropped to fifth. Tommy Kiely was best 2WD, won class 5 and sixth overall. James Cribben/ Bob Kelly (Evo 6) 7th , Patrick Elliott 8th, Andy Mackeral/ Richard Cassidy (Ascona 16v) 9th and Midleton’s Ollie Williams/ Michael Sigerson (16v Escort) 10th. Another Midleton crew William Walsh/ James Fitzgerald clinched class 1 with a hired 16v Escort. Mike Nevin/ John Kinahan took class 2 honours again in their trusty mk2. James Flynn/ Kevin Barry enjoyed class 3 victory and 13th overall. Danny McEvoy/ Bill Collins cruised to class 4 victory in their G3 Escort. Conor McCluskey/ Damien Duffin (206) were delighted to win class 7 on their first trip down south. Andrew Kearney/ Owen O’Neill (206) and Joe Shinnors/ Mark Bowens (106) had a day-long battle. Kearney went off twice on the latter stages, Shinnors pushed hard all day and looked like the class winner but incurred penalties that dropped him to third. Pat O’Connell/ Paul Manton (Ka) took their second class 9 win of the season as most of their class contenders ended in the bushes.

1 Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Subaru Impreza WRC) 44m 23s,
2 Pat Norris/Declan Tumilty (Subaru Impreza 555) 45m 11s,
3 Kevin O’Kane/Mark Hanna (Subaru Impreza WRC) 45m 21s,
4 Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh (Subaru Impreza Gp N) 45m 21s,
5 John Shanahan/Liam McLaughlin (Mit. Lancer Evo Gp N) 45m 22s,
6 Tom Kiely/Michael Cuddihy (Escort 2.0) 46m 04s,
7 James Cribbin/Bob Kelly (Mit. Lancer Evo Gp N) 47m 08s,
8 Patrick Elliott/Sean Moriarty (Mit. Lancer Evo Gp N) 47m 26s,
9 Andy Mackarel/Richard Cassidy (Opel Ascona) 48m 27s,
10 Ollie Williams/Mike Sigerson (Escort) 48m 38s.

• Full Results and Stagetimes in Excel
• Ford KA C'ship - O'CONNELL KING OF THE WOODS
• Photo - John Bayly (www.rallyfile.com)

• 2004 National Forest Rally Championship
• Ford Ka Championship