Killarney Forest Rally - 5 Sep 04

Posted: September 9, 2004 9:17 AM

Final Round Victory for O’Kane/ Hanna.
Kevin O’Kane/ Martin Hanna (Impreza WRC) emerged from the final stage of the “Bio Clear” Killarney Forest Rally victorious as their main rivals Dermot Kelly/ Greg Shinnors (Escort WRC) were sidelined within a mile of the finish. The Omagh pairing took their first win after a sterling drive all season and secured runner-up spot in The McCauley Trailers National Forest Rally Championship.

Perfect weather conditions prevailed as over 80 cars started from parc ferme in Sunday morning, heading north of Castleisland to the Mullaghareirk Forest Complex for the opening 8.5 mile test. Dermot Kelly led from ss1 with Pat Norris/ Declan Timulty (Impreza 555) only one second in arrears. 3rd placed James Murphy/ Con Mulcahy (Escort WRC) had made a wrong tyre choice and were 10 secs off Norris. Kevin O’Kane left his braking too late, spun at a square left and was 2 secs down on Murphy.

Stephen Moore (Impreza N8) with Liam McLaughlin on the notes held fifth, 5 secs up on their main Gp N challengers Pete Willoughby/ Paul Nagle (Evo 6). Brian Lawlor/ Peter Kavanagh (Escort) led the 2WD contingent as John Reid retired with a broken axle and Paul Mulcahy’s Starlet stopped with alternator troubles dropping him well down the leader-board. Donie O’Sullivan made quite an impact holding 7th with an ADR hired Evo 7, Patrick Elliott (Evo 6) 9th and Noel Driver/ Joe Shinnors (Escort) rounded off the top ten and appeared to be Lawlor’s strongest challenge in class 5.

Kevin O’Kane got it together on ss2 (Forehane), stopping the clocks 9 secs up on Kelly. Pat Norris was unlucky as he slid off the road 3 miles in at deceptive hairpin left – there was no damage but the car was stuck in a drain virtually ending his chances of a podium place in the Championship. Stephen Moore turned in a fine time as he equalled Kelly through Forehane and climbed to third. James Murphy dropped 25 secs as he mounted a bank at a hairpin right – luckily his fan club were spectating there and came to his rescue! Willoughby held 5th and Lawlor 6th, Elliott 7th, Donie O’Sullivan and James Cribbin (Evo 6) tied for 8th. Noel Driver dropped back as he suffered a broken steering rack after a heavy landing.

At service in Castleisland Mart after ss3 (Mount Eagle) Dermot Kelly led by a mere second from O’Kane who was on form – the Omagh man took a further 3 secs off Kelly through the tough and testing Mount Eagle Forest. Tyrone’s Stephen Moore maintained 3rd but came under increasing pressure as Willoughby set a blistering pace on ss3, 7 secs up on Moore and third fastest reducing the gap to 8secs. Brian Lawlor was chasing hard in fifth, Elliott 6th, Cribbin 7th, O’Sullivan 8th, James Murphy was having a bad day, now down to 9th as he lost a rear brake calliper through Mount Eagle. Locals John Hickey/ Nicholas Burke had the ex-Sainz Celica GT4 up to 10th.

Dermot Kelly went on a serious charge through the repeat of Mullaghareirk but broke a gearbox mount and dropped 10 secs to O’Kane. Despite not having any left rear brake calliper James Murphy was determined to climb the leader-board and set 3rd fastest time. The Moore/ Willoughby battle continued as the duo tied through ss4. Now 9 secs in arrears Kelly improvised securing the gearbox to the cross member with the spare wheel ratchet strap and set fastest time on the penultimate stage, 1 sec up on O’Kane.

Going into the final 6-mile test, a repeat of Mount Eagle O’Kane held an 8 sec advantage over Kelly so it was all to play for, but as the stage started dark clouds loomed and a brief shower of rain made conditions slippery. O’Kane got through the final stage unscathed but dropped 17 secs on his previous run. Kelly gave it his all but within a mile of the finish suffered the same fate as Norris. The Charleville man slipped off into a drain at the famous bridge where so many have been off before. Like Norris there wasn’t a scratch on the car but even the willing crowd were unable to get the Escort WRC back on track leaving O’Kane with comfortable winning margin.

Pete Willoughby and Stephen Moore had again tied on ss5 so this was another down to the wire battle for Gp N honours. Moore held an 8 sec advantage and would have to push to the limit to hold off his rival. Willoughby intent on winning having come so close in Cork pulled all the stops out with his hired Lancer to set fastest overall time through Mount Eagle – 9 secs up on Moore. With the demise of Dermot Kelly Pete Willoughby earned his best ever result a fantastic 2nd overall. A mere second adrift Stephen Moore finished a very credible 3rd overall having fought tooth and nail throughout the event.

James Murphy did very well to recover to 4th. Patrick Elliott/ Martin Cahill (Evo 6) got it together on the final round – 5th overall and Gp N honours, Elliott’s performance also earned him 3rd overall in the Championship. 6th placed Brian Lawlor lost the tie for fifth as Elliott was a second quicker but has clinched the inaugural “Best 2WD” award in the Championship.

Donie O’Sullivan/ Jakes Kelly finished a fine 7th overall on their first ever Forest Rally; Donie really enjoyed the Woods and has promised a return. 8th placed James Cribbin/ Bob Kelly (Evo 6) had a clean run and set competitive times. 9th overall John Hickey/ Nicholas Burke (Celica GT4) and Eddie Garry/ Kevin Kelleher (Impreza N9) had their best result to date rounding off the top ten. Class honours went to: Class1; Cathal Daly/ Thomas Murphy (Civic), Class2; Mick Nevin/ Mike Garahy (mk 2), Class3; Billy O’Connell/ Derek Power (Corolla), Class 4; Ray Benskin/ Peadar Walsh (mk 2), Class 5; Brian Lawlor/ Peter Kavanagh (mk 2), Class 7; Peter McCullagh/ Alan Dolan (206), Class 8; Patrick Elliott/ Martin Cahill (Evo 6) and Class 9; Liam Ryan/ Pat O’Connell (KA). Patrick Shanahan/ Joey Irwin suffered a soft roll but survived to take second in class and received “Spirit of the Rally”Award.

The event was the closing round of the McCauley Trailers Championship and was well supported as many of the class positions went to the wire. Well done to Brendan Counihan and his team who ran a very successful event, good stages, well marshalled and all on time.

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06/09/04
CLEARLY O'KANE IN KILLARNEY FORESTRY RALLY
The Tyrone crew of Kevin O'Kane and Martin Hanna have won the Bio-Clear 2004 Killarney Forestry Rally, which took place today in counties Kerry, Cork and Limerick. They took the lead after the halfway point in their Subaru Impreza WRC, overhauling the initial leaders, Dermot Kelly and Greg Shinnors, and remained in front for the remainder of the event. The Charleville-Limerick pairing of Kelly and Shinnors went into the final stage eight seconds adrift of the lead, but their efforts to make up the difference came to an abrupt conclusion when they crashed out of the rally on the Mount Eagle test.

The Bio-Clear Killarney Forestry Rally, the final round of the McCauley Trailers 2004 National Forest Rally Championship, attracted entires from over eighty crews, who experienced near-perfect weather conditions throughout the day, while the spectators also enjoyed the bright autumn sunshine.

Kelly was fastest on the opening stage in his WRC Escort, eleven seconds ahead of his nearest challenger, James Murphy (Escort Cosworth), with O'Kane a further two seconds in arrears. On stage two, O'Kane upped the ante and closed to within nine seconds of Kelly. Murphy was slowed after a rear brake caliper bracket came loose, and dropped down the order. O'Kane was fastest again on stage three, and trailed Murphy by a single second at the halfway point.

Following a service halt in Castleisland, the crews tackled a second loop of the Mullaghareirk, Forehane and Mount Eagle stages. O'Kane moved ahead of Kelly on the first of these, recording a time ten seconds quicker than his rival. On the penultimate test, Kelly pulled one second back, to remain within striking distance of the lead. His eventual retirement allowed Cork's Pete Willoughby, navigated by Killarney man, Paul Nagle, through into second place. It was an excellent result for Willoughby on only his second ever outing in a four wheel drive car, and his pace was underlined when he recorded the fastest time on the final stage.

James Murphy and Con Mulcahy recovered to finish fourth after their earlier brake problems, ahead of Patrick Elliott and Martin Cahill. Brian Lawlor and Peter Kavanagh lost fifth place to Elliott and Cahill on a tie-break, having recorded the same total times. A puncture for Lawlor on the final stage cost him twenty seconds, but he was still the highest placed two-wheel drive contender by a comfortable margin.

Rally sponsor, Donie O'Sullivan, was very pleased to finish seventh on his forest rally debut. He and co-driver, Jakes Kelly, were the first Kerry crew home. John Hickey and Nicholas Burke also upheld local honour, taking ninth place.

1 K O'Kane/M Hanna (Subaru Impreza WRC) 44:07
2 P Willoughby/P Nagle (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 6) 45:18
3 S Moore/L McLaughlin (Subaru Impreza N8) 45:19
4 J Murphy/C Mulcahy (Escort RS Cosworth) 46:05
5 P Elliott/M Cahill (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 6) 46:10
6 B Lawlor/P Kavanagh (Ford Escort) 46:10
7 D O'Sullivan/J Kelly (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 7) 46:18
8 J Cribben/B Kelly (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 6) 46:31
9 J Hickey/N Burke (Toyota Celica GT4) 46:34
10 E Garry/K Kelleher (Subaru Impreza N9) 48:59

• Full Results and Stagetimes

• Report on Irish Examiner Breaking News

• 2004 Forestry Championship