Castle Hellfire Single Stage Rally - 12 Sep 04

Posted: January 7, 2005 11:14 AM

1 Sean Gallagher/Claire Gallagher (Escort RS Cosworth) 29.22.1
2 Dominic Loughran/Michael Courtney (Mit. Lancer EVO 7) 29.34.1
3 Paul McEnroe/Alan Keenan (Mit. Lancer EVO 8)  29.34.2
4 Joe Curran/Martin McGarrity (Subaru Impreza WRX) 29.40.4
5 Martin Brady/Barry Sheridan (Escort RS Cosworth) 29.44.5
6 Michael Curran/Mark McNally (Escort) 29.56.3
7 Andrew Browne/Teresa Mulvaney (Subaru Impreza WRX) 30.02.9
8 John Kelly/Robbie Shaw (Mit. Lancer EVO 7) 30.33.6
9 Enda Keenan/Laura Moffett (Escort 2.4) 30.33.9
10 Ollie O'Reilly/Martin Cahill (Escort 2.0) 30.34.8

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2004-2005 Irish 205 Challenge
Limerick Crew Win Opening Round of Irish 205 Challenge
The opening round of the Irish 205 Challenge took place this weekend at the Hellfire Castle Single Stage Rally in Oldcastle, Co.Meath.

Twelve registered competitors from all four corners of the country started the event which was run in heavy ran making the stages treacherously slippery. A blockage on the stage caused many of the Peugeot 205 competitors to be given a stage interrupted time. This stage also saw the first retirement of the event, Colm Cronin and Brian Doherty pulled up in the stage with gear linkage problems. They were later to be awarded the Spirit of the Rally Award for their efforts in making the long trip from Killarney.

Twenty year old Adrian McBride with Dessie Dolan set fastest time on stage two and opened up a 17 second lead from Limerick's Niall O'Connell and Trevor Payne, with Seamus O'Grady and Oonagh Roche a further 25 seconds behind. Colin Walsh and Niamh Lynch rolled on stage two and William Mavitty and John Higgins retired when they lost a wheel.

The stage dried a little for the final run through and all competitors were much happier in the conditions. Niall O'Connell set a blistering time on the final stage and leaped into first place taking a massive 28 seconds out of young Adrian McBride who then finished the event in second place. Seamus O'Grady was third, Graham Colfer and Jack Newman fourth with Tommy Rafferty and Brian Purcell rounding off the top five.

It was however Naill O'Connell and co-driver Trevor Payne's day when they snatched the win on the final stage of the event.

The next event is the GMSC Single Stage - 17 Oct.

Full results:
1. Niall O'Connell  Trevor Payne
2. Adrian McBride  Dessie Dolan
3. Seamus O'Grady  Oonagh Roche
4. Graham Colfer   Enda Tully
5. Tommie Rafferty  Brian Purcell
6. Emma Britton  Paula Noony
7. Stephen McGee   Joseph  Timoney
8. Martin Ewing  James Ewing
9. Fergal Driver  Mark Driver

• Rallynews (by Brian & Liz Patterson)
• 2004-2005 Irish 205 Challenge
• Photos by James Burke