Midland Navigation Trial - 28-29 Nov 09

Report: Doherty/Riney land maiden National win

Posted: January 18, 2010 10:44 AM

Donegal duo Paul Doherty & Donny Riney claimed overall victory on Midland Motor Club’s Navigation Trial, Round 4 of the 2009-10 National Night Navigation Championship. After 90 competitive miles across new terrain in North Roscommon, the semi-expert pair finished on 4 penalties, taking the event win on the “semi beats expert” rule. Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan and Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins, both expert crews, were also down 4 penalties. The “furthest cleanest” rule secured 2nd place for the Tynans over Mackarel/Higgins, the organisers of the previous round in Monaghan.

As the crews left the Sadler’s Inn, competitors knew weather conditions would be a challenge. Fog was plentiful, meaning that competitors would have to err on the side of caution. It also increased the pressure on navigators to warn the drivers of approaching corners with the low visibility, while the drivers had to maintain full concentration in reading the road and listening to their navigator’s instructions. A Speed Regulation Section at 18 MPH kick started the event. Already some crews were in trouble here with Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins dropping 1 penalty and Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors dropping 6 penalties. TP3 & TP4 were “Plot & Bash” and TP4 was written in small writing at the bottom of the other side of the page. If crews took the shortest route to TP3 then they would have double visited TP4. To make TP3, crews had to take a slot left, find a lane around a house, t-junction left and down to the timepoint. A number of crews got caught out here, but in the end TP4 had to be scrubbed as one of the 42 crews had TP4 missing from their sheet. This left a number of crews breathing a sigh of relief. By TP6 Novices Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey led from James Fitzgerald/Ken Carmody and Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall, all on clean sheets. Already two expert crews had retired. Round 2 winners Shane Maguire/Ciaran Coyle retired with a damaged rear wheel. Defending champions and current championship leaders Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo had suffered their first non-finish in over two years after being caught out in the tricky conditions, ensuring an early night for them.

Most crews found themselves dropping penalties at TP7 and TP8. Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey continued to lead on 1 penalty with Farrell/Hall up into 2nd place, also on 1 penalty. James Fitzgerald/Ken Carmody were now 3rd overall on 2 penalties with fellow semi-expert Paul Doherty/Donny Riney in 4th place also on 2 penalties. Leading beginners Enda Sherry/Dessie Keenan were in an impressive 5th overall on 3 penalties as the route headed west towards Ballaghadereen. The route was relatively straight forward up until TP16. There was no change at the top, with Keenan/Garvey continuing to lead from Farrell/Hall. TP17 & TP18 were on tulip diagrams. Distances were cumulative on a herring bone diagram. The route took crews around some difficult and very wet bog roads. Most of the front-running crews had no major problems. But overall leaders Keenan/Garvey dropped 3 penalties at TP18 and with it their lead was gone.

By the 2nd relaxed section, Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall had moved into the overall lead, still on just 1 penalty. 2nd place was now held by Cork crew James Fitzgerald/Ken Carmody on 2 penalties. Keenan/Garvey were now down to 3rd. Paul Doherty/Donny Riney were 4th followed by Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes, both crews on 3 penalties. Another novice crew, Gerard Callaghan/Kevin Gallagher completed the top six overall. Interestingly, only 1 expert crew was in the top 6 places after 20 timepoints.

The 2nd SRS was at 30 MPH. The only change up front resulted in Doherty/Riney dropping 1 penalty and 2 places overall. Keenan/Garvey also dropped 1 penalty there and were now level with class rivals Callaghan/Gallagher. TP23 was the next difficult challenge facing the crews. It was Plot & Bash, a tulip diagram with no distances and only “road goes” included. This timepoint was the cause of a number of crew’s problems on the night. No change at the front as Farrell/Hall cleaned the timepoint and continued to hold a 2 penalty lead over the opposition. 2nd place was now held by Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes on 3 penalties. Keenan/Garvey lay 3rd, with Callaghan/Gallagher 4th and Paul Doherty/Donny Riney in 5th place. Ger Gowen/Paul Phelan were 6th, Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan 7th and Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins 8th. All these crews were down 4 penalties emphasising just how close the battle was at the top.

Leaders Farrell/Hall dropped 1 penalty at TP24, but continued to hold the lead. Next to hit trouble were Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes. On course for a top 3 finish, they lost 7 penalties at TP26 after a pre-start mis-plot, only realising their mistake after going some three miles off route. The two leading novice crews had also dropped back a bit. Into 2nd place now came Paul Doherty/Donny Riney, with Tynan/Tynan 3rd and Mackarel/Higgins now 4th. TP31 was the final “plot & bash” timepoint. It listed the gridlines that must be crossed to get a correct approach to the timepoint. Once again the leading competitors demonstrated their navigations skills with no major problems here. One more timepoint was left. It was pre-plotted, taking an unmapped road to the right and looping around sheds back onto the road 68 metres further down. It turned out to be a real sting in the tale as the leaders for most of the night received a double visit penalty at the final timepoint. After a near perfect run that one last slip cost Farrell/Hall the event and handed overall honours to Paul Doherty/Donny Riney.

After 90 miles, three crews were on 4 penalties. However, with semi-expert crews taking precedence over expert crews, this gave the Donegal boys the win. They have been knocking on the door for the last few years and have been ultra consistent in their class and finally it all came together for them. 2nd place went to Michael Tynan/Ciaran Tynan, back on form after two disappointing runs, with Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins after organising that Drumlin marathon two weeks prior, completing the top 3. In 4th place on 5 penalties were Ger Gowen/Paul Phelan while in 5th place on 6 penalties were Gareth Beagan/Stephen Thornton, after a subdued night by their very high standards. Nevertheless their result moves this crew into the lead of the National Championship at the halfway point of the season. However when dropped scores come into play, Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo, Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins and Paul Phelan are still very much within touching distance of the leaders.

Expert class:
Top points on the night went to uncle and nephew team, Michael & Ciaran Tynan. They just missed out on the overall win on the “semi beats expert” rule. Andy Mackarel & Liam Higgins were competitive as ever to take 2nd place points ahead of Ger Gowen/Paul Phelan. Gareth Beagan/Stephen Thornton picked up another solid haul of points by being 4th expert across the finish line. Alan & George Shinnors continued their fine season with 8th overall and 5th expert. Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall must have been bitterly disappointed to have lost the event at the final timepoint. They still managed 6th amongst the finishing experts.

Probably the biggest story of this class was the non-finish of Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo, which throws the National Championship wide open. Shane Maguire/Ciaran Coyle also failed to finish which severely weakens their Championship aspirations.

Semi-Expert class:
Paul Doherty & Donny Riney’s outright win means that the class award on the night went to Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes. This crew have been desperately out of luck in this campaign, typified when they slipped off while holding 3rd place overall on the Drumlin. If it hadn’t had been for a silly error in plotting the route beforehand, not just the class but the overall win could have been theirs. Still, 2nd placed points moves them within 1 point of the class lead in the championship.

James Fitzgerald/Ken Carmody had a storming first half of the event, lying in the top 3 up until TP23. Despite that mistake, when they missed the timepoint, they picked up 3rd place championship points. Next home was Declan Tynan/Andrew Grennan. They were also caught out at TP23, which as in the previous case cost them the class on the night. Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes’s championship campaign suffered a setback after finishing 5th amongst the semi-experts. After enjoying a good run, dropping just 8 penalties getting from timepoint to timepoint, they were disappointed to find that from TP10 to TP23, they had been running a minute earlier than they were due. They avoided a 50 penalty, as they made back the time on a Time Recovery Section, but they received 2 penalties for each timepoint where they were early. This ruined their night as it cost them 4 places in the class and reduced their championship lead to just 1 point by the halfway stage of the season. Janice Mackarel/Richard Cassidy completed the class finishers on the night.
Novice class:

Gerard Callaghan/Kevin Gallagher claimed top points on the night as well as an excellent 6th place overall to boot. Always in the top few places all night, this crew came good when it mattered to eventually finish some 24 penalties ahead of the opposition. Championship leaders Peter Hagan & Sam Johnston took 2nd in class continuing their excellent season, with Gene McDonald/Damien McCabe completing the top 3.

Kevin Keenan & Barry Garvey made the initial running in the class. By TP8, they were not only leading the class but also leading overall with just 1 penalty dropped. Paddy Callaghan & Colin Duffy were upholding local honour and held a terrific 2nd in class on 3 penalties, Colin’s switch from the drivers to navigators seat going superbly. Another driver turned navigator, Dessie Keenan was repeating his Drumlin form. Dessie & Enda Sherry were also on three penalties, as were Peter Hagan/Sam Johnston. Completing the top 5 were Gerard Callaghan/Kevin Gallagher from Donegal on 4 penalties.

Kevin & Barry held the overall lead right up until TP18, but dropped 3 penalties. They maintained their class lead with Gerard Callaghan/Kevin Gallagher now in 2nd place, with only furthest cleanest rule keeping them from the top spot. Peter Hagan/Sam Johnston were in 3rd place on 8 penalties. Keenan/Garvey dropped 1 penalty on ITC2 allowing Callaghan/Gallagher to hit the front of the class for the first time. By TP24 though, Keenan/Garvey are back in the lead on furthest cleanest from Callaghan/Gallagher both crews on 7 penalties. Hagan/Johnston had dropped back, but were still 3rd in class on 32 penalties.

The battles for class honours was decided when Keenan/Garvey picked up a 50 penalty at TP27 and a double visit at TP32 knocked them out of the points places. Callaghan/Gallagher had no more problems, dropping just 1 further penalty to take their first class win of the year as well as an excellent top 10 finish. Peter Hagan/Sam Johnston were promoted to 2nd in class late on to extend their championship lead. The ever improving Cootehill duo, Gene McDonald/Damien McCabe finished in an excellent 3rd place in class on 52 penalties, with Sean McKenna/Gary Farrelly next home, a further four penalties in arrears. Another Donegal team, Noel Harvey/Ciaran Harvey took 5th in class ahead of early front runners, Paddy Callaghan/Colin Duffy in 6th.

The Championship now moves back to Cork for the classic 1000 Shakes Navigation Trial. Nial Murphy is once again the COC and he hopes to have a 115 mile route across some of the best driving roads in the country. The battle for overall and class honours remains intense in this year’s championship and not one crew has been able to get a strangle-hold on their class. With four different overall winners in the first four rounds of the championship, one wonders whether there will be a 5th from five on the weekend of 23/24 January.

Full Results

Posted: November 29, 2009 11:08 PM

1 Paul Doherty/Donny Riney (Subaru Impreza) 4 marks,
2 Mickey Tynan/Ciaran Tynan (Subaru Impreza) 4m,
3 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 4m,
4 Ger Gowen/Paul Phelan (Subaru Impreza) 5m,
5 Garreth Beagan/Stephen Thornton (Subaru Impreza) 6m,
6 Gerard Callaghan/Kevin Gallagher (Subaru Impreza) 8m,
7 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Legacy) 10m,
8 Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 12m,
9 James Fitzgerald/Ken Carmody (Subaru Impreza) 22m,
10 Declan Tynan/Andrew Grennan (Subaru Impreza) 24m.

Semi-experts:
1 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes,
2 James Fitzgerald/Ken Carmody,
3 Declan Tynan/Andrew Grennan.

Novices:
1 Gerard Callaghan/Kevin Gallagher,
2 Gene McDonald/Damien McCabe (Subaru Legacy) 52m,
3 Sean McKenna/Garry Farrelly (Subaru Impreza) 56m.

Beginners:
1 Peter Hagan/Sam Johnston (Toyota Corolla) 32m,
2 Paddy Callaghan/Colin Duffy (Opel Astra) 61m,
3 Damien Ward/Laurence Keenan (Ford Mondeo) 62m.

Full Results

Regulations / Details

Posted: January 1, 2009 12:01 AM

• Midland Motorclub