Posted: January 31, 2011 12:35 PM - 6530 Hits
Round 5 - 2010/11 National Night Navigation Championship
Round 4 - 2010/11 Munster Night Navigation Championship
Posted: January 31, 2011 12:35 PM
Arthur Kierans & Ashley McAdoo regained control of the National Navigation Championship after a superb win on Cork Motor Club’s 1000 Shakes Navigation Trial. The 120 miles route was testing for both driver and navigator but by the 4.30 am finish, it was the reigning National Champions who had done enough to claim their third event win this season. 2nd place overall went to Joe & Greg Shinnors from another Shinnors pairing, Alan & George. All three crews competed in Subaru Imprezas.
The first half of the event was all pre-plot incorporating farm lanes, grassy tracks, yards and the infamous tight, twisty roads of the area. Startrek winners Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes started at No1. The majority of crews maintained clean sheets as far as TP10 which came after a number of grassy farm lanes. TP11 was the end of top seeds Carbin/Hughes’s challenge as a timing error resulted in them picking up a massive 50 penalties, ending all hopes of a good result. Some crews lost time at TP10 due to a gate being closed after the first few cars had gone through and competitors had to re-open the gate in order to proceed. TP15 had more crews down time as a long farm lane, coupled with a marshals clock being behind official event time, resulted in some crews dropping further penalties. By the first TRS of the event, Alan & George Shinnors led on a total of 1 penalty, which they dropped at TP10. In 2nd place were Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo & Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes both crews on two penalties, with Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan also on two penalties but behind on the “furthest cleanest” rule.
The SRS section that followed was timed to 32kph, but penalties appear to have been applied for a 30mph average, as all crews dropped in the region of 20 penalties at the ITC. Joe & Greg Shinnors had made some progress on their rivals to move into a joint lead with Alan & George, both crews on 21 penalties. It was close at the top with no fewer than three crews just one penalty in arrears. More great driving lanes completed the first half of the event. Joe & Greg dropped 1 penalty into TP36 which left Alan & George Shinnors (21 penalties) with a clear overall lead by the petrol halt in the village of Cappeen. Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo (22 pens) were 2nd overall on furthest cleanest from Joe Shinnors/Greg Shinnors. 4th place was held by Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (23 pens) with Semi-Expert class leaders Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody (26 pens) completing the top five overall. Derek Butler/Olivia McCarthy (48 penalties) led the novice class with David Beamish/Muireann Hayes (89 penalties) out front in the Beginner’s class.
A further 60 miles still lay ahead at this point, with four Plot & Bash timepoints getting things underway. Although relatively straight-forward, this section wasn’t cleaned as the nature of the roads and lanes used as well as navigators plotting and re-checking their plots resulted in crews down time. The battle was on between the leading crews with both sets of Shinnors dropping a penalty into TP102. Arthur & Ashley dropped 1 penalty at TP104, but so did Alan & George, leaving all three crews on 23 penalties. Arthur & Ashley and Alan & George also dropped a penalty each at TP107. However, Joe & Greg slipped back somewhat as they dropped 1 penalty at TP106 and 2 penalties at TP107.
There was a major scare for the leading crews as they, along with around ten others were adjudged to have failed to stop at a yield sign at TP116. However, these and all other stop sign penalties were subsequently scrapped on a technicality. The battle for the win was decided at TP118, as Alan & George dropped a whopping 11 penalties here, demoting them back to 5th. Joe & Greg took up the challenge but could do little to stop Kierans/McAdoo who cleaned all remaining timepoints to finish on a total of 24 penalties. Joe & Greg finished just three penalties in arrears to take a well earned 2nd place. There was a late change in the battle for 3rd place, as Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan missed TP130 and Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody dropped 7 penalties on the 2nd SRS. This allowed Alan & George Shinnors back up to 3rd place, with Kenneally/Carmody (47 pens) holding off Cassidy/Phelan (49 pens) for 4th place. 6th went to Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill on 50 penalties, with a wrong approach their biggest error all night. Darren Babington/Francis Keenan (63 penalties) and Brian O’Mahony/Dave Swanton (70 penalties) completed the top eight finishers.
Expert class:
Aside from the three overall finishers, other high point scores went to Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (5th overall) and Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill (6th overall). Ger O’Connell/Denis O’Donovan, who had been in contention until a wrong approach at TP111 and then missing TP112, dropped them down to 6th in class. 7th in class went to Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes who had a poor night by their standards, Via29 & TP36 were missed on the first half with TP125 also missed in the second which left them down in 15th place overall. Eoin Fitzgerald/Pat Cashman and Fergus Harrington/Anthony Harrington completed the class finishers.
Semi-Expert class:
Local men Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody took the class win having led it for most of the night. Darren Babington/Francis Keenan made their trip from Monaghan worthwhile by finishing 2nd. Two wrong approaches at Via2 and TP107 respectively, left them having to settle for 2nd in class on the night. The top three was completed by 100 Isles COC Brian O’Mahony with Dave Swanton on the maps on his first event for four years. They settled really well together, only dropping time penalties all night to finish in a well earned 3rd in class. 4th place went to National regulars Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes. Results showed that if it hadn’t been for their 50 penalty at TP11, the overall win would have been theirs. There was a similar story with class rivals Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston who also picked up a 50 penalty which left them in a disappointing 5th in class. Gearoid Beamish/Ivan Buchanan completed the class finishers.
Novice class:
Derek Butler/Olivia McCarthy had a great run to take class honours and an impressive 9th overall. This pair has consistently been among the leading novice crews on events and despite two wrong approaches they had done enough to hold off their rivals. 2nd place went to fellow Cork crew Brian McCarthy/Stephen Quinn who finished just 15 penalties in arrears. 3rd in class went to Championship leaders, Pakie & Colin Duffy who had a great run but a 50 penalty cost them a fine class win and left them down in 3rd place. Despite this, they extended their lead at the top of the Championship. 4th place went to Alwyn White/Adrian Tobin with Sean Duggan/Brian Duggan and Mark Forbes/Eamon Aherne completing the class finishers.
Beginners class:
David Beamish/Muireann Hayes finished top of the pile after an excellent run which left them 90 penalties clear of their class rivals. They missed just two timepoints all night, showing plenty of promise for the future as this is only their 3rd event and Muireann will be particularly pleased to be only 30 penalties behind big brother at the end of the night. National Championship leaders, Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry took 2nd place on the night to cement their lead in the class in the Championship. Macartan Kierans guided Jimmy Deane to 3rd class, but if it hadn’t been for a stop sign failure, 1st place could have been theirs for the taking. Matt Shinnors/Catherine Levis finished 4th, with Sean O’Regan/Eamonn McCarthy in 5th. James Hayes/John Keohane, Steven Lane/Gillian White, Finghin O’Donovan/Teresa McCarthy, Owen Murphy/Grace O’Brien and Mick Linehan/Trisha Hogan completed the class finishers.
Well done to Donal, Peter and team for a very well run event. The next round is also based in Cork, with Skibbereen Motor Club’s 100 Isles Night Navigation Trial. Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo now lead the championship once again, with Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes emerging as their only main challengers. The Semi-Expert class is a close run thing between Carbin/Hughes, Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston and Darren Babington/Francis Keenan. Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy are beginning to run away with the novice class, while Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry are holding off the challenge of Macartan Kierans in the beginners class.
Posted: January 24, 2011 12:03 PM
1 Arthur Kierans/Ashley McAdoo (Subaru Impreza) 24 marks,
2 Joseph Shinnors/Greg Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 27m,
3 Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 36m,
4 Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody (Vauxhall Vectra) 47m,
5 Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 49m,
6 Ray O’Neill/Stephen O’Neill (Ford Mondeo) 50m,
7 Darren Babington/Francis Keenan (Subaru Impreza) 62m,
8 Brian O’Mahony/Declan Swanton (Opel Corsa) 70m,
9 Derek Butler/Olivia McCarthy (Nissan Sunny) 71m,
10 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Legacy) 71m,
11 Ger O’Connell/Denis O’Donovan (Subaru Impreza) 74m,
12 Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 85m.
Semi-experts:
1 Johnny Kenneally/Ken Carmody,
2 Darren Babington/Francis Keenan,
3 Brian O’Mahony/Declan Swanton.
Novices:
1 Derek Butler/Olivia McCarthy,
2 Brian McCarthy/Stephen Quin,
3 Alwyn White/Adrian Tobin.
Beginners:
1 Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy (Subaru Impreza) 92m,
2 David Beamish/Muireann Hayes,
3 Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry