Cavan Navigation Trial - 3-4 Mar 12

Report: McElroy/McCabe Kings of Cavan

Posted: March 15, 2012 11:36 AM

Ciaran McElroy & Damien McCabe took a superb maiden overall win on Round 7 of the 2011/2012 National Night Navigation Trial Championship in Maudabawn, Cavan. After a demanding 75 miles of competitive navigation, this local novice crew took the victory on the 'furthest cleanest' rule from Darren O'Brien/Thomas Wedlock who made it two Cavan crews in the top two places. Just one penalty in arrears were Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan who returned to top form after a difficult couple of events.

Reigning National Champion Ashley McAdoo was COC for this event. Competitors were expecting a well-thought out and demanding event and they would not be disappointed. Even before they reached the first competitive timepoint there was a trick that caught out a number of crews. The tulip from CA to TP1 did not use the shortest available route and a cleverly placed Plot & Bash timepoint lay on this route. Former Border Champions, Michael & Ciaran Tynan were principal victims here, receiving double visit penalties. Timepoints 6, 8 and 9 were also given as plot & bash. TP9 was on the shortest route from TP6-TP7 and TP8 was on the second shortest route. Many crews were delayed as they attempted to decipher the correct route. Others were in more serious trouble with double visit and wrong approach penalties looming for those who proceeded without doing so. By C11, Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes led on 3 penalties. Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (4 pens), Ciaran McElroy/Damien McCabe (5 pens), Darren O'Brien/Thomas Wedlock (5 pens) and Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (5 pens) completed the top five.

The next eight timepoints were fairly straight forward as the event headed south to Bailieborough. The next plot & bash timepoints were TP20 and TP22. The instructions for these appeared straight forward but the approach and departures had been reversed. Several crews failed to notice this and many got caught with a wrong approach to TP20 before realising their error. Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins were amongst a number of leading crews who got caught here. Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes had opened up a three penalty lead before being delayed by numerous problems which dropped them right out of contention. The greatest benefactors were Ciaran McElroy/Damien McCabe and Darren O'Brien/Thomas Wedlock who were now in a close battle for the overall win. Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan had a superb second half to close in on the leaders. Some demanding lanes resulted in more penalties incurred over the closing few timepoints. McElroy/McCabe and O'Reilly/Wedlock were both equal to the challenge and by the finish not a penalty could separate them. Both crews finished on 13 penalties, but crucially a 1 mark penalty incurred by O'Brien/Wedlock into TP8 where McElroy/McCabe cleaned it proved the difference. This gave McElroy/McCabe the narrowest of victories, their first ever overall win. Behind the two novice crews Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (14 pens) had a fine run to 3rd overall and 1st Expert. Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (23 pens) finished 4th to keep their National Championship hopes alive. Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (24 pens) recovered from that wrong approach to complete the top five.

Expert class:
Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan finished as leading experts after a fine run which resulted in them finishing 1 penalty off the overall win. Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes finished 2nd Expert, but crucially they picked up a good haul of points as their National Championship rivals struggled. Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins and Alan & George Shinnors were both left ruing wrong approaches which cost them the overall win. Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall completed the top five in this class, despite a missed timepoint.

Semi-Expert class:
Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (25 pens) took a fine class win as well as 7th overall. A wrong approach was their only major problem as they took a five penalty win from Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (30 pens). Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey (48 pens) secured 3rd in class. Sean McKenna/Gary Farrelly (95 pens) and Derek Coleman/Lee Annett (205), who were making a return to the Night Nav scene, completed the top five finishers.

Novice class:
McElroy/McCabe secured top points from O'Brien/Wedlock as both crews secured their best ever overall results. Karl Reid/Ciaran Geaney (29 pens) put in a strong run to complete the top three finishers. Another Donegal pairing Dermot McGroary/Eamonn Doherty (46 pens) took 4th position with Damien Ward/Laurence Keenan (56 pens) in 5th.

Beginners class:
Aaron Duffy/Micheal McCluskey (154 pens) took their 1st ever class win. They held off the challenge of Shane Dalton/Micheal Reilly (171 pens) and Trevor McConnell/Ruadhri Nash (173 pens) in the battle for class honours. Andrew Stewart/Robert Howard (313 pens) finished in 4th and Louis Garry/Kieran Reid (328 pens) took 5th.

There were plenty of tales of woe amongst the front-running National contingent. Muireann Hayes, driven in this one by Killian Duffy retired early on. Colin Fitzgerald/Daire Hayes had a difficult night with a double visit at TP9 leaving them outside the top fifteen. Pakie & Colin Duffy also endured a difficult night, while the National Championship leaders Darren Quinn/Nigel McCloughry had to settle for 20th place. In overall terms, Quinn/McCloughry still lead on overall points but on dropped scores, Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes hold a three point advantage going into the final round. Pakie Duffy/Colin Duffy, Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston and Daire Hayes are still in with a shout of the overall title should results go their way.

The final Round of the Championship takes place on Friday, 16th March in Monaghan with Barry Garvey as COC. With the overall and class placings still to be decided, it is sure to be a fascinating event, following which new National champions will be confirmed.

Results

Posted: March 5, 2012 12:40 PM

1 Ciaran McElroy/Damien McCabe (Subaru Impreza) 13marks,
2 Daren O’Brien/Thomas Wedlock (Subaru Impreza) 13m,
3 Richard Cassidy/Paul Phelan (Vauxhall Vectra) 14m,
4 Michael Carbin/Evin Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 23m,
5 Andy Mackarel/Liam Higgins (Subaru Impreza) 24m,
6 Alan Shinnors/George Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 25m,
7 Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern (Subaru Impreza) 26m,
8 Karl Reid/Ciaran Geaney (Subaru Impreza) 29m,
9 Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston (Subaru Impreza) 30m,
10 Trevor Farrell/Noel Hall (Subaru Impreza) 32m,
11 Dermot McGroary/Eamonn Doherty (Subaru Impreza) 46m,
12 Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey (Subaru Impreza) 48m.

Semi-experts:
1 Damien Treanor/Jonathan McGovern,
2 Chris Kelly/Sam Johnston,
3 Kevin Keenan/Barry Garvey.

Novices:
1 Daren O’Brien/Thomas Wedlock,
2 Karl Reid/Ciaran Geaney,
3 Dermot McGroary/Eamonn Doherty.

Beginners:
1 Aaron Duffy/Micheal McCluskey (Subaru Impreza) 154m,
2 Shane Dalton/Micheal Reilly (Subaru Impreza) 171m,
3 Trevor McConnell/Ruaidhri Nash (Subaru Impreza) 173m.

Cavan Navigation Trial - 3-4 Mar 12 - RESULTS

Regulations / Details

Posted: February 16, 2012 1:47 PM

Cavan Motor Club