Monaghan Drumlin Night Navigation - 7/8 Oct '98

Posted: October 11, 1998 8:09 AM

The event was very definitely a tale of two halves. At the midpoint halt Bertie Wedlock / Paul Hughes (Escort) on 15 lead by 1 minute. However a blown headgasket meant that they did not start the second half. Second were the O'Neill brothers (Sunbeam) who were two minutes ahead of Semi Expert father and so n team Karl & Frank O'Donoghue (Sunbeam). In fact these three crews were the only ones to visit all points in the first half!! At this stage the eventual winners Mackarel / Higgins were 7th with Duffy / Bleakley back in 9th position. Things went seriously wrong for the O'Donoghues in the second half forcing then to skip 5 of the last 6 TP's and slumping to 9th overall in the process on 240 minutes. The O'Neill brothers who lead for most of the second half also came off the wagon near the end forcing them to skip the last three TP's finishing 7th o/a on 93 minutes.

Mervyn Dunn / Paul Phelan (205 GTi) had teamed up on a one off for this event. However they were not having a good time of it and from an unaccustomed 12th at halfway they eventually finished 8th.

Defending National Champions Damien / Aiden Courtney (Uno Turbo) were another crew to have a tough night. They dropped 80 minutes, including skipping two TP's and a wrong approach, to finish 4th

Semi Expert class winners Kevin Flanagan / Damien Connolly (Cooper S) had a solid run to finish on 87 minutes and 6th o/a. The Novice class was boosted by the latest recruits to the Monaghan Club Navigation classes. However it was a tough night for novice s and beginners alike. Novice winners, on 398 minutes, were Laurence Sherry / Sean McCaffrey. The beginners only had to do the first half of the rally and victory here went to Paddy Connolly / Enda McMahon on 198 minutes.

     Results: Drumlin Navigation Rally. 

     Pos     Driver          Navigator       Class           Car             Mins    
                                                     
     1st     Andy Mackarel   Liam Higgins     Expert         Opel Ascona     58      
     2nd     Fintan McGorman Sandy Mills      Expert         Vauxhall Nova   66      1st Class
     5th     Pakie Duffy     Harry Bleakley   Expert         VW Golf GTI     69      2nd Class
     3rd     Damien Courtney Aiden Courtney   Expert         Fiat Uno Turbo  80      3rd Class
     4th     Trevor Farrell  Noel Hall        Expert         Sierra XR4i     82      
     8th     Kevin Flanagan  Damien Connolly  Semi Expert    Mini Cooper S   88      1st Class
     7th     Ray O'Neill     Stephen O'Neill  Expert         Sunbeam Ti      93      
     6th     Mervyn Dunn     Paul Phelan      Expert         Peugeot 205 GTI 95      
     9th     Karl O'Donoghue Frank O'Donoghue Semi Expert    Sunbeam Ti      240     2nd Class
     10th    Kevin Lunt      Eoin Longworth   Semi Expert    VW Golf 1.4     312     3rd Class
     12th    Laurence Sherry Sean McCaffrey   Novice         Peugeot 205 GTI 398     1st Class
     11th    Peter Rogers    Gary Leddy       Semi Expert    Sierra          508     
     13th    Patrick Moran   Andrew Hill      Novice         Opel Kadet SR   618     2nd Class


     Beginners                                               
                                                     
             Paddy Connelly  Enda McMahon    Novice          198     1st Class
             Derek Coleman   Kieran McGorman Novice          253     2nd Class
             Martin Murray   Byron Davidson  Novice          321     3rd Class


     Retirements                                             
                             
             Bertie Wedlock          Paul Hughes     Expert
             Gregory McQuillan       Stephen Hagan   Semi Expert
             Michael Tynan           Barry McAree    Semi Expert
             Keith Lord              Pat Roche       Novice
             Kieran McPhillips       Garreth Beagan  Novice
             James O'reilly          Ciaran McKenna  Novice
             Melvin Brogan           Colin Deering   Novice
             Martin Murray           Byron Davidson  Beginner
             Raymond Conlon          Enda McMahon    Beginner
             Iarla Carty             Cathal Keenan   Beginner