Ford Ka Championship - Round 6 Galway Summer Rally - 5 Sept '99

Posted: September 6, 1999 11:01 AM

The Galway Summer Rally was the penultimate round of the 1999 Ford KA Championship and the rivalry between the two main title contenders Derek Daly and Ian Chadwick has reached boiling point. Daly and Chadwick had problems on the first loop of stages, Daly damaged his steering on stage two and Chadwick struck a bank damaging the rear suspension on his Ford KA. Paddy Byrne from Wicklow one of the rising stars of the Championship held a six-second lead going into the first service.

Daly and Chadwick having fixed their respective problems battled hard setting a blistering pace on the second loop. Daly took the lead as Paddy Byrne crashed out of the lead on stage four. Chadwick fought hard; chipping away at Daly's lead reduced the deficit to seven seconds going into the final loop. On the third and final loop of stages Chadwick spun off damaging his car on stage seven as Derek Daly produced one of the most mature drives of the season and stamped his authority on the event by taking his fourth victory of the season

Pat Quinlan in the BDBC Ford KA recreated his Stonethrowers form to secure a comfortable second place finish. Pat set some very competitive times as he challenged for the lead on the second loop of stages however Pat lost some time when he stopped on stage six to check if a fellow competitor who had crashed was not injured.

James Travers in the Barry Pender Motors Ford KA started the day badly in sixth position after the first loop of stages. James settled in on the second loop to record some very competitive times as he steadily improved all day to secure third place and keep his Championship hopes alive

The event was a real test of man and machine as the difficult terrain claimed four casualties, Michael Lillis on stage two, Paddy Byrne on stage three, Keith Colton and Paul Callan on stage five. The competitiveness of the Ford KA was illustrated with Derek Daly taking a convincing class victory beating much bigger cars by finishing in 34th position overall out of 130 starters,

The close competition has been a hallmark of the 1999 Ford KA Rally Championship. Chadwick's mishap on the penultimate stage relegated to 8th position overall. As a result the Championship is set for a thrilling finish on the final round of the Championship

 1 Derek Daly/Jakes Kelly		Killarney
 2 Pat Quinlan/Joe Doolan		Clonmel	  .28
 3 James Travers/Niall Keogh		Kilkenny  .56
 4 Oliver Stanley/Diarmuid Falvey	Durrow	  1.05
 5 John Carroll/Terence O’Shaughnessy	Kilkenny  1.20
 6 Ken Lyons/Christina Shanahan		Limerick  1.28
 7 Gerry Casey/Vincent Collins		Castlebar 2.05
 8 Ian Chadwick/Hugh Giles		Cork	  2.10
 9 Barry Barrable/Trevor Hamilton	Dublin	  3.18
10 Liam Denning/Paul Molloy		Dublin	  3.57
DNF	Paddy Byrne/Bruce Burges	Wicklow	
DNF	Keith Colton/Pat Lowbridge	Tullamore
DNF	Paul Callan/Barry Goodman	Dundalk	
DNF	Michael Lillis/Paul Kenny	Dublin	
DNS	Gus Kearney/Andrew Kearney	Clonmel