McNULTY WINS CLARE RALLY

DUFFY NETS NOEL SMITH AWARD FOR TOP CO-DRIVER

By RallyPortfolio.com

Taking the lead on the third stage, Tim McNulty/Eugene O’Donnell (Subaru) won the Lynch Hotels Clare Rally, the penultimate round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship. At the end of the eight stage Ennis based event, they finished 22 seconds ahead of newly crowned Dunlop champion, Aaron MacHale (Ford Focus WRC) and his co-driver, Killian Duffy, who clinched
the Noel Smith Award as the top co-driver in the ten round series. The Subaru of Patrick Elliott/Paul Goodman was third –
eleven seconds further behind.

The Patterson’s RallyNews Group N award was won by Michael Curran./Fabian McShane (Mitsubishi). Curran’s only rival for the title, Seamus Leonard (Mitsubishi) withdrew from the rally on Saturday afternoon for family reasons. Curran was fortunate to finish when the clutch expired at the start line of the final stage and he had to nurse his Mitsubishi through the stage and into the final control. The top two wheel drive crew were Brian O’Mahony/John Higgins (Renault Clio), they were tenth overall and won Class 6 to clinch the category in the Dunlop series. Anthony O’Halloran/Charlie McEnery (Opel Manta) were the top local crew.

On what transpired to be a very slippery opening stage, Patrick Elliott (Subaru) set the pace in his Subaru and took a one second lead over outgoing Dunlop champion, Charlie Donnelly in his Toyota Corolla with Tim McNulty a further six seconds behind in third. McNulty, who won the previous round in Galway, was far from happy with the suspension set-up in the wet
conditions. Newly crowned Dunlop champion, Aaron MacHale was fourth followed by Kevin Barrett and Alan Ring, who led the Group N category. Niall Maguire (Subaru WRC) failed to finish the stage, he retired his Subaru with a slipping clutch.

Although Elliott remarked that he wasn’t driving to his maximum, he maintained the lead at the first service - recording equal fastest time for S.S. 2 with Tim McNulty, who moved in to second. Donnelly had two overshoots and slipped to third. Although he remained in fourth, Aaron MacHale picked up his pace significantly while Kevin Barett had an untroubled run, he occupied fifth. A terrific tussle for Group N saw Subaru pair, Alan Ring and Willie Fannin share sixth place. Elsewhere, Jack Sleator slotted his Subaru into eighth place with Ian Barrett in ninth having a brief excursion to the scenery. Michael Curran completed the top ten as he remained on course to clinch the Patterson’s RallyNews Group N Award.

On the repeat of the stages, McNulty, with two fastest times, moved into the lead and arrived at the Ennis service halt with a seven second advantage over Charlie Donnelly. “The changes we made to the suspension set-up are really working very well in the wet conditions, we’re trying to perfect the system and it just needs a bit of fine tweaking now.” said the rally leader. Meanwhile, Donnelly was quite happy with his tyre choice. Elliott was third as fourth placed MacHale lost vital seconds when his Ford Focus developed a problem with the launch control. In Group N, Alan Ring reasserted his authority, he held a fine fifth overall and had an eleven second lead over Fannin. Meanwhile, Kevin Barrett (Subaru) held sixth from Denis Cronin, who was a minute adrift of rally leader, McNulty. The top ten was completed by Willie Fannin, Jack Sleator (Subaru) and Michael Curran and Ian Barett, who shared tenth place.

Elliott was the only driver to complete S.S. 5 as Donnelly crashed out when he was caught out on a slippery patch, his Corolla damaged its suspension and blocked the stage. On S.S. 6, Elliott was the quickest as McNulty’s led by eleven seconds. Having sorted the launch control problem, Aaron MacHale set a strong pace to move within a second of Elliott. The top three were well clear of the rest with fourth placed, Kevin Barrett (Subaru WRC) almost a minute behind. Ring continued his good run in Group N but was concerned about the gearbox of his Subaru. Denis Cronin had no real explanation for his lack of motivation, he was sixth with Jack Sleator next in general classification. Willie Fannin, Sean Gallagher and Brian O’Mahony
rounded off the top ten. Gallagher remarked that the earlier glitches to the transmission system seemed to have been sorted. O’Mahony, ninth overall, was concentrating on gaining maximum points in his bid to win Class 6 in the Dunlop series.
Michael Curran, in eleventh, was on course to take the Patterson’s RallyNews Group N award. The top local driver Anthony O’Halloran (Opel Manta) was twelfth.

On the penultimate stage, McNulty put the issue beyond doubt and was able to ease off on the final stage to claim victory. MacHale took second and achieved his objective of ensuring co-driver, Killian Duffy won the Noel Smith Award as the top national co-driver. Patrick Elliott (Subaru) was third. Fannin took the Group N victory but second in the category was enough
for Mike Curran to win the Patterson’s RallyNews Group N award. Alan Ring finished outside the top ten.

1. T. McNulty/E. O’Donnell (Subaru WRC) 58m. 30s.
2. P. Elliott/P. Goodman (Subaru WRC) 58m. 52s.
3. A. MacHale/K. Duffy (Ford Focus WRC) 59m. 03s.
4. K. Barrett/B. Goodman (Subaru WRC) 1h. 00m. 11s.
5. W. Fannin/P. Robinson (Subaru) 1h. 00m. 43s.
6 J. Sleator/A. Purcell (Subaru WRC) 1h. 00m. 51s.
7. S. Gallagher/E. Sherry (Subaru WRC) 1h. 01m. 23s.
8. I. Barrett/E. O’Flaherty (Subaru) 1h. 01m. 36s.
9. M. Curran/F. McShane (Mitsubishi) 1h. 01m. 58s.
10. B. O’Mahony/J. Higgins (Renault Clio) 1h. 02m.
32s.

Dunlop National Rally Championship (Provisional standings after Round 9): 1. A. MacHale 156 points; 2. N. Maguire 117 points; 3. K. Barrett 92 points; 4. M. Curran 87 points; 5. P. Elliott 84 points; 6. G. Allen 75 points; 7. M. Barrable 72 points.

CLARE MOTOR CLUB AWARD WINNERS
Local clare motor club crews who won awards on the day included – Anthony O’Halloran / Charlie McEnery (opel manta) were the fastest clare motor club crew on the day, finishing fifteenth overall and winners in class 14 . They received the “Noel McCullagh Award”.
Denis Dillon with his son Sean finished second in class one in their Peugeot 106.
Keith Tierney / Aoife Keogh finished second in class eleven driving a Honda civic.
Alan O’Callaghan / Brian Liddy received the Best Clare crew awardi in their Subaru Impreza.