Duggan and Conway lead National rally – most Kerry crew mentioned in report
Robert Duggan and Ger Conway hold a 10.6 second lead over Kevin Eves and Chris Melly ahead of day two of the National section of the Rally of the Lakes.
Duggan’s Ford Escort suffered clutch problems over the final two stages of the day. James Stafford was the early leader but he retired with gearbox problems.
Kerry Crews
Conor Murphy and Sean Collins hold fourth despite brake issues in their Ford Escort over the morning loop.
Co-driver Damien Fleming, alongside Raymond Conlon lead Class 13 and reported a trouble-free run.
Mike Quinn and Kieran Doherty were lucky to make the start after the diff failed in their Escort on Friday. The replacement diff was geared all wrong for Saturday’s stages and that is making woeful noise on Saturday evening. Mike says he is hopeful there is enough left in the diff to get to the Sunday morning service in Liebherr.
Tadhg O’Sullivan and John McCarthy are 15th in their Ford Escort , an exhaust issue on stage two hampered progress.
Mark Murphy and Thomas Murphy lead class 11R in their Toyota Starlet. They were one of many crews who suffered brake problems during the opening day.
Colin Moynihan and Kevin Horgan are just one place behind in 18th and are fourth in class `13 in their Escort.
Kevin O’Donohoe and Jack Kelleher, who is home from Australia for the rally, are bedding in anew engine and experimenting with a new tyre brand in their BMW M3.
Brother and sister Andrew Duggan and Tara Duggan were brushing off the cobwebs in their Ford Escort “The tyres are not working, the brakes are not working and I am not working,” joked Andrew. They are fifth in class 13 overnight.
Just ten seconds separate Charlie Hickey/Barry Meade and Thomas Randles and Diarmuid Lynch overnight. Charlie said he was happy enough after the day – we were unable to catch up with Thomas and Diarmuid- sorry guys.
Brake problems? Yep Cyril Wharton and Donal Falvey were in that camp too – but finished the day second in class 12.
Denis Hickey and Sean Nolan were another crew with brake issues – they overshot a stage one junction!
“Kap pow,” said PJ O’Dowd. No, we don’t know either but he and co-driver Pa Lawlor lead class 10.
Due to stage interruptions, Darren Young and Sean Walsh are expecting times to be readjusted. The Honda Civic crew are second in class according to current results.
Mike Neligan and John Hurley said they were happy enough with progress in their Toyota Corolla Twin Cam. They are second in class 11R overnight.
Bob Moran and his Cork co-driver Eoin Collin are third in 11R overnight – another crew with brake problems but were happy to be catching Fiesta RC2 cars too!
John Hickey and Maurice McElligott lead class 20 in their Fubaru Escort RS 4×4. The Gortnagane stage passed John’s home place: “In the back door, out the front door and over the kitchen table.”
Raymond O’Neill and Padraig Donovan hold fourth in class 12 – their Escort showing signs of a brush with a ditch on stage two.
Shane McCarthy only saw his new Honda Civic for the first time on Wednesday and met his codriver Domhnall Lennon for the first time on Thursday. But they are fourth in class 11F. Like many more they were suffering from brake issues too.
At last Brian Doherty and David Fleming knew the cause of their brake problems. “I fitted too hard a pad,” he said. They are fifth in class 11 on Sunday night.
Shane Doyle and William Kelliher were very much on home turf on Saturday. Who saw the massive “Good Luck” poster halfway through Banard? Fourth in class 11R is their overnight result.
Sean Enright and Kevin Doherty – you guessed it – another crew with brake issues!
Ger O’Brien and John Liston’s new Escort suffered a paddle-shift problem all day and they had to revert to a conventional stick shift.
Denis Nagle and Brian Rowan lead class nine despite a puncture on Banard in their Nissan Micra.
Donal Flynn and Denny Greaney had to contend with a loose wheel in their Toyota Corolla RWD 11R
Ross Hilliard and Chloe Kelly could not get the breaking right in their Honda Civic
Raymond Spence and Ger Somers reported a drama-free run – a wrong tyre choice being the Ford Escort crew’s biggest issue.
Alan Costello and Paddy Costello’s Ford Escort Mk2 suffered a mechanical issue on the way to Gortnagne – they said they were lucky the stage was cancelled or they could have been out of the rally.
Steven O’Connor and Darren O’Connor have a down on power engine.
Big difference from the Galway International Rally for Sam Leech and Barry Attridge as they report no dramas in their Opel Corsa
Keith McCarthy is co-driving for George Gass in an unusual Porsche GT3. They are second in class 20.
Noel O’Sullivan started his 38th Rally of the Lakes, Nicky Burke, his 25th, they are second in class nine!
Ray Stack and Gene Stack are “on a learning curve” in their second day out in a Ford Escort.”It was a great day and if we finish tomorrow it will an even greater day. ”
Kieran Fitzgerald and Denis O’Leary went climbing banks in Gortnagne on their Toyota Starlet.
Patrick O’Connor and local co-driver Tommy Moynihan said it was one of the hardest day’s rallying they ever experienced. The Mitsubishi Evo crew are third in Class 20.
Alan McGough and Paudie Devane were on their first day out in a Peugeot 206 GTi.
Apologies to anyone we missed – I will be at the finish ramp on Sunday evening too!
Retirements
Aidan Buckley/John Falvey; Kevin O’Sullivan/Marcus Treacy, Vincent O’Shea/Alistair Wyllie; Niall Myers/Colm Myers; Sean Hickey/Noel Fleming and Donagh Crowley/Timmy Kelly are all listed under the Rally2 starters list for Sunday morning.
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