Co-driver Ger Conway dedicated his win on the modified section of Saturday’s Towers Hotel Killarney Historic Rally to the memory of his late father.
Brendan Conway passed away in September. He was always a great supporter of Ger’s career and local motorsport.
A dedicated classic car enthusiast, the Killarney Historic Rally was always one of the highlights of Brendan’s year.
Ger was co-driving for Rob Duggan and their win means he has six wins in the event – three on the modified section and three on the overall Historic section.
Rob brought his tally to five, four Modified wins and one historic win.
Their victory on Saturday was not without drama.
Rob’s last rally was the Escort Rally Special in Belgium. He retired from that event after a sizeable accident and faced a race against time to have his Ford Escort re-built in time for the December 2 event.
The paint was barely dry on the car when he drove it under the ceremonial start gantry on Friday night.
The wipers failed on the opening loop and the car also suffered a bent steering rack, a possible legacy from the Belgian crash.
“The first stage started [by Listry Church] by where he is laid to rest,” said Ger. “He is sorely missed by all but he was definitely watching over us today.”
They trailed last year’s winner Kevin Eves and Chris Melley by 1.2 seconds with just two stages to run but the local turned the deficit into a 3.4-second advantage over the double run over Rockfield. The second run over – under the cover of Darkness was decisive – Duggan and Conway were 2.7 seconds quicker than their main rivals to secure the popular win.
Glenflesk’s Denis Hickey and Eoin O’Leary were ninth in their Ford Escort.
“It was an eventful day,” said Hickey. “We had an overshoot in the morning, a clutch problem all day but we are happy out to finish even if it is one place less than last year.”
Cousins Shane and Aidan Buckley were third in class three. Shane is better known as top co-driver but this was his first time driving.
“I spent the day telling Aidan how to do his job, and Aidan spent the day telling me how to do my job,” he joked at the finish.
David Slattery and Ger Coffey were second in class six, which should be enough to secure Slattery the Moriarty’s Central Car Sales Kingdom of Kerry Rally Championship.
CLASS ROUND UP
Jack O’Shea and Darragh Lynch were second in Class 1 in their Mini.
Kerry Motor Club navigator Mike Cleary guided Cork’s Ollie Kierce to second in class 3, while Cleary’s KMC clubmates, brothers Ken and Ray McKenna were third in the same class in their Peugeot 205.
HISTORIC RALLY
The overall historic rally was won by Jonathon Greer in his Ford Sierra Saphire Cosworth.
The defending champion, guided on this occasion by the returning Kirsty Riddick, enjoyed a day-long duel with Donagh Kelly and Rory Kenedy.
The gap was just 3.7 seconds after eight challenging stages.
“I don’t mind finishing second where you are in the fight for it,” said the BMW driver at the finish.
Alan Ring and co-driver Adrian Deasy were expected to challenge for the event lead but a misfiring engine on the opening stage ended their challenge and they retired their Subaru Legacy soon after.
Rathmore schoolteacher Declan Casey was third overall alongside Michael McDaid in a Ford Escort Mk2.
Robert Falvey and John Doody won class D3 in their Ford Escort RS 2000.
Tommy Commane guided San Francisco driver Joe Whyte to second in class B2 in their Austin Mini Cooper S.
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