The Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship made a welcome return to County Mayo this weekend and there was plenty of Kerry interest in the 150-strong entry list.
The rally is also the opening round of the Top Part West Coast Championship and the second round of the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series.
Kerry drivers and co-drivers have signed up for all three championships.
However, things did not go according to plan for the majority of the Kerry-based crews in action in Ballina over the weekend.
Colin O’Donoghue and Kieran O’Donoghue set a stunning time on stage one. Seventh fastest overall and leading the modified category in their Ford Escort Mk2 their challenge came undone on stage two when a suspected alternator failure ended their rally.
Dave Slattery and Denis Coffey, in another Ford Escort Mk2, had throttle linkage problems all day and they eventually retired on stage six when the component gave up for good.
Mike Quinn and Kieran Doherty also retired – a spark plug or ignition issue proved their undoing.
Quinn’s daughter Katie and co-driver Caz Somers retired on stage seven when the oil light came on in their Honda Civic.
The rally was also the second round of the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series and siblings Mossie and Megan Costello also had a rally to forget.
An electrical issue early in the day was followed by an off-road excursion on stage seven and that ended their rally.
Co-driver Denny Greaney, alongside, Ronan Campbell was leading class 19 after stage six but they retired on the next test.
It was not all bad news for the Kerry-based contingent.
Ballyheuige’s Gearóid O’Regan and co-driver Aaron O’Connor finished third in Class 3 in their Honda Civic Type R – the only all-Kerry crew to make the finish line.
Mikie Cleary was on pacenote duty for Cork-based Ollie Kierce in a class 10 Escort.
Both are members of Kerry Motor Club and they finished second in class by keeping themselves out of trouble on the notoriously slippery event.
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Kerry Motorsport News 