O’Donoghues win Heartlands Rally

O’Donoghue wins Heartlands Rally

Killarney’s Colin O’Donoghue, with co-driver Kieran O’Donoghue, won Sunday’s Acesigns Heartlands Rally, organised by Laois Rallysport Club.
The duo, in their Ford Escort Mk2, completed the six-stage event with a total time of 40 minutes 31.7seconds.
They battled David Moffett and Martin Connolly in their Toyota Starlet RWD throughout the rally.
The Killarney crew were third overall after the first two stages They moved into the lead on the third test, only for Moffett and Connolly to edge them out on the penultimate test.
However, the Kerry crew set the fastest time on the final stage to win the rally by 4.6 seconds. Moffett and Connolly finished second, with Richard Moffett and Darragh Kelly taking third, 18.2 seconds adrift of the winners.
The event wasn’t drama free for the O’Donoghue crew, a broken gear linkage hindered progress on stage two and a loose engine mounting caused concern on the fourth stage.
“It was a very well organised rally, a very compact route, with the service park in the same venue as Electric Picnic so there was loads of room there,” said O’Donoghue.
“I did not go there for the win, I went there for seat time ahead of Donegal in a few weeks’ time, and I just did my own thing all day. We didn’t have an ounce o rain all day, the bone dry roads were surprising as there was very little grip.”
The rally was the second round of the Top Part West Coast Championship and a strong contingent of Kerry competitors made the trip to County Laois for the rally.
Among them were Mike Quinn and Kieran Doherty in their Ford Escort Mk2, who finished 22nd overall and placed 12th in Class 14.
Cavan’s Peter Wilson, co-driven by Currow’s John McCarthy in a Ford Escort, secured 13th position overall and was eighth in the competitive Class 14.
David Slattery and Denis Coffey, also in a Ford Escort Mk2, placed 19th overall, taking 4th in Class 13.
Further down the field, Knocknagoshel’s Ian Horgan, with Gary Lombard alongside in their Toyota Corolla, finished 49th overall and secured second in Class 11R.
Sean Enright and Kevin Doherty, another Kerry crew in a Ford Escort Mk2, finished 50th overall, taking 3rd in Class 12.
Killarney’s David Randles, partnered by Ken Blanche, drove their Peugeot 208 Rally4 to a 52nd place overall finish, placing third in Class 2.
Raymond Spence, with Headford’s Ger Somers co-driving their Ford Escort Mk2, came home 15th in Class 13.
In other class results, Eugene Buckley and Aaron Williams in their Toyota Starlet finished second in Class 9, marking Williams’ debut as a co-driver.
The rally also saw representation from Kerry-based women drivers: Killarney and District Motor Club’s Louise Bourke and Edwin Walsh in their Peugeot 206 finished seventh in the Junior Class 16, while Kerry Motor Club’s Michelle Quinn and Caz Somers in a Honda Civic placed third in Class 2.

---

---