Buckley leads National Rally Championship at halfway point
Kerry co-driver Shane Buckley leads the Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship co-driver standings after Sunday’s Raven’s Rock Rally in Waterford.
Buckley, who sits alongside Sam Moffett, finished fourth overall on the day.
The result was enough to push him to the top of the co-driver points table with 61 points after four rounds. His closest rival is Tom Murphy, who has 51.
However, when dropped scores are factored in, as per the championship rules, it’s Murphy who has the edge at the halfway mark, 50 points to Buckley’s 49, setting up a close fight for the remainder of the season.
Circuit of Kerry winner Murphy, who co-drives for Eddie Doherty, had been on course for another win after leading from the start. But a power steering failure before stage seven saw the crew check in late to a time control and pick up a six-minute penalty, dropping them out of the lead battle.
Buckley and Moffett were on for a podium but a stage six spin dropped them to sixth and they recovered to fourth over the final loop of three stages.
Other Kerry competitors in action included Denis Hickey and Eoin O’Leary, who finished sixth in their class in a Ford Escort Mk2. A broken rear tramp bar and a brush with a ditch caused time loss, but they made it to the finish.
Diarmuid Falvey guided Tim McNulty to 15th overall in their Volkswagen Polo, they were running as high as 12th but had overheating brakes on the middle loop and fell back the order.
Louise Bourke and Edwin Walsh placed fifth in the Junior category in their Peugeot 208.
Among the non-finishers were Brian Hickey/Noel Murphy, Vincent O’Shea/Eoin O’Donoghue, and John Corrigan/Niall Mulcahy.
The Raven’s Rock Rally was Round 4 of the Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Championship, with the next round taking place in Sligo on July 20.
Buckley will be joined by more Kerry crews on this event.
They include Tadgh O’Sullivan /Keith McCarthy and Mike Quinn/Kieran Doherty in a pair of Ford Escorts.
Mossie Costello is also on the entry list in his Ford Fiesta Rally4 while newcomers Eugene Buckley and Aaron Williams take on their biggest challenge to date in their Toyota Starlet.
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