Ulster duo win Cork ‘20’
Co-driven by Monaghan’s Conor Foley, they cruised to victory after challengers Daragh O’Riordan/Tony McDaid crashed their Ford Fiesta WRC on yesterday’s 11th stage near Ballyhooly.
At the finish Kelly/Foley had a minute and 45.9 seconds to spare over the Citroen DS3 R5 of the Cork/Kerry crew of Keith Cronin/Shane Buckley. Welsh driver Mel Evans (Subaru WRC) and Mark Glennerster were 1.4:45 further behind in third.
Although Kelly reckoned he was quickest through the opening stage, Caherduggan, the official results showed O’Riordan was faster — with Mel Evans (Subaru WRC) four seconds behind in second and 1.9 seconds ahead of third placed Kelly, who had intercom troubles. On S.S. 2 near Ballynoe, O’Riordan continued to set the pace as Kelly slotted into second — 6.7 seconds behind. Evans was third as Keith Cronin began to increase his pace.
On the repeat of the stages Kelly punched in the best times and moved into the lead by seven tenths of a second with O’Riordan trouble-free in second. Cronin reeled in Evans in the race for third with Roy White and Wright completing the top six.
On the afternoon stages Kelly pushed hard and extended his lead to 6.1 seconds after S.S. 6 but arrived at the Fermoy service with oil seeping from his Ford Focus WRC. His engineers sorted the problem and although O’Riordan gained fractions of a second on the closing pair of stages, Kelly led by 5.2 seconds. Having lost third to Evans by S.S. 6, Cronin regained the position as Evans lost time when he stalled his Subaru, he ended the day in fifth. Roy White, sandwiched between the pair continued to make progress with his new car and was 6.3 seconds behind Cronin.
Dunmanway’s David Guest (Mitsubishi) set the best times in the showroom category and led Brendan Cumiskey (Subaru) by 32.5 seconds. In the Modified section Declan Gallagher (Toyota Starlet) was untouchable, Frank Kelly (Escort) retired with engine troubles and Denis Cronin (Subaru) lost time with a broken driveshaft on S.S. 7.
Yesterday, Kelly’s opening salvo yielded an additional gain of 11 seconds and though O’Riordan trimmed the margin to 13.6 seconds on S.S. 10, his rally ended on the next stage when he slid off on gravel. The stage also claimed Roy White, who beached his Fiesta at an earlier location. By the midday service Kelly led Cronin a minute and 50.2 seconds. His path to victory should have been clearcut, but he was extremely fortunate to survive an incident when his Ford Focus went up a bank at high speed. Thereafter, the Tarmac champion regained composure and took his fifth win of the Tarmac season.
Cronin netted second and expressed satisfaction with his welcome return while Evans settled for third before the final loop. Stephen Wright (Fiesta R5) was fourth. In Group N, West Cork driver David Guest took a superb win, two brushes with the scenery prompted a revised plan to finish intact. Aaron MacHale (Mitsubishi) did enough to clinch the category within the Tarmac series.
Elsewhere, there were wins for Declan Gallagher (Starlet) in the Modified category and Rob Duggan (Peugeot 208 R2) in the Junior section where Boherbue’s John O’Sullivan (Honda Civic), who was second, duly claimed the Irish Tarmac Junior series.
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