Elliott wins Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally

Patrick Elliott, driving a Subaru WRC, has today won the Clonmel-based Sepam Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally, the seventh round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship.

Sun, 10 Aug, 2008 - 20:15

Patrick Elliott, driving a Subaru WRC, has today won the Clonmel-based Sepam Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally, the seventh round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship.

The event was decided on the final stage where long-time leader, Niall Maguire (Subaru WRC) lost time with a rear wheel puncture some three miles form the finish.

Elliott, who was just half a second behind the Monaghan driver starting the stage, went on to win by 9.3 seconds.

Kevin Barrett (Subaru WRC) was third.

Maguire held sway on the opening stages, with two fastest stage times, he led Elliott by 4.9 seconds whilst Aaron MacHale was some 20 seconds further adrift following an overshoot.

The Subaru WRC’s of Kevin Barrett and PJ McGrath were next in a top six that was completed by Group N leader Keith Cronin.

Maguire enjoyed a slice of good fortune when he avoided losing time after clipping a rock and damaging a rim of his Subaru on the third stage.

Amazingly, he actually set fastest time to move 9.6 seconds ahead of Elliott.

Maguire’s fastest time dominance was broken by Elliott on S.S. 4 however, the Cavan driver only taking half a second out of his rival's lead.

Then, on the first of the afternoon stages, Elliott brought the margin down to just 0.9 of a second. For his part, rally leader, Maguire attributed his performance to an overcautious approach.

Elliott stalled and lost time on S.S. 6 as Maguire moved 4.2 seconds ahead of his arch rival.

Elsewhere, Kevin Barrett was third, he moved into the slot on the third test after Aaron MacHale’s Ford Focus WRC developed transmission trouble.

Elliott powered his way through the penultimate test to cut Maguire’s advantage to just half a second.

The puncture drama on the final test saw the victory pendulum swing in Elliott’s favour, who is now two points ahead of Maguire with three rounds remaining.

Meanwhile, Kevin Barrett, PJ McGrath and Aaron MacHale rounded off the top five.

Keith Cronin led Group N until he bowed when his Mitsubishi slid off the road on the sixth stage.

Alan Ring (Mitsubishi) inherited the category lead and went on to finish almost a minute ahead of the Mitsubishi of Daniel Barry.

Pre-event series leader, Eamonn Daly (Mitsubishi) retired with turbo problems.

A frenetic battle for supremacy in the two-wheel drive category was eventually won by Terence O’Shaughnessy (Toyota Corolla)

1. P. Elliott/P. Goodman (Subaru WRC) 1h. 02m. 53.4s.

2. N. Maguire/E. Sherry (Subaru WRC) 1h. 03m. 02.7s.

3. K. Barrett/S. Mullally (Subaru WRC) 1h. 04m. 45.4s.

4. PJ McGrath/B. Collins (Subaru WRC) 1h. 05m. 35.3s.

5. A. MacHale/K. Duffy (Ford Focus WRC) 1h. 06m. 48.4s.

6. A. Ring/A. Deasy (Mitsubishi) 1h. 07m. 12.1s.

7. T. O’Shaughnessy/E. McGrath (Toyota Corolla) 1h. 07m. 30.7s.