MacHale leads Donegal International Rally

Gaining just a fraction of a second over their rivals on the opening stage, Gareth MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) went on to dominate the opening leg of six stages of the Letterkenny-based Topaz Donegal International Rally.

Fri, 19 Jun, 2009 - 21:02

Overnight, they lead Eamonn Boland/Mickey Joe Morrissey in their Subaru WRC by 21.8 seconds with Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Skoda Fabia) 9.1 seconds further behind in third.

The showroom category is being led by Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Mitsubishi) and Rodney Wilton/Conor McMahon (Escort) lead the way in the National event.

The event is the fifth round of the Irish Tarmac Championship.

On the opening stage, MacHale was a mere three 10ths of a second ahead of Boland followed by Tim McNulty (Subaru WRC) and Donnelly.

MacHale was fastest on the second stage and led by 4.6 seconds, a margin that was cut to 2.8 seconds by Boland, who was the pacesetter on the third test, Malin Head.

The three stages were repeated this afternoon and MacHale gave an improved performance on all three stages taking some six seconds per stage out of Boland.

Donnelly, having overcome water cooler and sensor issues, moved into third.

Meanwhile, McNulty, who claimed his Subaru was down on power, slipped to fourth.

The remaining positions in the overnight top ten were occupied by Sean Devine (Subaru WRC), Aaron MacHale (Ford Focus), Garry Jennings (Mitsubishi), PJ McDermott (Subaru), Seamus Leonard (Mitsubishi) and Alastair Fisher (Mitsubishi).

Elsewhere, Daniel Doherty, fifth on the first stage, dropped outside the top ten after puncturing his Subaru WRC on the second stage.

The rally continues with eight stages tomorrow and a further six on Sunday.

1. G. MacHale/B. Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) 38m. 02.1s.

2. E. Boland/M.J. Morrissey (Subaru WRC) 38m. 23.9s.

3. E. Donnelly/P. Toner (Skoda Fabia WRC) 38m. 33.0s.

4. T. McNulty/D. Moynihan (Subaru WRC) 38m. 52.7s.

5. S. Devine/R. McDaid (Subaru WRC) 39m. 51.3s.

6. A. MacHale/B. Goodman (Ford Focus WRC) 39m. 53.8s.

7. G. Jennings/R. Kennedy (Mitsubishi) 40m. 40.8s.

8. P.J. McDermott/F. Regan (Subaru WRC) 40m. 48.4s.

9. S. Leonard/J. McCafferty (Mitsubishi) 41m. 02.1s.

10. A. Fisher/B. McNulty (Mitsubishi) 41m. 09.7s.