Gallagher claims final point in Norway
The former Billy Coleman Award winner had a difficult outing in his World Rally Team Ireland Citroen C2, however, he won his class (1500cc) and was the top WR rookie.
However, throughout the rally tyre choice was his major problem. Initially, he picked a tyre compound that was too soft and finished without any studs. Granted permission to change tyres, the handling capabilities of the C2 then proved erratic.
‘‘It was very tough, the C2 is a very narrow car and I found it extremely hard to find grip in the fresh snow,’’ he said.
In overall terms, Gallagher and his co-driver, Clive Jenkins were 45th. Meanwhile, Kerry co-driver, Sean Moriarty and TV personality, Tony Jardine (Ford Fiesta) finished three places further behind.
At the head of the field, and for the first time since 1979, Ford filled the top three places in a round of the World Rally Championship. Mikko Hirvonen led from start to finish and claimed victory over team mate, Marcus Gronholm by 9.5 seconds. Henning Solberg took a career-best result in third.
During Saturday’s second leg, Hirvonen extended his lead over Gronholm to 19.3sec, but the main drama of the leg concerned their rival, Sebastien Loeb (Citroen).
On S.S. 11, snow blocked the engine’s air intake, draining his C4 of power and his fortunes dipped further when he went off into a snow bank on two occasions, the episodes cost him 17 minutes and he dropped well outside the top ten.
Elsewhere, Petter Solberg (Subaru) ended the leg in third — he lost almost a minute with traction problems but still finished 9.9 seconds ahead of brother Henning (Ford), who lost time with a poor stud choice. Briton, Matthew Wilson (Ford) retired when he slid off and hit a concrete post and broke a steering arm.
Yesterday, with the top duo out of reach, the battle for third was a family affair between the Solbergs. Petter lost third when the studs on his tyres were too short for the snowy conditions, while not even a final stage stall could prevent Henning from taking the final spot on the podium. Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) was fifth and Gigi Galli (Citroen) for sixth when rival Manfred Stohl went off the road for some ten minutes on the final stage.
Loeb set two fastest times to finish 14th, the first time in over two years that he has finished outside the top ten.
In a closely fought contest involving no fewer than six drivers, victory in the Eurocables Rally, the opening round of the Pacenotes Northern Ireland Rally Championship was secured on the final stage by Stephen Moore (Ford Focus WRC), who was just 2.8 seconds ahead of the Toyota Corolla WRC of Glenn Allen with Sean Devine (Subaru WRC) a fraction of a second behind in third place.
Allen (Corolla WRC) took a slender lead of just two tenths ahead over Mike Curran (Octavia WRC) on the opening stage and then held the lead until S.S. 4. Denis Biggerstaff (Impreza WRC) lost almost six seconds on the first stage and on S.S. 5, a wheel fell of his Subaru when the bolts sheared.
Curran regained the lead albeit by 0.1 of a second by the end of S.S. 4 but his Skoda was handling erratically due to a faulty sensor in the differential.
By the end of S.S. 5, Allen was back in the lead but Moore final two stage flurry with two fastest stage times saw him snatched victory. Sean Devine (Subaru WRC) came through to take third while Raymond Johnston (Subaru WRC) was fourth, having spun on the opening test.
Curran had to be content with fifth, the closeness of the competition marked by the fact that the top five were covered by an eight second margin. Dick Curran (Mitsubishi) won Group N and Wesley Patterson (Ford Escort) won the two-wheel drive award, he was co-driven by event sponsor, Shane Braniff.
Tyrone drivers filled the top three places in the Donegal Forest Rally with Frank Kelly finishing the nine stage event a minute and 42 seconds ahead of Aidan Toner while Adrian Hetherington was almost a minute behind in third, all three in Ford Escorts. Kelly’s winning margin masked a fine duel with early leader, Paul Barrett. While Kelly moved into the lead on the second stage, Barrett remained very much in contention until the bonnet of his car flew up on the penultimate stage and he slid off the track.
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