SEVERAL crews were involved in the battle for supremacy during last weekend's Skibbereen ‘100 Isles" Navigation Trial that resulted in a tie-break involving three crews, all of whom finished the 85-mile event on five penalties.
Victory, based on the ‘furthest cleanest’ (without incurring a penalty) rule, went to Drinagh navigator Denis O'Donovan, who was driven by Ballintemple native Michael ‘Bones’ O'Connor.
The Clare/Sligo combination of Patsy McDonagh/Patrick Corcoran took second place followed by Ovens driver Owen Murphy and Donoughmore navigator Patrick O'Sullivan, all three in Subaru Imprezas.
One of the performances of the event was that of the Leap father and son crew of James and Ciarán French (Subaru Forester), who won the Novice category and were a strong sixth overall.
Based at the Tadhg MacCarthaigh GAA complex, the event was round six of the Motorsport Ireland National Navigation Trial Championship and the fourth and final round of the Munster Navigation series.
In almost perfect conditions the 26 crews set off from the Aughaville start with all of the top six managing to keep a clean sheet until Time Point (TP) 6 near Caheragh. Murphy/O'Sullivan were the first of the top contenders to lose time along with MI National Championship contenders Monaghan's Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes while McDonagh/Corcoran were similarly late at TP7.
The one time point that all crews bar one incurred a penalty was TP14, located amongst a network of roads in close proximity around Bauravilla. Last year's national champions Andy Mackarel/Greg Shinnors were the only crew to arrive there on time, having dropped time at the previous time point.
Ovens driver Owen Murphy (right) and Donoughmore navigator Patrick O'Sullivan finished third overall in the Skibbereen 100 Isles Navigation Trial.
At that juncture (TP14), the aforementioned Mackarel/Shinnors along with O'Connor/O'Donovan, national championship pacesetters Longford's Shane Dalton and Monaghan's Ryan Treanor and Leap's James and Ciarán French (Subaru Forester) were the leading quartet, all with a single penalty. Before they moved away from this section, Mackarel/Shinnors missed a lane and the 20 penalties put them down the order; they were eventually classified eighth overall.
With every single penalty having consequences, the Frenchs incurred three penalties at both TP 17 and TP18. Yet again, at that same condensed network of roads.
When the crews arrived in Drimoleague (TP23) O'Connor/O'Donovan were on two penalties (their second penalty was for a ITC infringement) and headed the pack that featured McDonagh/Corcoran, Dalton/Treanor and Duffy/Hughes – all on four penalties with Murphy/O'Sullivan on five penalties – having earlier incurred three penalties at TP20.
O'Connor/O'Donovan were in fine form for the remainder of the event with the exception of a ‘Via’ where they lost three more penalties before finishing with five penalties. McDonagh/Corcoran incurred their final penalty at TP28 close to Castledonovan while Murphy/O'Sullivan didn't drop any more time before the finish that resulted in the tie-break. Dalton/Treanor netted fourth after a penalty was scrubbed due to issues with the location of one time point. Duffy/Hughes were fifth with James and Ciarán French taking a fine sixth overall.
It transpired to be a disappointing event for top seeds James Fitzgerald (Mogeely) and Ken Carmody (Ballincollig), who were in contention for the overall award in the Munster series. Mechanical woes saw them miss several time points and they had to be content with 20th overall. Overall victory in the Munster championship went to McDonagh/Corcoran. The Beginner's category, both in the event and the Munster championship, was won by Ballincollig's Brian Duggan and Horse and Jockey's Susan Smith (Toyota Starlet).
Interestingly, James French, who was the winning driver in the Novice section of the event itself, became only the second person to win the category in this event both as a driver and navigator having previously won the event as a navigator with Leap's Andrew Whelton. Rosscarbery's Brian O'Mahony has also won in both roles and is a previous recipient of the ;Barnett Monstrosity’. Many competitors were high in their praise for the event itself, which was a marked improvement on the same event 12 months ago.
Results: 1. M. ‘Bones’ O'Connor/D. O'Donovan (Subaru Impreza) 5 penalties; 2. P. McDonagh/P. Corcoran (Subaru Impreza) 5pens; 3. O. Murphy/P. O'Sullivan (Subaru Impreza) 5pens; 4. S. Dalton/R. Treanor (Subaru Impreza) 6pens; 5. P. Duffy/E. Hughes (Subaru Impreza) 8pens; 6. J. French/C. French (Subaru Forester) 11pens; 7. T. O'Callaghan/P. O'Leary (Subaru Impreza) 13pens; 8. A. Mackarel/G. Shinnors (Subaru Impreza) 24pens; 9. M. Swinburne/G. Swinburne (Subaru Impreza) 46pens; 10. T. O'Keeffe/D. O'Donoghue (Honda Civic) 61pens.
