BY MARTIN WALSH
THREE West Cork co-drivers netted top ten finishes in the recent Killarney Towers Hotel Historic Rally.
Rosscarbery’s Alistair Wylie and his Essex driver Tom Clark (Ford Escort RS1800) finished fifth overall, Ardfield’s Anthony O’Sullivan and Welsh driver Neil Williams (Ford Escort RS1800) were 10.7 seconds behind in fifth while Enniskeane’s Sean Hayde and another Welsh driver, Melvyn Evans (Ford Escort RS1800), were tenth in general classification.
The eight-stage event, the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Historic Rally Championship, was won by Belfast’s Jonny Greer (Ford Sierra Cosworth 4x4) and his Scottish co-driver Kirsty Riddick. They finished 3.7 seconds in front of the BMW M3 of Donegal’s Donagh Kelly and co-driver Rory Kennedy. The Fermanagh/Millstreet pairing of Michael McDaid/Declan Casey (Escort RS1800) were one minute and 48.2s further adrift in third.
Rain on the Friday night followed by frost forced the organising Killarney and District Motor Club into action and the roads on the three stages Dromin, Caragh Lake and Shanera were salted at around 4am on Saturday morning. In total, some 30 tonnes of salt were spread on the stages. Reigning champion Greer had a late change of co-driver as Kirsty Riddick deputised for the unavailable Niall Burns.
On the opening stage near Killorglin, Greer set the quickest time – a second up on Kelly. Having finished second for the past two years Killarney’s Alan Ring and Newcestown’s Adrian Deasy were hoping to go one better on this occasion. However, as their Subaru Legacy approached the first junction it seemed to misfire and although they finished the stage down in ninth place – 28.6 seconds off top spot – they retired after the stage finish with fuel-related problems. Evans/Hayde made a good start and held third overall, 19.3 seconds behind second-placed Kelly. Williams/O’Sullivan were sixth.
Greer had chosen a slick tyre for the loop of three stages and the rain was much heavier on the stage at Caragh Lake where he lost time and the lead. Kelly set the best stage time to open up a lead of 15.7 seconds over Waterford's Ray Breen (Subaru Legacy) some 18 seconds further behind in third. Evans/Hayde slipped to fourth when the windscreen of their Ford Escort RS misted over. Clark/Wyllie and Williams/O’Sullivan were ninth and tenth respectively.
On the third stage (Shanera) Greer set the pace and reduced Kelly’s lead to 10.4 seconds. Evans/Hayde made up several places to occupy fifth. Clark/Wyllie were sixth; like Greer they had also chosen a slick tyre and suffered from a lack of grip.
The loop was repeated and although Kelly was slightly faster on SS4 to move 11 seconds ahead, Greer with a wet compound tyre set the pace on Caragh Lake and Shanera to trim the deficit to 5.2 seconds. Millstreet native and former event winner Denis Moynihan (Ford Escort) slotted his Ford Escort RS1600 into third place as Williams/O’Sullivan made a marked improvement to move into fifth place although oil at the start of the Caragh Lake brought concern.
Wyllie and Hayde and their respective drivers, Tom Clark and Melvyn Evans, occupied sixth and seventh, the latter backed off at the start of Caragh Lake and then overshot near the stage end.
On the penultimate stage that was quite muddy in places, Greer used the four-wheel drive traction of his Sierra to great effect and moved into the lead albeit by 0.8s from Kelly. Williams held fifth followed by Clark with Evans losing two places and dropping to seventh.
On the night stage Greer proved unbeatable as he went on to secure back-to-back victories. Kelly was a fine second but his rear-wheel drive BMW M3was no match for Greer’s all-traction Sierra in the muddy conditions. Michael McDaid (Ford Escort RS1800) took third. Wyllie was the top West Cork co-driver in fifth.
Elsewhere, Ballydehob’s George Swanton/Labhaoise Hyland (Ford Escort) won Class C2, while Clondrohid co-driver Eoghan McCarthy and his English driver Alan Watkins (Ford Escort) were second in Class D2. In the Modified section that was won by Killarney’s Rob Duggan (Ford Escort), Kealkill co-driver Eoin Collins and his Killarney driver Bob Moran (Ford Escort) were fourth in Class 5.
Results: 1. J. Greer/K. Riddick (Ford Sierra Cosworth 4x4) 49m . 27.0s; 2. D. Kelly/R. Kennedy (BMW M3) 03.7s; 3. M. McDaid/D. Casey (Ford Escort) +1m. 51.9s; 4. D. Moynihan/M. O'Brien (Ford Escort RS1600) +2m. 18.4s; 5. T. Clark/A. Wyllie (Ford Escort) +2m. 27.8s;6. N. Williams/A. O'Sullivan (Ford Escort RS1800) + 2m. 38.5s; 7. T. McDonagh/P. Murphy (Ford Escort) + 2m. 39.1s; 8. W. Evans/J. Smithwick (Ford Escort) +3m. 00.2s; 9. T. Davies/E. Davies (Ford Escort RS1800) +3m. 00.2s; 10. M. Evans/S. Hayde (Ford Escort RS1800) +3m. 02.9s.
