Dunlop Day 6 Preview courtesy of Dunlop Proud Sponsors of the National Rally Championship 2014 DUNLOP DRIVE FOR FIVE IN BALLINASLOE FIVE drivers can still win the Dunlop National Rally Championship that continues on Sunday next with the Carlton Shearwater Hotel Galway Summer Rally in Ballinasloe. The nine stage rally, round six of the campaign will play a pivotal role in the destiny of the magnificent Vard Memorial Trophy. The Galway organisers have attracted a capacity entry along with a reserve list that highlights the popularity of the Dunlop series that is based on the best six scores from eight events. Top seed and last year’s winner in Galway, Welsh ace Hugh Hunter (Subaru) is one of the Dunlop title chasing quintet, he has already dropped two rounds and must score significant points in Ballinasloe to remain in contention. It is a similar situation for defending Dunlop champion, Declan Boyle (Subaru WRC), who retired whilst leading the last round in Clonmel. The Donegal driver can, provided he takes maximum points in county Galway and the events in Clare and Donegal, reach the 100 points tally and possibly win the title on what would be the lowest points total in the history of the Dunlop series. Of course there are numerous permutations at this point but it is likely that the title hopes of possibly one of the five will end on Sunday. Tyrone’s Paddy McVeigh had his first non-finish of the season in Clonmel last time out and has lost the lead of the series to Welshman Steve Wood, they are seeded at three and four respectively, Wood claimed second placed points in Clonmel. Of the title chasing quintet, Clonmel’s Roy White could actually finish with a points total of 109, however, he is very much aware that this is not realistic and he has admitted he will be quite content to secure another top three finish in the series against the more powerful WRC brigade. Antrim’s Derek McGarrity will compete in a Mini Cooper WRC, he was a regular in the Dunlop series a few years ago and it will be interesting to see how he will fare, like Darragh O’Riordan in the last round, McGarrity will run his car in Class 20. That last Dunlop round in Clonmel provided Kevin Barrett (Subaru WRC) with his best finish of the current season, the Maynooth driver is a former winner of this event. Although the top ten also includes Alan Ring in the Mel Evans hired S12B Subaru WRC, the Castleisland driver has withdrawn as the Subaru WRC will not be repaired in time following his exit in Clonmel. Wexford’s James Stafford took maximum points in Clonmel and is still involved in the rally.ie award – for the top two wheel drive in overall classification, currently he trails Frank Kelly by 15 points, he could also play a key role in splitting the Dunlop contenders. Reigning Irish Forest champion Michael OBrien (Ford Focus WRC) completes the top ten as he builds up to a full attack on next season’s series. In Group N, Josh Moffett (Mitsubishi), who missed the last round but still heads the classification for the Motorsport Safety Group N award occupies the number eleven berth. Opposition in Galway includes Shane Maguire, who cut the deficit to seven points and former leader Neil Tohill. Pat Kirk, Stephen McCann, Rob Duggan, Daniel Cronin and Gus Kearney, all in Mitsubishi’s are also on the entry. Meanwhile, the entertaining Frank Kelly, a winner of the Dunlop Mk. 2 Challenge heads a plethora of Ford Escorts. His rival in the Dunlop series, Viv Hamill along with Pat Donegan, Jonathan Pringle, who won the title last year, Gary Kiernan, Ed OCallaghan, Tom Flaherty, Mike Quinn, Michael Curran, Martin McGee, Jim McKenna and Ed Synan provide fascinating opposition. The top Galway driver amongst the capacity entry is Tom Curley (Subaru WRC) others such as Pat Kelly (Subaru), Tom Flaherty (Ford Escort), Neil Pierce (Honda Civic), David Quigley (Honda Civic), Maurice Greaney (Mitsubishi) Paul Curley (Subaru), Kenneth Hogan (Mitsubishi) and Richard Whelan (Honda Civic) will endeavour to impress on home ground. Meanwhile, in the Dunlop Junior Championship just four points cover the top three drivers - Clare’s Niall OSullivan (Citroen C2), Roscommon’s Cormac Phelan (Citroen C2 R2) and Cavan’s Damian OReilly all of whom are competing on Sunday. The Dunlop Historic Championship has been won by the Kerry crew of Kerry’s PJ O’Dowd/John Young (Talbot Sunbeam). EVENT DETAILS: Organising Club: Galway Motor Club. Clerk of the Course: Mark Parsons. Rally Headquarters: The Carlton Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe. Tel: 0909630400. First Car Away: The Carlton Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe. 09.15. S.S. 1, 4 & 7: Aughrim - 09.59, 12.38 & 15.17. S.S. 2, 5 & 8: Pallas - 10.38, 13.17 & 15.56. S.S. 3, 6 & 9: Flowerhill - 11.13, 13.52 & 16.31. Service: Ballinasloe Mart: 9.25, 11.59 & 14.38. Finish Ramp: The Carlton Shearwater Hotel, Ballinasloe. 17.17. Top 10 Starters: 1. H. Hunter/M. Glennerster (Subaru WRC) 2. D. Boyle/B. Boyle (Subaru WRC) 3. P. McVeigh/G. McElhinney (Subaru WRC) 4. S. Wood/K. Moriarty (Subaru WRC) 5. R. White/J. OBrien (MG ZR) 6. D. McGarrity/J. McKee (Mini Cooper WRC) 7. K. Barrett/S. Mullally (Subaru WRC) 8. A. Ring/A. Deasy (Subaru WRC) 9. J. Stafford/A. Ryan (Darrian T90) 10. Michael OBrien/TBA (Ford Focus WRC) Dunlop National Rally Championship (Provisional Positions after Round 5): 1. Steve Wood 73pts; 2. Paddy McVeigh 60pts; 3. Roy White 56pts; 4. Declan Boyle 40pts; 5. Hugh Hunter 38pts; 6. Sam Moffett 36pts; 7. F. Kelly 35pts; 8. S. Maguire 29pts; =9. M. O’Brien, V. Hamill & K. Barrett 26pts; 12. N. Tohill 24pts. The 2014 Dunlop National Rally Championship: 1. Mayo Rally (Ballina) March 9th. Winners: D. Boyle/B. Boyle (Subaru WRC) 2. Circuit of Kerry (Tralee) April 6th. Winners: D. Boyle/B. Boyle (Subaru WRC) 3. Carlow Rally, May 11th. Winners: H. Hunter/A. Marchbank (Subaru WRC) 4. Circuit of Munster June 1st. Winners: S. Moffett/J. OReilly (Ford Fiesta WRC) 5. Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally, August 10th. Winners: Darragh O’Riordan/Tony McDaid (Ford Fiesta WRC) 6. Galway Summer Rally, August 31st. Winners: 7. Clare Rally, September 21st. 8. Donegal Harvest Rally, October 11th. Media Co-Ordinator, Dunlop National Rally Championship.
Posted on: Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:40:18 +0000
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