From Dungarvan to Spa-Francorchamps circuit
The Cavan pairing of Gary Kiernan and James Fulton took a hard earned victory on Sunday’s Great Stuff Caterers Imokilly Mini Stages Rally. Kiernan hit the front on stage 2 in his Mark 2 Escort amid challenging conditions on the Dungarvan based event and by stage 3, Kiernan’s lead stood at 7.8 seconds with Toyota Starlet driver George Condell leading the chasing pack. Condell replied in fine fashion on stage 4, taking 7.8 seconds out of Kiernan to leave nothing between the pair heading into the final 2 stages. Condell continued his charge, taking the lead on the penultimate stage with a time 1.4 seconds faster than Kiernan but the Cavan driver dug deep on the final test, taking a full 8 seconds out of Condell to arrive back in Dungarvan as the winner by 6.6 seconds. Such was the pace at the front that Subaru mounted Denis Cronin could only manage third overall, 33.7 seconds off the pace. Ed O’Callaghan overcame early gearbox difficulties to take fourth overall while David Guest and Frank Curtin claimed fifth place and Group N honours in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. Jason Ryan and Peter Falvey finished sixth overall and were the leading front wheel drive car in their Toyota Starlet while Aaron O’Regan and Derek Butler won the junior section in their Honda Civic.
At Mayo and District Motor Club’s third loose surface autocross of the season, Maynooth’s Ian Barrett posted the fastest time of the day in his buggy. Barrett’s time of 4 minutes 17.54 seconds was posted on his opening run although he was pushed hard by Seamus Donnelly who got to withing 0.8 of a second of the Kildare driver. Monaghan’s Martin Tynan was the first non buggy home in fourth overall and the only non buggy in the top 10 in his Mitsubishi Lancer. The event was a counting round of the Frank Harrington Challenge, the Mayo and District Young Driver Championship, the 5 Star Catering National LS Autocross Championship and the RM Racing Championship.
In Belgium, current Motorsport Ireland International Driver of the Year, Matt Griffin, continued his impressive season at the Total 24 Hours of Spa at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Cork driver Griffin and his teammate Duncan Cameron, finished second in the Pro Am Cup and sixth overall in their AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia, completing 529 laps, just 2 laps shy of Pro Am Cup winners, Pasin Lathouras and Stephane Lemeret in the second AF Corse Ferrari. The event, a round of the Blancpain Endurance Series was won by Markus Paltalla and Lucas Luhr in their Pro Cup BMW Z4 who covered 536 laps.
