Boyle wins Mayo Stages Rally 2018
Former double National Rally champion Declan Boyle took a comfortable victory in the opening round of this year’s Triton Showers series by bringing his Ford Fiesta home 37 seconds clear of the nearest opposition in the Achill Island Hotel-Connacht Print and Signs Mayo Stages Rally yesterday.
The Donegal driver and his new Monaghan partner James O’Reilly led from the opening stage and were never headed all day, with Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty taking runner up position ahead of Desi Henry and Liam Moynihan in yet another Fiesta, just over a minute farther back.
Two more ex-title holders were out of luck, with Donagh Kelly recovering to tenth place at the end after a disastrous puncture, while Roy White slid off the road on the first stage and was completely out of contention by the time he could restart. Adrian Wray won the Group N Production class, with Jason Black and Jack McKenna the Junior winners.
Guy Foster scored a convincing win in TDC’s Clubman Autotest at Mondello Park, setting best times on nine of the ten tests, beating Darren Quille by six seconds, with Cork’s Liam Cashman the best saloon driver in third place overall.
MAYO & DISTRICT MC ACHILL ISLAND HOTEL/CONNACHT PRINT AND SIGNS MAYO STAGES RALLY AT ACHILL SOUND, CO MAYO (ROUND 1 OF TRITON SHOWERS NATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP AND SLIGO PALLETS BORDER CHAMPIONSHIP):
1 Declan Boyle/James O’Reilly (Fiesta WRC) 50m 41s,
2 Josh Moffett/Keith Moriarty (Fiesta R5) 51m 18s,
3 Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Fiesta R5) 52m 20s,
4 Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Mini WRC) 52m 34s,
5 Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Impreza WRC) 54m 04s,
6 Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath (Lancer Evo 10 Gp N) 54m 59s,
7 Stuart Darcy/Keith McCarthy (Darrian T9) 54m 59s,
8 Brendan Cumiskey/Stephen McAuley (Fiesta R5) 55m 05s,
9 Chris Armstrong/Chris Melly (Escort) 55m 06s,
10 Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley (Focus WRC) 55m 50s.
Motorsport Safety Team Group N award: Aidan Wray/Kieran McGrath.
rally.ie Two wheel drive award: Stuart Darcy/Keith McCarthy.
Juniors: 1 Jason Black/Jack McKenna (Starlet) 38m 18s,
2 Johnny Armstrong/Philly Mitchell (Citroen C2) 41m 16s,
3 David Kelly/Kenny Bustard (Starlet) 41m 58s.
TRIALS DRIVERS’ CLUB CLUBMAN AUTOTEST AT MONDELLO PARK:
1 Guy Foster (Mini Special) 457.4s,
2 Darren Quille (Westfield) 463.6s,
3 Liam Cashman (Nova) 493.3s,
4 Richard Meeke (Starlet) 529.3s,
5 Niall Murray (Starlet) 529.8s,
6 Piers MacFheorais (Mazda MX5) 530.5s,
7 Michael Cullen (Westfield) 547.1s,
8 John Nolan (Starlet) 547.9s,
9 John McAssey (Starlet) 550.1s,
10 Brian Kingston (Ignis) 562.5s.
BEGINNERS:
1 Aoife Ryan (Starlet) 707.3s,
2 Darragh Denning (Starlet) 712.7s,
3 Sam Dolan (Starlet) 732.0s.
NOVICES:
1 Ronan Kearns (Westfield) 588.0s,
2 Rod McGovern (Westfield) 592.9s,
3 Dave Campion (Starlet) 636.8s.
INTERMEDIATES:
1 Niall Murray,
2 Michael Cullen,
3 David Meeke (Starlet) 619.2s.
