Breen & Nagle win Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork International Rally
For the second time in five weeks, Waterford rally ace Craig Breen and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle were the crew to beat as they drove their Ford Fiesta to victory in the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork International Rally.
Just as in Galway last month, their closest challengers were Ulster pair Alastair Fisher and Gordon Noble in another Fiesta, who were 22 seconds behind after two days of stages, with Tom Cave and James Morgan the best of the British Championship contenders. They finished third overall in their Hyundai i20, another 15 seconds down, with current British champion Matt Edwards fourth.
Former World Rally Championship contender Mikko Hirvonen won the National Rally in a Ford Escort, but Cavan’s Gary Kiernan put up a terrific performance in a similar car, leading the Finnish superstar until he was forced to retire from the lead due to mechanical problems, with just two stages still to complete.
CORK M C CLONAKILTY PARK HOTEL WEST CORK INTERNATIONAL RALLY (ROUND 1 OF CELTIC RALLY TROPHY, ROUND 2 OF PIRELLLI/EARS MOTORSPORT IRISH TARMAC CHAMPIONSHIP AND ROUND 1 OF PLASTICBAGS.IE SOUTHERN 4 RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP):
1 Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 51m 19s,
2 Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 51m 41s,
3 Tom Cave/James Morgan (Hyundai i20 R5) 1h 51m 56s,
4 Matt Edwards/Patrick Walsh (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 52m 01s,
5 Sam Moffett/James Fulton (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 52m 53s,
6 Callum Devine/Brian Hoy (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 53m 00s,
7 Josh Moffett/Keith Moriarty (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 53m 41s,
8 Rob Barrable/Damien Connolly (Skoda Fabia R5) 1h 54m 06s,
9 Marty McCormack/Barney Mitchell (Skoda Fabia R5) 1h 54m 14s,
10 Jonny Greer/Kirsty Riddick (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 55m 18s.
NATIONAL RALLY:
1 Mikko Hirvonen/Jarno Ottman (Ford Escort) 2h 00m 21s,
2 Damian Toner/John McGrath (Ford Escort) 2h 01m 56s,
3 Conor McCarthy/Gavin Sheehan (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 2h 03m 24s,
4 Richard Moore/William Lynch (Ford Escort) 2h 03m 44s,
5 David Condell/Paul Kelly (Ford Escort) 2h 06m 02s,
6 Kevin O’Donoghue/Colin O’Donoghue (BMW M3) 2h 06m 04s.
HISTORIC RALLY:
1 Neil Williams/Anthony O’Sullivan (Ford Escort) 1h 21m 52s,
2 Luke MacCarthy/David Hogan (Ford Escort) 1h 23m 34s,
3 Ray Cunningham/Jared Gill (Mini Cooper S) 1h 23m 37s.
JUNIOR RALLY:
1 Peter Falvey/Andrew Cronin (Toyota Starlet) 40m 02s,
2 Aaron Browne/Daniel Hanratty (Honda Civic) 40m 06s,
3 Mick Lonergan/Mickey Walsh (Honda Civic) 41m 44s.
Photo: Kevin O’Driscoll
