4-in-a-row for Craig Breen as Irish Tarmac title beckons
Craig Breen & Paul Nagle, the Waterford-Killarney pairing, in a Ford Fiesta R5 took a hard fought victory in the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes in Killarney to edge closer to the Pirelli/EARS Motorsport Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
The Waterford / Kerry pairing took their fourth consecutive win to move eighteen points clear of Alastair Fisher & Gordon Noble. Like in two of the previous rounds Fisher proved to be Breen’s closest rival and at the end of the events sixteen stages the Fermanagh driver was only 14.9 second behind Breen.
Callum Devine and Brian Hoy made it a Ford Fiesta 1-2-3 after another excellent performance where they set several fastest times over the weekend. Breen led from the start but was pushed all the way by Fisher who in turn fended off a second day challenge from Devine with all three drivers a long way clear of Desi Henry & Liam Moynihan in fourth place. Among the retirements were Josh Moffett & Manus Kelly (both off road), Sam Moffett (sheared wheel) and Jonny Greer & Daniel Cronin (mechanical).
Provisional Championship Top 3 Overall
1 – Craig Breen 68
2 – Alastair Fisher 50
3 – Desi Henry 32
4 – Callum Devine 30
5= Josh Moffett & Jonny Greer 24
The Modified championship sees a few positional changes with David Condell finishing in fourth place to move into second overall in the series. Damian Toner who didn’t compete in Killarney still holds a lead of 15.5 points while Conor McCrossan moves into third place ahead of Kevin O’Donoghue and Gerard McQuaid who tie for fourth. The Historic Championship is still being led by Ray Cunningham but Duncan Williams took top points to consolidate third place behind Craig MacWilliam. The Junior Championship is being led provisionally by Cian Walsh on 31 points with John Joe Williams second overall on 26 points.
CARTELL.IE INTERNATIONAL RALLY OF THE LAKES AT KILLARNEY (ROUND 4 OF PIRELLI/EARS MOTORSPORT IRISH TARMAC CHAMPIONSHIP AND ROUND 2 OF PLASTICBAGS.IE SOUTHERN 4 RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP):
1 Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 07m 00s,
2 Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 07m 15s,
3 Callum Devine/Brian Hoy (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 07m 28s,
4 Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Skoda Fabia R5) 2h 09m 39s,
5 Rob Barrable/Damien Connolly (Skoda Fabia R5) 2h 10m 07s,
6 Denis Moynihan/Martin O’Brien (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 21m 06s,
7 William Creighton/Liam Regan (Peugeot 208 R2) 2h 21m 20s,
8 Joe Connolly/Richard Connolly (Hyundai i20 R5) 2h 22m 59s,
9 Andy Davies/Michael Gilbey (Subaru Impreza) 2h 23m 01s,
10 James Wilson/Arthur Kierans (Hyundai i20 R5) 2h 23m 13s.
NATIONAL RALLY:
1 Chris Armstrong/Gavin Doherty (Ford Escort) 2h 17m 15s,
2 Rob Duggan/Mikie Galvin (Ford Escort) 2h 19m 48s,
3 Aidan Buckley/Shane Buckley (Ford Escort) 2h 19m 54s,
4 David Condell/Paul Kelly (Ford Escort) 2h 20m 38s,
5 Sacha Kakad/James Aldridge (Ford Fiesta) 2h 20m 45s,
6 Conor McCrossan/Chris Melly (Skoda S2000) 2h 21m 52s.
HISTORIC RALLY:
1 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Ford Escort) 2h 28m 04s,
2 Duncan Williams/Llion Williams (Ford Escort) 2h 28m 13s,
3 Ray Cunningham/Jared Gill (Mini Cooper S) 2h 30m 38s.
JUNIOR RALLY:
1 Kieran Reen/Mark O’Leary (Honda Civic) 1h 10m 34s,
2 Damien Nagle/David Gleeson (Honda Civic) 1h 20m 30s,
3 Chris Brady/Jenny Warren (Honda Civic) 1h 24m 37s.
JUNIOR RALLY CLASS 16A:
1 Michael Hamilton/Stephen Joyce (Honda Civic) 1h 09m 52s,
2 David Kelly/Kenny Bustard (Toyota Starlet) 1h 10m 24s,
3 Cian Walsh/Derry Long (Toyota Corolla) 1h 12m 47s.