TIMOLEAGUE’S Kevin O'Sullivan made his rallying debut at the recent Laois Heartland's Rally that was based in Stradbally.
Driving the ODM Rally Team hired Opel Corsa GSi and co-driven by fellow local Mark Hurley, he finished eighth in Class 10.
‘From spectating at the West Cork Rally I have always wanted to compete,’ O'Sullivan explained.
‘It went well apart from issues with the brakes on the second stage where we had only got about a kilometre into the stage. We re-joined under ‘Super Rally’ and completed the remaining four stages.
‘I enjoyed it and Mark (Hurley) did a great job on the pacenotes, I wasn't that fussed about the stage times, this was all about getting to the finish. We had the same tyres throughout the day but the rear ones were a bit scrubbed by the finish.’
As for the rest of the year, he concluded: ‘Hopefully the Imokilly Rally (July 27th) and maybe one or two others, we'll see.’
Killarney's Colin O'Donoghue (Ford Escort) won the event where he finished 4.6 seconds ahead of Monaghan's David Moffett (Toyota Starlet) while another Monaghan driver, Richard Moffett (Toyota Starlet), was some 13.6 seconds further behind in third. Monaghan's Johnno Doogan (Ford Escort) led initially only to retire on his way to the third stage with a broken half-shaft. O'Donoghue, who experienced some transmission trouble on the second stage and Richard Moffett were the respective leaders after SS3 and SS4. O'Donoghue then sealed the win with the fastest times on the final two stages.
Meanwhile, Kilcrohane's Michael O'Donovan and Drimoleague's George Swanton finished second in Class 2A. Competing in the ex-Jack Harris Ford Fiesta R2T, O'Donovan had a clean run on what was his maiden outing in a left-hand drive car. O'Donovan, who is part of the Tom Gahan Motorsport (TGM) outfit, will contest the remaining rounds of the popular Top Part West Coast Rally Championship.
Ardfield co-driver Gary Lombard partnered Kerry's Ian Horgan (Toyota Corolla) to second in Class 11R. In changing weather conditions and having been dry for the first of the day's six stages and for the first section of SS2, they were caught in a downpour for the remainder of SS2, where along with other crews, they received a notional time. They led the class by 28 seconds.
At the service, a change of tyres brought an immediate competitive improvement through SS3 until a puncture on the final corner of the stage. Despite the spare tyre's unsuitability, they got through SS4 without any drama but slipped some 18 seconds off the class lead that was held by Monaghan's Martin McPhillips (Toyota Corolla). They were untroubled on the final pair of stages and managed to keep third-placed Armagh's Chris Murphy (Ford Escort) at bay. Lombard will compete in next week's Donegal International Rally where he will co-drive for East Cork's Darragh Walsh in the Junior category. Following a brace of wins in the category in the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork and the Killarney Rally of the Lakes, they have a four-point advantage.
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The appearance of Red Bull athletes Conor Shanahan and Josh McErlean at the forthcoming Drift Pursuit in Spike Island on July 5th is a sell-out. Both drivers and Conor’s brother Jack will participate in demonstration drives, the Shanahan brothers (from Killavullen) in a Toyota GT86 and McErlean in the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 car.
The event will feature 16 of Ireland's top drifters in a head-to-head knockout format. The drivers are judged on two key criteria: course time and clipping points, with penalties for any infringements. The one-hour and 45 minute spectacular starts at 6.45pm.
Conor Shanahan said, 'As a proud Corkman, it is incredible to see a drift event like this take place at such an iconic location like Spike Island. Some of the best drifters in Ireland will be competing, and I know Jack and I are looking forward to putting on a show.’
Just last weekend Conor won the latest round of the DMEC (Drift Masters European Championship) in Finland to move into the lead of the series after three rounds and ahead of the Irish round in Mondello Park at the end of the month.
