Tohill keeps his perfect record with dominant win
Irish Rallycross By Paul Phelan Organiser: Carlow Car Club When: May 27 Where: Pallas Karting, Tynagh, County Galway Starters: 45.
Defending champion Derek Tohill improved his chances of taking a hat-trick of titles by keeping his unbeaten record this year with total domination of both the Supercar and Super Finals once again at Tynagh.
In the Supercar race, he was 34 seconds clear of Declan Kelly’s older shape Ford Fiesta, while in the Super Final, the Coyne brothers duelled all the way for second place, with Michael just getting the better of Willie, 26s behind the flying Tohill.
The Modified Final was Coyne versus Coyne once more, with elder brother Michael again holding off fellow former National title holder Willie by less than half a second this time.
Ciaran Murphy made it three in a row in the Production Final, a long way in front of Damian Farrell’s similar Peugeot 106. Tom O’rafferty’s Vauxhall Nova took the honours among the Rally Cars in front of the Vauxhall Corsa of Dick Sheenan.
In the Ford Fiesta Zetec Final, Denis Mccrudden joined the ranks of those to remain unbeaten this year, despite a strong challenge from Eric Fleming.
Junior Final winner Ben Mullins was excluded, leaving Michael Ryan, Jack Byrne and Christopher Grimes to take the top three places. Results Super Final: 1 Derek Tohill (Ford Fiesta) 4m45.15s; 2 Michael Coyne (Vauxhall Nova) +25.99s; 3 Willie Coyne (Opel Corsa); 4 Pearse Browne (BMW Compact); 5 Declan Kelly (Ford Fiesta); 6 Thomas O’rafferty (Vauxhall Nova). Supercar Final: 1 Tohill 4m 49.58s; 2 Kelly +34.37s; 3 Noel Greene (Mitsubishi Mirage); no other finishers. Modified Final: 1 Michael Coyne 5m11.60s; 2 Willie Coyne +0.35s; 3 Peter Mcgarry (Ford Fiesta); 4 Browne; 5 Philip Kelly (Peugeot 205); 6 Chris Grimes (Vauxhall Nova). Production Final: 1 Ciaran Murphy (Peugeot 106) 5m34.61s; 2 Damian Farrell (Peugeot 106) +12.07s; 3 Eugene Ward (Peugeot 106); 4 Dermot Gargan (Peugeot 106); no other finishers. Rally Cars Final: 1 O’rafferty 5m30.01s; 2 Dick Sheenan (Opel Corsa) +2.61s; 3 Brian Murphy (Peugeot 106); 4 P J Doyle (Peugeot 205); 5 Peter O’brien (Peugeot 205); 6 Joe Downey (Peugeot 106). Ford Fiesta Zetec Final: 1 Denis Mccrudden 5m50.78s; 2 Eric Fleming +0.64s; 3 David Maher; no other finishers. Junior Final: 1 Michael Ryan (Ford Fiesta) 5m56.45s; 2 Jack Byrne (Fiesta) +0.43s; 3 Christopher Grimes (Fiesta); 4 Conor Kehoe (Fiesta); 5 Aaron Whelan (Nissan Micra); 6 Eoin Kinsella (Fiesta). Buggy Final: 1 Russell Woods (Semog) 4m56.12s; 2 Owen Skelly (Semog) +14.50s; no other finishers.