Miraculous Escort Fastnet win for Tourish
Organiser: Skibbereen & District Car Club; When: October 28; Where: Bantry, Co. Cork. Championship: Final round, Plasticbags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship. Stages 9: Starters 93 (80 main & 13 juniors). Damien Tourish and Domhnaill Mcalaney became the first Ford Escort Mk2 winners of the Fastnet Stages Rally since Bernard O’brien in 1989. They headed competition from Melvyn Evans (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) and James Stafford (Darrian T90 GTR).
Defending winner Daragh O’riordan (Fiesta RS WRC) powered into a 7.3-second lead over local ace Daniel Cronin (Fiesta R5) on the opening stage. However, on a tricky second stage O’riordan cut a corner too tight and dropped a wheel into a drain. He broke the track control arm, punctured a wheel, bent the steering and retired.
While new leader Cronin finished the stage 17.7 seconds ahead of Tourish, he struck an errant feline at the flying finish line and damaged the radiator. Although temporary measures enabled him to start the third stage, they proved unsuccessful and he had to stop when the temperatures began to soar.
Tourish led Evans by four seconds, the latter – co-driven by Sean Hayde – lost over 10s with an overshoot.
Over the remaining six stages, Tourish prevailed with Evans reluctant to pursue the rally winner. Changes to the dampers brought Stafford and co-driver James F Stafford from 10th to third place.
Earlier, Vince Mcsweeney (Mitsubishi) and Barry Meade (Escort) battled for that position with Meade in control until he retired when he damaged the rear axle following an altercation with the scenery on the penultimate stage. Stephen Carey (Fiesta R2) was set for seventh until the gearbox broke on the final stage. His successor, Somerset’s Martyn England (Ford Fiesta R5+), did more than enough to clinch the Southern 4 Rally Championship. Results 1 Damien Tourish/ Domhnaill Mcalaney (Ford Escort Mk2) 1h00m49.6s; 2 Melvyn Evans/ Sean Hayde (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +21s; 3 James Stafford/james F Stafford (Darrian T90 GTR); 4 Vince Mcsweeney/ Michael Kearney (Mitsubishi Lancer); 5 Vincent O’shea/alastair Wyllie (Escort); 6 Brian Brady/ Leonard Tuite (Honda Civic); 7 Martyn England/ Dawn England (Ford Fiesta R5+); 8 John Mchugh/ Brian Boyle (Toyota Corolla); 9 Jason Ryan/ Peter Keohane (Civic); 10 Seanie Mcgrath/ Ger Clancy (Civic).
Class winners: Simon Duggan/ Gavin Sheehan (Civic); Cal Mccarthy/ Derek O’brien (Citroen C2 R2); John Bagge/ Ron Mackey (Peugeot 306) Pat Price/ Andrew Curran (Subaru Impreza) Michael Lenihan/ Chris Brown (Suzuki Swift GTI); Michael P Kelleher/ Eoghan Mccarthy (Escort); Brady/tuite; Colin Roche/ Derry Long (Toyota Starlet); Kieran Hayes/ Sean Ward (Peugeot 205 GTI); Mchugh/ Boyle; O’shea/ Wyllie; Mcsweeney/ Kearney; Emma Marie Nott/ Declan Casey (Escort); George Swanton/ Labhaoise Hyland (Escort); Denis Cronin/ Helen O’sullivan (Ford Escort); Adrian Kermode/jon Hawkins (Porsche 911); Colin O’donoghue/ Lianne O’sullivan (Honda Civic).