MOFFETT AND DEVINE SERVE UP A TREAT FOR THE FANS
The West Cork Rally was won by Josh Moffett in his Hyundai i20 R5. It was his second win of the Irish Tarmac Championship in 2022, and he finished 23.3 seconds ahead of Welsh ace Meirion Evans’VW Polo GTi R5 with Alastair Fisher’s similar car 15s further behind in third.
Callum Devine (Ford Fiesta R5) and Moffett served up a fascinating duel in the Saturday sunshine. Devine was quickest on both runs through the Ardfield stage that skirted the coastline, while the more inland Hayes’ Cross stage fell to Moffett on both occasions as he trailed Devine by 1.8s. Although a 5.2-second margin covered the top six after the first stage, the gaps were more profound by stage four with Jonny Greer
12.7s behind the leader with Evans next, but the latter admitted he was unusually slow out of the blocks.
The afternoon stages on the northern side of the N71 was a continuation of the DevineMoffett battle with the latter dominating and claiming a 1.8s lead. Through the final two stages as Devine held a 4.4s lead over Moffett, who had a soft brake pedal for a portion of the day’s final stage.
Evans held onto third spot but Fisher, Cathan McCourt and Greer were menacingly close. Seventh-placed Daniel Cronin survived a high-speed spin. He was followed in the order by fellow locals Owen Murphy and David Guest with Brendan Cumiskey completing the top 10.
On Sunday’s first stage at Ring, McCourt crashed towards the latter end of the stage. One stage later Moffett, even though he had a slight overshoot, claimed the lead for the second time, 0.2s ahead of Devine with Evans only 8s further behind.
A high-speed moment punctuated Moffett’s performance on stage 11, where he went 7.3s clear with just three stages remaining; Evans lost time when he stalled at a hairpin and Fisher’s earlier good work was negated by a pair of overshoots. Devine’s Fiesta stopped with a gearbox malady on the way to the last loop as Moffett took the spoils ahead of Evans and Fisher, Greer retired on the final stage after damaging the exhaust. Results
West Cork Rally
Organiser: Cork Motor Club When: March
Where: Clonakilty, County Cork
Stages: 14
Starters: 160, 25 Historics, 11 Juniors 1 Josh Moffett/Andy Hayes (Hyundai i20
R5) 1h51m08.4s; 2 Meirion Evans/Jonathan Jackson (VW Polo GTi R5 )+23.3s; 3 Alastair Fisher/Gordon Noble (VW Polo GTi R5); 4 Daniel Cronin/Shane Buckley (VW Polo GTi
R5); 5 David Guest/Jonathan McGrath
(Ford Fiesta R5); 6 Owen Murphy/Anthony Nestor (Ford Fiesta R5); 7 William Creighton/Liam Regan (Ford Fiesta Rally3); 8 Cal McCarthy/Derek O Brien (Citroen C3); 9 Keith Lyons/JJ Cremin (Ford Fiesta R5); 10 Eamonn Kelly/Conor Mohan (Ford Fiesta Rally4). Class winners: Cronin/Buckley; Creighton/Regan; Kelly/Mohan; Kevin Kelleher/William Lynch (Ford Fiesta R5); James Stafford/Tom Scallon (Darrian T99 GTR); Kevin Flanagan/Mark Reilly (Mini Cooper S); Patsy McDonagh/Leigh Cavanagh (Ford Escort); Seamus Ronan/ Aoife Ronan (Honda Civic); Bob Moran/Eoin Collins (Ford Escort); Declan Campbell/ Kevin Creighan (Ford Escort); Sam Moffett/ Keith Moriarty (Toyota Starlet); Simon Reid/ John Murphy (Ford Escort); Andy Heekin/ Sara McFadden (Subaru Impreza); Vincent McSweeney/Michael Kearney (Mitsubishi Evo); Michael Canny/Sinead Canny (Ford Fiesta R5); Edward Flahavan/Anthony Roche (Lancia Fulvia); Maurice Meskell/ Podge Doody (Ford Escort); Neill Williams/ Anthony O’Sullivan (Ford Escort RS1800); Tommy McDonagh/Gary Gallagher (Ford Escort); Jason Farrell/Donagh Crowley (Honda Civic).