GALLAGHER AVOIDS THE DRAMA TO TAKE KILLARNEY MODIFIED WIN
Declan Gallagher and John Mccarthy (Toyota Starlet) were impressive winners of the Modified Section of the Killarney Historic Stages Rally, with one minute and 40 seconds to spare over second-placed Enda O’brien/john Butler (Ford Escort Mk2).
Gallagher survived a lurid first stage spin on Moll’s Gap to put in an impressive performance as his rivals fell by the wayside over the tough Kerry stages for his second win on the event.
In damp and dark conditions it was Colin O’donoghue, who had borrowed his dad Kevin’s BMW M3 for the weekend, that took the Killarney bragging rights on the opening test, just 0.3 seconds ahead of Rob Duggan (Ford Escort Mk2). Duggan was aiming for his third successive win on the event and forced the pace over the next two stages to move into the lead as the crews headed to the first service.
Gallagher had moved back to second place ahead of Chris Armstrong.
Engine problems then forced Duggan out on stage four, the second run over Moll’s Gap, and Gallagher’s lead over Armstrong stood at eight seconds. The second loop ended the hopes of several of the top contenders with Jonathan Pringle clipping a rock on stage five, Ballaghbeama, which damaged the axle.
David Bogie had travelled from Scotland in a new Escort and it took him a few stages to acclimatise but, as he was getting closer to the pace, a throttle motor failed and sidelined him on stage five as well. One stage later and Gary Kiernan was gone from third place with engine maladies. Gallagher’s lead was 28 seconds over Armstrong, but it all became academic on the penultimate test when Armstrong’s Escort ground to a halt. This pushed Gallagher’s lead out to 1m40s over O’brien with one stage left, but this was cancelled due to deteriorating conditions.