‘Moffett tops in Sligo’
Impressive 23-second victory makes it five wins during campaign so far
Organiser: Connacht Motor Club When: July 14 Where: Sligo, Co. Sligo Championships: Irish National Rally Championsip; West Coast Rally Championship; Sligo Pallets Border Championship Stages: 9 Starters: 126
Josh Moffett and co-driver Andy Hayes took the spoils on the Sligo Stages, their fifth win of the Irish National Rally Championship, as they edge closer to the Vard Memorial Trophy.
The Ford Fiesta RS WRC crew won by 23 seconds ahead of their only remaining title rivals, Roy White and James O’brien in a similar Fiesta RS WRC. On what was a shakedown for this weekend’s Down Rally, Jonny Greer and co-driver Kirsty Riddick (Ford Fiesta R5) were a minute and 35 seconds further behind in third.
A tough opening 14-mile stage that skirted the tranquil and splendid Glencar Lake allowed Moffett take an early 5.3-second lead over White, who also pushed hard and used all his ability to prevent his Fiesta RS WRC from a lurid spin as he exited the village.
The R5s of Greer and Daniel Cronin followed, the latter stymied by a spin. Johnny Jordan in fifth led the two-wheeldrive contenders in his Toyota Starlet as Derek Mcgarrity’s Fiesta RS WRC occupied sixth.
Continuing to dominate, Moffett stretched his advantage to 10.1s after the completion of the loop. The only major change to the top six came when Jordan spun on the narrow second stage and dropped outside the top 10.
Moffett powered on and duly extended his lead over White to 16.7s, with Greer making some changes to his Fiesta R5 at the Sligo service. Meanwhile, Greer’s nemesis in the R5 category, Cronin, was in all sorts of bother – his car cut out for several minutes on SS4 and a puncture on the following stage meant he plummeted down the order.
Benefiting from some suspension changes, an untroubled Kevin Eves (Toyota Corolla) slotted into fourth with an impressive David Moffett (Starlet) edging in front of Mcgarrity’s Fiesta RS WRC that had some throttle issues.
Moffett went on to claim victory along with the additional bonus point for taking the powerstage, which means a top eight finish on his next outing in the series in Galway will be enough to win the title. Eves was a strong fourth from the Starlets of David Moffett and the charging Jordan.
Mcgarrity, on his first outing since the Easter Rally, came home seventh ahead of Group N winner Shane Maguire (Mitsubishi Lancer E9), who lost precious little time when he punctured near the end of the second stage. An untroubled Aaron Mclaughlin (Lancer E9) was ninth from R2 winner Eamonn Kelly/conor Mohan (Ford Fiesta R2).
The major retirements were Frank Wray/joe Mcnulty (Subaru Impreza WRC) with a blown turbo and JF Shovelin/emmet Brosnan (Ford Escort Mk2) with a broken exhaust manifold. Ryan Moore/chris Moffitt (Honda Civic) won the Junior category and Brian Moore/dylan Doonan (Civic) were the victors in Class 16A.
Results
1 Josh Moffett/andy Hayes (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) 58m49.6s; 2 Roy White/james O’brien (Fiesta RS WRC) +23s; 3 Jonny Greer/kirsty Riddick (Fiesta R5); 4 Kevin Eves/chris Melly (Toyota Corolla);
5 David Moffett/martin Connolly (Toyota Starlet); 6 Johnny Jordan/ Paddy Mccrudden (Starlet); 7 Derek Mcgarrity/niall Burns (Fiesta RS WRC); 8 Shane Maguire/darragh Kelly (Mitsubishi Lancer E9);
9 Aaron Mcloughlin/darren Curran (Lancer E9); 10 Eamonn Kelly/ Conor Mohan (Fiesta R2).
Class winners: Keith Ewing/shane Barry (Honda Civic); Kelly/ Mohan; Roger Kennedy/wendy Blackledge (Peugeot 306); Maguire/ Kelly; Anthony Quinn/sean Hassett (VW Polo); Mcgarrity/burns; Shay Laheen/kerrill Dempsey (Ford Escort Mk2); Cathal Sheridan/peter Deery (Vauxhall Nova); Kieran Carroll/tony Curran (Civic); Paul Carron/sean Brunton (Corolla); Brian Armstrong/aodhan Gallagher (Escort Mk2); Moffett/connolly; Eves/melly; Brian Comiskey/barry Mcgleenon (Subaru Impreza); Ryan Moore/christopher Moffitt (Civic); Brian Moore/dylan Doonan (Civic); David Armstrong/ashley Trimble (Escort Mk2); Mcloughlin/curran.