EUROCABLES STAGES CREW NOTES
sponsored by BUSH FILLING STATION, COLERAINE
 |
Car 1 Connor McCloskey/Francis Regan (2nd): "We didn't have any major dramas, although the car needs a new door after we hit a bale on the first stage. But everything was 100 percent and I'm happy with the result. Our car just didn't have the legs for Derek's Subaru and I didn't expect to beat Kenny!"
Car 2 Kenny McKinstry/Noel Orr (3rd): It's a pity we lost time when we were stuck behind another car for a whole lap. My daughter Emma's car caught fire on stage two and I'd like to ask all those competitors who used their fire extinguishers to give me a call."
Car 3 Denis Biggerstaff/Damian McCann (4th): Great day, not one complaint! We had three good stages and three bad but even though we had issues, it was great. I was really happy to be in that race."
Car 4 Derek McGarrity/James McKee (1st): "It's good to get the win and it's good to get more seat time in a left-hand drive car."
Car 5 Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (5th): "It could have been better but I'm happy enough as it's my first cut at the N.I. Championship. "
Car 6 Kieron Graffin/Vincent Fergus (9th): "It's my first time in the car and we had some paddle shift problems. I think we lost maybe 10 or 15 seconds through the second stage."
Car 7 Alan Carmichael/Ivor Lamont (7th): "It was good at the start - we were third overall after stage one. Then we were held up big time by another competitor."
Car 8 Mark Doyle/Cormac Doyle (8th): "Really enjoyed it! Had a lot of spins but we had a bit of a cut over the last three stages."
Car 9 George Robinson/Tommy Speers (6th): "We were on the wrong tyres at one point but it was good."
Car 10 Ray Brammer/Matt Whattam (8th): "We had a spin on the first stage. It was very enjoyable."
Car 11 Emma McKinstry/Kenny Hull (Retired - fire): "I'd just like to thank everybody that helped us put the fire out. There were people throwing extinguishers left, right and centre - I'd like those that used their extinguishers to telephone me and I'll get it sorted ASAP."
Car 12 Mark McKinstry/Steven Dowds (Retired - mechanical)
Car 13 John McGaffin/Lesley McGaffin (17th): "We had a puncture on stage five but we really enjoyed it. It's a pity there's not a few more stages!"
Car 14 John McGlaughlin/Crawford Henderson (Retired - mechanical): “On the first stage I made a hallion of the first corner! I just entered it far too hard and spun. Then on the gravel section the car jumped out of second. It gradually got worse and on the second stage, she must have stripped every tooth off the cog.”
Car 15 Neil McCance/Sean Ferris (Retired - engine)
Car 16 Cathal Rogers/Eoighan Rogers (14th): "It was close until we caught another competitor on stage five but we still tried hard on the last stage."
Car 17 John Walker/Dessie Wilson (18th): "We had a slow puncture and dropped around eight seconds on stage four."
Car 18 Raymond Johnston/Fabian McAleer (13th): "We had some tyre problems. I think we were just running on them for too long. It was a good, close fight with Cathal."
Car 19 Stephen Kelly/Ann Taggart (23rd): "Brilliant day, although we hit some tyres at the start!"
Car 20 Brian Muldoon/Charlie Beattie (16th): "We toughened up in the middle of the day! We caught John Waring on the final stage."
Car 21 Mark Massey/Andrew McVeigh (15th): "We had problems with the brakes - she burst a hose so they were just fading away."
Car 22 Trevor Ferguson/David McElroy (21st)
Car 23 Rodney McKnight/Rodney McKnight (28th): "We had problems with the anti-lag but it came good at last. I'm happy enough!"
Car 24 Wesley Patterson/Terence Teggart (10th): "We had a spin on the last stage and a tyre caught underneath the car. It caught around the front wheel arch so she was like driving a shopping trolley - I just wanted to get to the finish!"
Car 25 Adrian Hetherington/Anne Mageean (Retired)
Car 26 John Waring/Mo Downey (30th): "We had a spin on stage two - I thought we were going to run over some photographers!"
Car 27 Gary Rodgers/Brian Crawford (44th): "We had a mixed day - we had some handling problems at the start."
Car 28 Colin Britton/Arthur Kierans (20th): "We made a couple of mistakes when the track changed. The pace was good but I more used to forestry events."
Car 29 Ruairi McCloskey/Ronan O'Neill (Retired)
Car 30 Geoffrey McMahon/Robert Graham (27th)
Car 31 Alan Burrows/Gavin Burrows (26th)
Car 32 Mark Woodside/Allan Harryman (29th): "I haven't done a rally since the Toshiba Rally in 2001 - it's the first time my helmet has been on since then!"
Car 33 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Retired)
Car 34 Pat Kirk/John Crossle (Retired)
Car 35 Mark Leathem/Hugh Williamson (59th): "We hit three bales!"
Car 36 Cyril Doherty/Graham Henderson (37th): "Fantastic! It was a good, well run event."
Car 37 Gary White/John Patterson (Retired)
Car 38 Anthony McGuinness/Neil Corcoran (63rd): "I think there is someone complaining that we cut them off at a chicane."
Car 39 David Armstrong/Duncan MacFarlane (Retired)
Car 40 Trevor Moore/J.M. McGrath (19th)
Car 41 Seamus O'Connell/Gabriel Campbell (22nd): "We spun and hit a bale on stage four - damaged my (driver's) door."
Car 42 James Kennedy/John Rowan (Retired - half shaft)
Car 43 Fintan McGrady/Cormac McGrady (24th)
Car 44 Drew Stewart/Steven Park (12th): "We clipped a tyre on stage two which put the steering out."
Car 45 Andrew Bushe/Safron Thomas (Retired): "We were leading the class and second fastest in the two-wheel drive category behind Wesley after stage one. Then we had a big spin on stage two and were lucky to avoid hitting the pit wall! After that, at the start of stage four, we had to take evasive action to avoid a huge accident. We were doing about 80mph and I had the line for the first chicane - I turned in, then I spotted the wing of another competitor's car beside me. There wasn't enough room for two cars so there were two options - keep turning in and possibly roll, which would have been deadly at that speed. So I had no option but avoid him and go head-on into a bale at about 50mph. It was a sudden stop and there's a fair bit of damage to the car."
Car 46 Gary Price/Sharon McCarter (32nd): "Brilliant, we had a real good day out, although we had a spin on the final stage."
Car 47 Alastair Cochrane/Jonathan Charlesson (25th): "No problems other than driver errors - too flamboyant!"
Car 48 David Roe/Padraig Doogan (88th): "We had a few gearbox problems."
Car 49 Garry Armstrong/Norman Armstrong (66th): "We were up on top of too many tyres!"
Car 50 Stephen Nevin/Jaye Nevin (86th): "It's a new car and we had a gearbox problem after a roll pin broke."
Car 51 Mervyn Williamson/George Hamilton (43rd): "We had a wee bit of a gearbox problem with first and second gear. My hands are sore from holding it in gear!"
Car 52 Paul Mogey/Willis Cooper (31st): "We've got another class win - I've got a good navigator beside me!"
Car 53 Michael Conlon/Aidan Boyle (36th)
Car 54 William Armstrong/Frank McPolin (39th): "Just class - that sums it up!"
Car 55 Mervyn Wedlock/Laura Wedlock (52nd): "I was caught by John Keatley - he got out in front, which scared me at the time. It was just one of those things."
Car 56 Andy Hawthorne/David Hawthorn (Retired)
Car 57 Trevor Allen/Connor Loughran (34th): "Everything was fine - makes a change!"
Car 58 Derek Gurney/Peter Crockett (Retired)
Car 59 Hugh Murdoch/Anne Murdoch (Retired)
Car 60 Declan Smith/Cathal Hughes (Retired)
Car 61 Scott Murdoch/Ewan Murdoch (77th): "A1 - absolutely brilliant!"
Car 62 Aidan Donnelly/Brendan Quinn (51st): "I keep hitting the tyres!"
Car 63 John Keatley/James McKeefry (73rd): "I'm just not quick enough!"
Car 64 Alan Jardine/Jim McSherry (57th): "We had to replace the distributor cap but we had a good clean run over the last two stages."
Car 65 Philip Hunter/Michael Faloon (47th): "It was a fairly straightforward day - we just about managed to avoid all the tyres!"
Car 66 Colm McGinley/Gerard Mullan (82nd): "Good day except for hitting a few bales!"
Car 67 Alan Simms/Christopher Simms (Retired)
Car 68 Steven Armstrong/Lisa Armstrong (75th)
Car 69 Samuel Wilson/Liam Quigg (41st): "Good day for a change, we just had a few wee mistakes and overshoots."
Car 70 Alan Atcheson/Wayne Maxwell (54th): "We had a mixed day. We caught three or four competitors but that's the way it goes."
Car 71 Paul Nevin/Adrian Nevin (56th): "We burst the gearbox on the first stage so we had to get a new one in her!"
Car 72 Robert Erwin/Neil Ervine (35th): "Really good - we just got the class win!"
Car 73 Noel Strain/Stewart Strain (Retired)
Car 74 Andrew Mulholland/Andrew Mulholland (49th): "Good day for a change!"
Car 75 Paddy McVeigh/Bryan Jardine (61st): "Good day, no problems. The event was very well run."
Car 76 Tommy O'Connell/Sean Magee (81st): "No problems, it was my first rally so I'm learning all the time!"
Car 77 Philip McDowell/Mark Stirling (68th): "We just about got to the finish. We've no alternator so she's not charging."
Car 78 Philip Ewart/Graeme Emerson (58th): "We hit a few tyres but it's all good!"
Car 79 Niall Braniff/Seamus Braniff (Retired)
Car 80 Gerard Farmer/Alan McNutt (Retired)
Car 81 Gareth Neely/David Graham (33rd): "Very good day except there's no steering wheel on the left-hand side!" (Navigator)
Car 82 Darrel Quinn/Stephen O'Hanlon (42nd): "The rear bumper is too long and too wide!"
Car 83 William McClurkin/Louise McClurkin (53rd): "We had the wrong tyres on but other than that, it was a good day."
Car 84 Shane Cullen/Philip Cherry (55th)
Car 85 Donal Crossan/Damien McCabe (70th)
Car 86 Maurice Jellie/Andrew Francis (64th): "All sorts of problems - we had a misfire, and we spun. All was good on stages three and four, then a front trackrod arm broke on stage five, and we had fuel surge on stage six."
Car 87 Dermot O'Hagan/Robert Fyfee (48th)
Car 88 Brian Black/Ian Crozier (60th): "Broke the gearbox on stage five - we had been fighting for the class win."
Car 89 Chris Byers/Joan Gilmore (46th): "The clutch cable broke on stage three."
Car 90 Simon Woodside/Dean Beckett (40th): "We had a couple of very minor offs!"
Car 91 John Devlin/Gavin Devlin (74th): "Good day's craic!"
Car 92 David Hutchinson/Richard Hunniford (78th)
Car 93 Paul Murdoch/Mark McGaffery (87th): "The clutch started slipping due to an oil leak but it was still a tremendous day."
Car 94 David Craig/Alastair Glenn (69th): "I was a wee bit rusty in the morning!"
Car 95 J.T. Warnock/Robert Mack (Retired)
Car 96 Michael Magee/John Magilton (50th): Brilliant, well run, can't complain about nothin'!"
Car 97 Andy Johnson/Jim Young (45th): "Really good!"
Car 98 Stephen Potts/Stephen Lilley (72nd): "Absolutely fantastic - I even bought new tyres for the first time in a year!"
Car 99 Ian Duff/Ian Hull (65th)
Car 100 Nigel Simpson/Austin Grimes (76th): "Can't get the car to go any faster - pure flat out!"
Car 101 Andrew Wilson/Cathy Wilson (38th)
Car 102 Mark Donnelly/Shane McSorley (Did not start)
Car 103 Raymond Nelson/Chris Nelson (83rd): "Brilliant but no clutch!"
Car 104 Stephen Smith/Victor Smith (93rd - pushed past time control with gearstick in his hand!): "Up and down day, the gearstick broke off in my hand - she's stuck in third gear!"
Car 105 Stanley McKeown/Graham Patterson (62nd): "There's no rub marks on her anyway!"
Car 106 Stephen Holden/James Starkey (71st): "Brilliant!"
Car 107 Philip Hamilton/Derek Stride (79th): "The best day's rallying I've ever had!"
Car 108 Samantha Thom/Loretta Kelly (Retired - mechanical SS3): Samantha passed her driving test a few days before the event.
Car 109 Damien McGauran/Thomas McGauran (85th): "No problems today - we had enough of those last year!"
Car 110 David Baird/Chris Baird (Did not start)
Car 111 Raymond Dennison/Gareth Lewthwaite (Retired)
Car 112 Glen Irwin/Derek Torrens (67th): "Everything went OK."
Car 113 Declan Leonard/Dara Leonard (80th): "We got the class win! The clutch has been slipping all day - I'm surprised we finished."
Car 114 Joe Gallagher/Francis Devine (91st): "Everything was great!"
Car 115 Andy Gilmore/Paul Biggerstaff (84th): "We got to the finish - the power steering isn't working, I feel like I've done a work-out!"
Car 116 Martin Devine/Declan Cairns (90th): "We had a bad start - we only did one lap on the first stage so we got a maximum time."
Car 117 Brian Carson/Jonathan Armstrong (92nd): "Brilliant, absolutely no problems!"
Car 118 Brian Vance/Ciaran McNamara (Retired)
Car 119 Becky Cherry/Phil Cherry (89th - pushed past time control): "On the last stage we hit something too hard but we got second in class."
Car 120 Roisin Boyd/Wendy Blackledge (94th): "Glad to get around and finished - learning as we went along!" |