Boland and McHale duel on Circuit of Ireland

Wexford’s Eamonn Boland and co-driver Damien Morrissey (Subaru WRC) continue to lead after the conclusion of the second leg of the Circuit of Ireland Rally today.

Sat, 22 Mar, 2008 - 19:30

Wexford’s Eamonn Boland and co-driver Damien Morrissey (Subaru WRC) continue to lead after the conclusion of the second leg of the Circuit of Ireland Rally today.

However, a charge by the Gareth MacHale/Craig Parry (Ford Focus WRC) has seen their advantage whittled down to 26.2 seconds.

Tim NcNulty/Eugene O’Donnell (Subaru WRC) are lying in third place - 52.4 seconds further behind.

Boland began today’s second leg with a 54.2 second lead over Derek McGarrity with MacHale a minute and 6.3 seconds off the lead in fourth place.

Gareth MacHale set the pace on S.S. 5, today’s first stage and within a few stages he was into second spot.

A good performance through S.S. 8, where he gained almost 10 seconds, saw him cut Boland’s lead to 46.7 seconds. On the afternoon stages, there was little to choose between the leading pair as they traded times.

Tim McNulty stalled his Subaru WRC on two occasions and dropped considerable time while Derek McGarrity (Subaru WRC), who had to contend with power steering woes, retired on S.S. 9.

His demise promoted an untroubled Aaron MacHale (Ford Focus WRC) to fourth place.

Meanwhile, in Group N, overnight leader Roy White retired his MG S2000 when it overheated.

John McGlaughlin (Mitsubishi) then took up the lead role in the showroom category, followed by Brendan Comiskey and Kevin Kelleher, also in Mitsubishi’s.

On today’s final loop of stages, MacHale gained 4.1 seconds on Stage 12.

During S.S. 13, Boland overshot a junction while MacHale’s Ford Focus punctured towards the end of the stage, nevertheless, he gained a precious 8.5 seconds from Boland.

Tim McNulty was fastest on the stage.

On today’s final stage, S.S. 14, MacHale set the pace and took 11.1 seconds from Boland. Overnight, Boland leads MacHale by 26.2 seconds.

The rally concludes tomorrow with a further six stages.

1. E. Boland/D. Morrissey (Subaru WRC) 2h. 18m. 55.1s.

2. G. MacHale/C. Parry (Ford Focus WRC) 2h. 19m. 21.3s.

3. T. McNulty/E. O'Donnell (Subaru WRC) 2h. 20m. 13.7s.

4. A. MacHale/K. Duffy (Ford focus WRC) 2h. 28m. 23.6s.

5. J. McGlaughlin/C. Henderson (Mitsubishi) 2h. 29m. 52.4s.

6. B. Cumiskey/C. Foley (Mitsubishi) 2h. 33m. 53.4s.

7. K. Kelleher/M. Kelleher (Mitsubishi) 2h. 36m. 55.7s.

8. D. Biggerstaff/A. Wylie (Subaru WRC) 2h. 37m. 25.5s.

9. T. Doyle/T. McDaid (Renault Clio R3) 2h. 42m. 35.2s.