Victory for Evans in West Cork Rally
For the second time in only four years, Welsh driver Mel Evans won the Quality Hotels West Cork Rally that took place in Clonakilty today.
Evans and Limerick co-driver Sean Mullally finished 35.5 seconds ahead of the Toyota Celica of local ace Donal O'Donovan and his co-driver Sean Moroney.
John Dalton and Gwynfor Evans were third in their Darrian.
The Group N category was won by the Clonakilty crew of Kevin and Martin Kelleher (Mitsubishi).
Evans strengthened his position over the opening stages and, with a cushion of a one minute lead, he was able to ease off later on, even though his Subaru had a problematic fifth gear.
O’Donovan pushed hard on the closing stages when Michael Barrable threatened to dislodge him from second place. However, O’Donovan ably withstood the challenge and on the final stage, Barrable punctured and retired after he lost further time when the jack slipped.
That episode allowed John Dalton, the top two-wheel drive exponent, to take third overall.
Jon Ingram set some very impressive times in his Ford Focus WRC. He was rewarded with fourth place ahead of the Subaru WRC of George Cullen, who endured gear selection difficulties.
Even though Kevin Kelleher lost time with a blown turbo and later a slipping clutch, he guided his Mitsubishi to a facile win in Group N and sixth in overall classification.
:
1. M. Evans/S. Mullally (Subaru WRC) 2h. 14m. 17.5s.
2. D. O'Donovan/S. Moroney (Toyota Celica) 2h. 14m. 53.0s.
3. J. Dalton/G. Jones (Darrian) 2h. 16m. 50.8s.
4. J. Ingram/I. Allsop (Ford Focus WRC) 2h. 17m. 06.5s.
5. G. Cullen/J. Kelly (Subaru WRC) 2h. 17m. 45.1s.
6. K. Kelleher/M. Kelleher (Mitsubishi) 2h. 18m. 14.8s.
7. M. Morgan/T. Fisher (Mitsubishi) 2h. 20m. 31.5s.
8. G. Evans/D. Jones (Ford Escort) 2h. 21m. 19.9s.
9. K. O'Callaghan/H. Giles (Mitsubishi) 2h. 21m. 29.9s.
10. W. Patterson/L. Jones (Ford Escort) 2h. 22m. 08.8s.
