Top crews out of West Cork Rally
Organisers of the Quality Hotels West Cork Rally in Clonakilty have been dealt a double blow this evening with the withdrawal of two of the top ten seeds.
The number one crew for the two-day, 16-stage event, Donie O'Sullivan/Paul Nagle, have withdrawn their entry.
It appears that the Cork-born, Killarney-based driver could not get clarity on the insurance cover for his Proton Satria Neo S2000 car.
There were a number of issues that could not be clarified to his satisfaction at the close of business this evening.
A pragmatic O'Sullivan said: "In the circumstances, I wasn't prepared to risk it. A few years ago, I was in a similar situation on the Rally of the Lakes with a Ford Focus WRC. I crashed out but I gained a valuable lesson."
O'Sullivan and Nagle, who was the winning co-driver to Kris Meeke in last week's second round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) in Brazil, will now focus their attention on the Circuit of Kerry Rally, the third round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship in two week's time.
The other crew out of tomorrow's event are Cork's Brian O'Mahony/John Higgins.
Seeded at ten, their withdrawal followed engine-related issues that were manifested as they drove their Renault Clio S1600 to pre-event scrutiny.
Tomorrow, Welshman, John Dalton in his nimble Darrian will be the first car on the stage outside Clonakilty where he will be followed by local hero, Liam McCarthy (Toyota Corolla WRC), Briton, Jim Harrison (Subaru) and former winner and another local, Denis Cronin (Subaru WRC).
