Donnelly leads after first day in the Lakes
Eugene Donnelly and co-driver, Paul Kiely, have a 20-second lead at the conclusion of the first day of the Ordnance Survey/Gleneagle Hotel Rally of the Lakes.
The Derry driver was the third person to lead the day’s eleven-stage first leg, he had a frenetic battle
with Circuit of Ireland winner, Derek McGarrity, both in Subaru WRC’s.
McGarrity lead was cut to a tenth of a second at the service halt in Glengarriff and on the next stage,
Donnelly went in front. Initially, he led by some 6.8 seconds and by the end of the eighth stage at Fuhiry, on the Cork/Kerry border, he was 11.2 seconds ahead.
Donnelly reduced the deficit to 2.1 seconds on the next stage but then crashed his Subaru on S.S. 10, the repeat of Fuhiry. His Subaru arrived at the stage finish somewhat battle scarred.
His indiscretion promoted Austin MacHale into second and ready to challenge over tomorrow’s eight stages that include a double run of Moll’s gap.
Donie O'Sullivan in the McKinstry hired Subaru WRC ended the day in third place and while he was under pressure on the afternoon stages from Liam McCarthy, the Killarney driver has opened up a 20 second advantage over the Toyota Corolla WRC of the Cork driver.
McGarrity ended the day in fifth, his time also included a 90 second road penalty.
Maurice Gass is sixth overnight with Trevor Cathers in a Subaru, heading the Group n showroom category following the demise of Andrew Stewart, who crashed on today’s final stage.
Denis Cronin (BMW M3) is the top rear wheel drive exponent and the overnight top ten also includes
Dickie Curran (Mitsubishi) and Eamonn Boland, who lost several minutes when his Subaru WRC punctured on the first stage.
1. Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Subaru WRC) 1h. 28m. 13.2s.
2. Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Subaru WRC)1h. 28m. 33.2s.
3. Donie O’Sullivan/Paul Nagle (Subaru WRC) 1h. 29m. 47.3s.
4. Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC) 1h. 30m. 07.3s.
5. Derek McGarrity/Dermot O’Gorman (Subaru WRC) 1h. 30m. 42.7s.
6. Maurice Gass/Geoffrey Orr (Subaru WRC) 1h. 32m. 00.6s.
7. Trevor Cathers/David Moynihan (Subaru) 1h. 32m. 06.0s.
8. Denis Cronin/Helen O’Sullivan (BMW M3) 1h. 32m. 49.0s.
9. Dickie Curran/Billy McCullins (Mitsubishi) 1h. 33m. 28.0s.
10. Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Subaru WRC) 1h. 33m. 46.6s.
