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Clearly O'Kane in Killarney Forestry Rally
2004-10-18 - By Philip Byrne
The Tyrone crew of Kevin O'Kane and Martin Hanna have won the Bio-Clear 2004 Killarney Forestry Rally, which took place today in counties Kerry, Cork and Limerick. They took the lead after the halfway point in their Subaru Impreza WRC, overhauling the initial leaders, Dermot Kelly and Greg Shinnors, and remained in front for the remainder of the event. The Charleville-Limerick pairing of Kelly and Shinnors went into the final stage eight seconds adrift of the lead, but their efforts to make up the difference came to an abrupt conclusion when they crashed out of the rally on the Mount Eagle test.
The Bio-Clear Killarney Forestry Rally, the final round of the McCauley Trailers 2004 National Forest Rally Championship, attracted entries from over eighty crews, who experienced near-perfect weather conditions throughout the day, while the spectators also enjoyed the bright autumn sunshine.
O'Kane's result netted him second place in the 2004 Forestry Championship. The overall title had been already been secured by Kevin Lynch, who did not take part in the final round. "We've been running behind him all year, so this is like 'Life after Lynch'", said O'Kane.
For winning co-driver, Mark Hanna, it was his first ever overall victory. Speaking at the finish ramp, he said: "The pace was good today, we set some good stage times, there was no chances being taken, we were on top of it the whole day. Definately there was nothing left to chance, it was a good run, a good result, a nice finish to the championship. Dermot was giving us a good race all day, we knew what stages we were on top of him, we knew where we could maybe pull back time. We knew there was eight seconds between us on the last stage, so we knew we had to put it to bed there. Unfortunately he didn't finish, but that's rallying".
Kelly had been fastest on the opening stage in his WRC Escort, eleven seconds ahead of his nearest challenger, James Murphy (Escort Cosworth), with O'Kane a further two seconds in arrears. On stage two, O'Kane upped the ante and closed to within nine seconds of Kelly. Murphy was slowed after a rear brake caliper bracket came loose, and this, combined with the car cutting out intermittently, dropped him down the order. O'Kane was fastest again on stage three, and trailed Murphy by a single second at the halfway point.
Following a service halt in Castleisland, the crews tackled a second loop of the Mullaghareirk, Forehane and Mount Eagle stages. O'Kane moved ahead of Kelly on the first of these, recording a time ten seconds quicker than his rival. On the penultimate test, Kelly pulled one second back, to remain within striking distance of the lead. His eventual retirement allowed Cork's Pete Willoughby, navigated by Killarney man, Paul Nagle, through into second place. It was an excellent result for Willoughby on only his second ever outing in a four wheel drive car, and his pace was underlined when he recorded the fastest time on the final stage. "We're used to driving a Mark 2, but this is a brilliant car, it just keeps going and going. We didn't have a problem with it all day", he said.
Stephen Moore and Liam McLaughlin finished third in their Subaru Impreza, while James Murphy and Con Mulcahy recovered to finish fourth after their earlier problems, ahead of Patrick Elliott and Martin Cahill. Brian Lawlor and Peter Kavanagh lost fifth place to Elliott and Cahill on a tie-break, having recorded the same total times. A puncture for Lawlor on the final stage cost him twenty seconds, but he was still the highest placed two-wheel drive contender by a comfortable margin. "We really enjoyed the day, our car is twenty eight years old, so it's a great result", said Lawlor.
Rally sponsor, Donie O'Sullivan, was very pleased to finish seventh on his forest rally debut. The tarmac expert and his co-driver, Jakes Kelly, were the first Kerry crew home. "There is absolutely no comparison between gravel and tarmac", Donie observed. "It was my first event in the woods today, and to be honest I was actually amazed with the grip. I didn't think there would be as much grip, but the cars are set up properly for it and the tyres work very well. We basically came to have a bit of fun, and we were shocked to see the times we were putting up, we didn't expect it at all".
John Hickey and Nicholas Burke also upheld local honour, taking ninth place.
The Bio-Clear Killarney Forestry Rally is organised by Killarney & District Motor Club.
Bio-Clear Killarney Forestry Rally - September 5th, 2004
Results
1 Kevin O'Kane/Martin Hanna (Tyrone) Subaru Impreza WRC, 44 mins. 07secs;
2 Pete Willoughby/Paul Nagle (Cork/Killarney) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7, 44.18;
3 Stephen Moore/Liam McLaughlin (Tyrone) Subaru Impreza WRX, 45.19;
4 James Murphy/Con Mulcahy (Limerick) Escort RS Cosworth, 46.05
5 Patrick Elliott/Martin Cahill (Cavan) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, 46.10;
6 Brian Lawlor/Peter Kavanagh (Dublin) Ford Escort RS, 46.10;
7 Donie O'Sullivan/Jakes Kelly (Killarney/Ardfert) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 7, 46.18;
8 James Cribbin/Bob Kelly (Westmeath/Skibbereen) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, 46.31;
9 John Hickey/Nicholas Burke (Barraduff/Killarney) Toyota Celica GT-4, 46.34;
10 Eddie Garry/Kevin Kelleher (Waterford), Subaru Impreza WRX, 48.59.
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