Ed Recovers!

Ed O'Callaghan lost over 2 minutes on stage 6 dropping him from fourth to 14th place overall.
By the finish Ed had fought his way back to eight overall and improved his class result from third to second.

Ed's report on his weekend "Clare Stages ...What a Day !!!!!!!
Very enjoyable rally , the first loop proved to be very technical and claimed a lot of cars. Our first stage was blocked and we didn't get our own stage time so it was on to stage 2 before we got a good timed run which put us up to 4th overall. This was as a result of the Kumho tyres from EARS Motorsport Ireland we were testing, using the new K21s on the front and the new K51s on the rear. These tyres are a huge step forward from the previous Kumhos that I had used and I found instant grip and less roll, their overall performance was second to none, this along with Xtrax Shocks
proved to be a great combination on these bumpy technical stages.
On the second loop of stages we continued with our competitive stage times until stage 6 where we encountered brake cylinder trouble where we lost our brakes to the rear of the car causing us to slide off the road losing over 2 minutes before we got going again. This issue was sorted in service and on the final loop we were again back on the pace. Delighted to have set the fastest 2 wheel drive stage times all day. I would like to thank my sponsors for this weekend,
Kumho Tyres- Ears Motorsport.
Noel O Loughlin Insurances.
Ennis Motor Factors.
Charlie Mc Enery Motors.
Xtrax Shocks.
Saenz Transmissions.
I would also like to thank my service crew who as always are outstanding.
Hazel would also like to thank the service crew for all their help."

Joe McCarthy commented after the event "Clare stages done and dusted. What a day as always in Clare. Problem with brakes for 6 stages thanks to Martin and Barry for sorting and a puncture on stage 5 to top it all off. But still got back to 51st and class win. Thanks to Jason on the notes. Roll on the next rally."

Finishers

8th overall Ed O'Callaghan/Gerard Clancy Ford Escort RS Mk2 Class 13 2nd

11th overall Mike Quinn/Donal Balfe Ford Escort Mk2 class 14 1st

16th overall Declan Willmot/Anthony Nestor Ford Escort Mk2 class 14 2nd

20th overall Frank Sweeney/Jane Cogan Ford Escort Mk2 class 13 5th

29th overall Ken Lyons/Paddy McDonnell Ford Escort Mk2 class 13 8th

31st overall Kenneth Ryan/Keith McCarthy Ford Escort Mk2 class 9 1st

45th overall Con Mulcahy/Jonathan Keane Vauxhall Nova class 10 1st

47th overall Eamonn Barrett/Ken Kenneally Ford Escort Mk2 class 9 2nd

48th overallHazel O'Callaghan/Noel Mc Mahon Peugeot 106 Cup Car class 6 2nd

49th overall Roland Doherty/Ray McKenna Opel Corsa class 9 3rd

51st overall Joe McCarthy/Jason O'Brien Honda Civic Type R class 3 1st

53rd overall Gerard Dineen/Donal Dineen Toyota Starlet RWD class 12 5th

3rd Junior Ger Lyons/Steve O'Brien Honda Civic

8th Junior Ian Ryan/Christopher O'Callaghan Honda EG6

 Non finishers included Sean Liston/ Katrina Walsh Liston who had a roll on stage one. Katrina said afterwards "Our day ended on stage 1. Hit a boulder on a 4L and rolled. Our BMW has looked better! Lot of work to be done to her now. Sick to the stomach. Gonna be a busy winter. From the highs in Galway to the lows now here in Clare. Sure that's rallying as they say! We must apologise to our sponsors and helpers for crashing out. Derek Walsh Camper Centre, McConnell Motorsport, Motorsport Auctions Ltd, Fast Cams In-Car Cameras and McCarthy's Garage in Hospital. Sorry. Hopefully we'll make it up to ye next year."

Steve Wood/Keith Moriarty only completed one stage.

And not forgetting our club marshals on duty at the Clare stages

Afternoon Tea

Breeda Ryan said about the photo above, "Spoiled rotten at the flying finish of Clare stages rally, very nice resident brought us afternoon tea!"