Local success

Mayo competitors dominate local event

MacHale and Duffy win Mayo Stages Rally title

Cathal Doyle

THE 2008 TF Royal Hotel & Theatre Mayo Stages Rally will be remembered as the year that local Mayo Motorsport Club competitors dominated the results. Victory went to the Ford Focus WRC of Aaron MacHale and Killian Duffy, recording their first win on home soil. It wasn’t a straightforward victory, however, with Niall Maguire and Claremorris’ Paul McLoughlin putting up a tremendous fight. But in the end, the reigning National Rally champions arrived back to a huge reception at the TF, winners by seven seconds. Combined with McLoughlin’s second place, it meant that three of the top four finishers hailed from the local club, the best ever result in over 30 years of the Mayo Stages Rally.
It could all have been very different, however. On the first stage, MacHale and Duffy slid into a silage bale marking a temporary chicane, removing the front bumper and damaging the intercooler and steering. It meant tackling the second stage before any remedies could be applied. But driver and co-driver kept their heads, and despite dropping a few seconds, they made it to first service holding an 11-second advantage over the Subaru of PJ McDermott. It was a lead they did not subsequently relinquish.
As the celebrations got under way at the rally finish, MacHale admitted that this was one rally that he had really wanted to win. Co-driver Duffy concurred. “We really thought that we had blown it on that first stage. But it’s fantastic to win our home rally after such a great battle with Niall and Paul,” he said.
Mayo & District Motorsport Club had laid on an extremely challenging route for the 2008 event which once again hosted the opening rounds of the Dunlop National Rally Championship, and the McAree Engineering Border Rally Championship, while new for this year were competitors from the 205 Challenge.
Four stages, each run twice, provided competitors with a bit of everything, from fast-flowing sections to tight, twisty lanes, and a number of challenging jumps thrown in for good measure. Add in the varied weather conditions – which included everything from rain and sleet to bright sunshine – and it was no surprise to find a high attrition rate as the day went on.
Tim McNulty, who normally competes in the Tarmac Championship, finished third in a new Subaru Impreza. Championship regular Patrick Elliott was fourth, one place ahead of reigning Irish Forestry Champion Stephen Moore in his fabulous Ford Focus WRC 06. Glenn Allen in a Toyota and Noel Redmond in a Subaru were sixth and seventh respectively.
A number of rear wheel drive crews put in some eye-catching drives. Mark Alcorn from Donegal was as high as sixth overall at one point in his Corolla, but a puncture on stage six left Cavan’s Rodney Wilton to finish as highest non-WRC runner. Not only did the Escort driver win his class and finish eighth overall, but he retained the Bob Kelly Trophy for fastest rear wheel driver.
Donegal brothers Dermot and Joe McHugh claimed ninth spot in their Escort Cosworth, while the top ten was rounded out by the Escort of Camillus Bradley. The Group N award went to another Donegal crew, Danny McBride and Ambrose Given, who finished 14th overall.
Others to pick up awards included Camillus Bradley and Danny O’Neill, who won the Robert Masterson Award; Aaron MacHale and Killian Duffy, who claimed the Eddie O’Hora Award, and Ciaran Walsh and Aidan Gannon, who won the Mayo & District Motor Club Award.
Competitors and spectators were unanimous in their praise for the rally, which ran virtually without a hitch, a tribute to Clerk of the Course Jonathan Rice, his officials, and the huge numbers of marshals who turned out on the day to ensure a successful event.