Clare success in Circuit of Munster Rally

Last weekend’s Limerick-based Circuit of Munster rally had a nail-biting finish at the Limerick Racecourse.

Local man Edward O’Callaghan (Ford Escort) led the event by 4.8 seconds going into the last stage but Clonakilty driver Kevin Kelleher, with Limerick navigator Sean Mullally (Subaru WRC), set a time of 2.00.00 to O’Callaghan’s time of 2.07.0, which gave Kelleher the win by 2.0 seconds.

Limerick’s Paul Purtill/Diarmuid Falvey (Escort) finished third while top seeds Colm Murphy/Don Montgomery retired their group N Subaru with a cracked exhaust manifold after the third stage.
Clare Motor Club members had a lot of success and brought home plenty of crystal. A fantastic drive by club chairman Alan O’Callaghan and Cathal McGrath in their Subaru Impreza saw them finish fifth overall and the winners in Class 8.

This result puts O’Callaghan up in the overall position to take the 2013 Top Part West Coast Rally championship. The fast-flowing stages and dry conditions saw Callaghan from Kilmurry set the second-fastest time over the last stage to pip Limerick driver Frank Sweeney, with Clare navigator Jane Cogan (Ford Escort). Frank and Jane finished sixth overall and were the winners of Class 13.

Father and son Christy and Brian Carey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) also had a trouble-free run, except for a big scare on the last stage. The Kilmurry crew finished 18th overall and were the winners in Class 20. Another Kilmurry crew, Kieran Bailey/Donald Gleeson (Ford Escort), had a trouble-free run and finished 28th overall and second in Class 2.

Ennis driver Niall O’Sullivan/Noel McMahon (Citroen C2) finished second in Class 2. Ennis crew Derek Flynn/Charlie McEnery finished third in Class 6 in their Honda Civic. Joe Baker/Eric Murray won the West Coast Clare Motor Club crew award in their Honda Civic.

Other Clare competitors who finished the event but did not feature in the awards include John O’Sullivan/Lisa O’Dowd (Citroen C2); Anthony Breen/Jill White (Subaru); Keith Naughton/Brian Behan (Escort); Fergal Keane/Mark O’Looney (Corolla GTI) and Aidan Walsh/Jim Casey (Ford Escort).