McNulty clinches national rally title

Meath’s Tim McNulty (Subaru WRC) and his Sligo co-driver, Paul Kiely clinched the Dunlop National Rally championship with a fine victory in the Ennis-based Auburn Lodge Clare Rally.
It was their sixth victory in as many Dunlop outings and on this occasion, they finished 53 seconds in front on the Subaru of Niall Maguire/Barry Goodman with Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru WRC) a distant third.
Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Mitsubishi) won the Group N category and the top modified crew was that of Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Ford Escort).
The Dunlop Drive of the Day award was won by Mike Quinn/Grainne McEnery (Ford Escort).
Meanwhile, in the Dunlop Junior Rally championship, Monaghan’s Johnno and Padraig Doogan (Ford Escort) finished second and took top points to move into the lead with just one round remaining. Remarkably, all three of their championship rivals failed to finish.
On the opening stage near Ruan village, McNulty took a 12-second lead over Niall Maguire, who had no intercom for the last four kilometres as a connection became undone. Kerry’s Mike Quinn (Escort) with local Clare co-driver Grainne McEnery slotted into third, five seconds further behind.
Kevin Barrett, McNulty’s Dunlop Championship rival, was fourth in a top six that also featured the Escort of Wesley Patterson and local hero, Anthony O’Halloran, re-united with his Opel Manta after a lapse of some four years.
On SS 2, McNulty moved 27 seconds ahead of Maguire, who was just a second ahead of Barrett. Maguire punched in the best time on the third test.
McNulty arrived at the Gort Road Industrial Estate service halt with a 24 seconds advantage over Maguire.
One of the drives of the rally was that of Monaghan’s, Josh Moffett. The 19-year-old held fourth overall and led the Group N category. He was 14 seconds ahead of his 21-year-old brother, Sam, who was seventh in general classification. Sandwiched between them were the Escort duo of Mike Quinn and Wesley Patterson. The latter lost time on the opening test when he caught the spray from Shane Maguire’s Subaru. On the third stage, he also overshot one of the junctions.
Sam Moffett (Mitsubishi), in seventh, also had new suspension but was taking time to get accustomed to the handling of the car. Limerick’s, Ed O’Callaghan (Escort) was eighth; O’Halloran was ninth and Washington James in a Darrian completed the top ten.
A straying horse caused problems on the fourth stage with McNulty being the worse affected. He lost time and the lead with Maguire, who also encountered the horse, moving into a seven second lead while Barrett was a further 28 seconds behind. Mike Quinn displaced Josh Moffett in the race for fourth.
McNulty regained top spot with a fine performance on SS 5 to move eight seconds ahead of Maguire with Barrett slipping 43 seconds behind Maguire.
At the final service halt, McNulty, who was fastest on SS 6, led Maguire by 25 seconds.
McNulty was quickest on all three stages of the final loop and won by a margin of 53 seconds, it was his sixth win in six Dunlop outings and was enough to clinch the Vard Memorial Trophy.
Maguire took second and Barrett, requiring a second place finish to keep his Dunlop hopes alive, had to be content with third.
The Clare Motor club Noel McCullagh award for the fastest Clare crew on the day went to Anthony O’Halloran and Charlie McEnery driving their Opel Manta. They also finished third in Class 14.
Club members George Whelan/Noel McMahon won the Dermot Molloy award in their 1.6 Honda Civic. Ruan’s Martin Casey/Sean Hegarty won the Junior Section in their Honda Civic. Ennis Navigator Grainne McEnery along with Kerry driver Mike Quinn finished second in Class 14 and won the Dunlop drive of the day award in their Ford Escort. John O’Sullivan/Sarah Whelan finished second in Class 15 in their Citroen C.