Evans storms to Fastnet Rally victory

Newly-crowned Dunlop National Rally champion Mel Evans, in a Subaru WRC, brought the curtain down on the Dunlop season with a convincing victory in the Skibbereen-based West Cork Hotel Fastnet Rally - the tenth and final round of the campaign.

At the completion of the eight-stage rally, Evans and his co-driver Patrick Walsh were 51 seconds ahead of second-placed Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru WRC).

Cork driver Daragh O’Riordan partnered by Derry’s Tony McDaid, also in a Subaru WRC, were a further seven seconds behind in third.

The top Modified performer was Limerick’s Ed O’Callaghan (Ford Escort); he was fourth overall with Brian O’Mahony in a Renault Clio back in fifth.

Meanwhile, Declan Boyle (Ford Escort) who was seventh, clinched the rally.ie award as the top driver in the Modified category within the Dunlop series, while Meath’s Sean Flanagan in a Subaru won the Patterson’s RallyNews Group N award.

Eugene Donnelly driving a Class 10 Vauxhall Nova, as a fundraiser for the West Cork Rapid Response, won his class and finished 32nd overall.

Last year’s Fastnet winner and top seed Denis Cronin (Subaru) took a four-second lead on the opening stage close to Skibbereen, where O’Riordan was his closest pursuer with Evans eleven seconds off the lead.

Late entry Keith Cronin, the double British Rally champion, driving his 2009 championship-winning Mitsubishi, lost over five minutes with a puncture.

Meanwhile, another local driver Kevin Kelleher, also in a Mitsubishi, led the showroom category. He was some 13 seconds ahead of Dunlop regular Sean Flanagan (Subaru) who was sixth in general classification.

Sandwiched between them was the Subaru WRC of Kevin Barrett. Ed O’Callaghan (Escort) led the two-wheel-drive category.

Dunlop Group N leader Shane Maguire was in trouble at the start of the stage and began the stage well out of sequence having lost time trying to sort intercom problems. It appears he was excluded for going OTL.

Rally-leader Cronin crashed his Subaru on the second stage, luckily he and co-driver Helen O’Sullivan escaped uninjured. Cronin reckoned that problems with the centre differential could have led to the cause of the accident.

All the remaining crews were accorded the scratch time for the stage.

Out on the third test, Keith Cronin (Mitsubishi) actually set the fastest time, he was 89th overall.

At the service halt, O’Riordan (Subaru WRC) led Evans by seven seconds, the latter reckoned his Subaru was down on power. Barrett moved into third – six seconds further adrift.

O’Callaghan (Escort) was fourth as Sean Flanagan (Subaru) took up the mantle of Group N leader when Kelleher retired with mechanical problems.

Flanagan lost a few seconds and dented the bodywork of his Subaru after he hit a chicane bale.

Brian O’Mahony (Renault Clio) and Lloyd Hutchinson (Mini) shared sixth post in a top ten that was completed by the Escorts of Mike Quinn and Declan Boyle and Eugene Meegan (Mitsubishi). Boyle lost time with suspension problems; he also had a brief encounter with the scenery on the third test.

On the second loop of three stages, a determined Evans set a scintillating pace and not even the loss of some 15 seconds on SS 5, when he experienced an overshoot, could deny him a trio of fastest stage times. His dominance translated into a lead of 38 seconds with Barrett moving into second.

O’Riordan was a further 24 seconds adrift in third. The Cork driver punctured his Subaru on Stage 4 and experienced brake troubles, while the turbo pipe came adrift on the sixth test. O’Callaghan, O’Mahony and Flanagan completed the top six.

Keith Cronin damaged the rear of his Mitsubishi after an off-road excursion at the first junction on the fourth test; the incident signalled his withdrawal from the rally.

Meanwhile, the remaining top-ten places after the completion of the loop went to Eugene Meegan (Mitsubishi), Boyle, Thomas Fitzmaurice and Mike Quinn. Fitzmaurice lost considerable time due to a fire beneath the cockpit of his Mitsubishi.

The closing pair of stages brought no late drama as Evans became only the third non-Irish winner of the Fastnet Rally, the Welsh ace winning six rounds of the Dunlop series.

Barrett and O’Riordan completed the top three, the latter with the quickest time on the final stage, but it wasn’t enough to dislodge Barrett from second spot.

O’Callaghan and O’Mahony rounded off the top five. Eugene Meegan (Mitsubishi) took the Group N event victory.

The final places in the top ten went to Declan Boyle, Thomas Fitzmaurice, Sean Flanagan and Mike Quinn. Pat Price (Subaru) seeded at 41, won the Dunlop Driver of the Day award; he finished 14th overall.

Local driver Damien McCarthy (Honda Civic) won Class 11 while former five-times Tarmac champion Eugene Donnelly (Vauxhall Nova) came out on top in Class 10; he finished thirty-second overall.

Fastnet Rally results:

1 M. Evans/P. Walsh (Subaru WRC) 1:15.02
2 K. Barrett/S. Mullally (Subaru WRC) 1:15.53
3 D. O'Riordan/T. McDaid (Subaru WRC) 1:16.00
4 E. O'Callaghan/G. Clancy (Ford Escort) 1:17.54
5 B. O’Mahony/J. Higgins (Renault Clio) 1:18.09
6 E. Meegan/B. Sharkey (Mitsubishi) 1:18.35
7 D. Boyle/B. Boyle (Ford Escort) 1:18.52
8 T. Fitzmaurice/F. Foley (Mitsubishi) 1:18.56
9 S. Flanagan/B. Duggan (Subaru 1:18.57
10 M. Quinn/G. McEnery (Ford Escort) 1:19.32

Dunlop National Rally Championship (Positions after Round 10): 1: M Evans 154pts (Dunlop Champion); 2: N Maguire 138pts; 3: D McGarrity 126pts; 4: K Barrett 100pts; 5: S Flanagan & D Boyle 71 pts.