Stage 9: It’s back-to-back Donegal Harvest Rally wins for Declan and Brian Boyle. The WRC Fiesta had to spare having not looked back after the withdrawal of Peadar Hurson, who failed to start stage 4 because of clutch trouble.
There was no shortage of drama with Joseph McGonigle dropping out just before the start of the ninth and final stage of his home event. The S2000 Skoda had been sitting in second position, but a leaking water pipe forced his withdrawal.
Gary Kiernan and Niall Tierney were second having had a magnificent drive in the Escort, literally coming from nowhere to take the second place. Boyle had 1 minute, 35 seconds to spare on Kieran.
Wesley Patterson, who had Letterkenny man Johnny Baird on the notes, was third with Daniel McKenna and Damien Toner completing the top five.
Stage 8: High drama on the penultimate stage as Gary McPhillips is OUT of the Donegal Harvest Stages Rally. The Monaghan man suffered mechanical trouble and had to pull in during the stage.
It means that Joseph McGonigle is up to second despite the Muff man having issues in the Skoda S2000. McGonigle is now reporting his trouble to be a water leak, but he’s hanging on dearly to second spot, although Wesley Patterson and Johnny Baird are only eight seconds behind in third.
Daniel McKenna and Damien Gallagher make up the top five heading onto the final stage, Grianan, with Declan and Brian Boyle on course for back-to-back Harvest Rally titles. The Lettermacaward crew are 1:30.8 in front.
Stage 7: Joseph McGonigle’s S2000 Skoda is in trouble with just two stages to go. McGonigle is reporting issues with the oil pressure in the car and he has dropped to third place, with Gary McPhillips rising to second place on stage 7.
Brian Brogan’s rally appears to be over with mechanical trouble seemingly ending his event on that stage.
Declan Boyle now has 1 minute and 22.8 seconds to spare on McPhillips. Boyle was fastest on that stage, with a time of 3:20.5.
Service 2 We’re two thirds of the way through the 2015 Donegal Harvest Stages Rally.
Charlie Collins and Chris McNulty are out and about in Inishowen and here’s their latest recap which includes a run through some of the local crews. Our coverage is brought to you in association with our new main sponsors, Radisson Blu, Letterkenny.
Some of the crews didn’t get to tackle stage 5 and were given alternative road books.
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/donegal-harvest-stages-rally-service-2
Stage 6: It’s the Boyles who are well in front with just three stages to go.
The Fiesta was, by far, the quickest over SS6, the Lettermacaward duo going 6:33.3 over the second run of the Grianan stage. They have a 1:12.4 lead over Joseph McGonigle, who has six seconds to spare on Gary McPhillips.
Stage 5: Declan Boyle is now 53.4 seconds ahead after clutch trouble saw Peadar Hurson make his exit from the rally. The Subaru never got off the start line at the beginning of SS4 meaning Boyle jumped into the lead.
The Lettermacaward man can relax somewhat now given that he has almost a minute to spare.
“It’s not the right way to beat someone either,” he told Donegal Sport Hub at the end of SS5, on which he was the quickest, going 7:09.5.
“We can be a bit careful because we have a nice wee lead. We can’t back off too much because we could lose our way.”
Boyle leads from Joseph McGonigle, who went above Gary McPhillips on SS5. McGonigle has 6.8 seconds to spare on McPhillips.
Listen to Declan’s thoughts with Charlie Collins below:
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/declan-boyle-after-peadar-hurson-exits-rally
Aidan Wray is the fastest of the Group N cars, by 7.9 seconds from Shane Maguire.
Stage 4: Peadar Hurson is OUT of the 2015 An Grianan Hotel Donegal Harvest Stages Rally. The Warrenpoint man is understood to have suffered mechanical issues at the start of SS4. Hurson had led by 11.9 seconds, but the Subaru is out of the event and it is the defending Harvest Rally winners, Declan and Brian Boyle, who are now in a commanding lead.
Boyle was quickest on SS4, going 3:23, some nine seconds faster than he’d gone this morning.
Gary McPhillips is up into second while Joseph McGonigle and Ciaran Geaney are now third in the Skoda S2000 with Gary Kieran, Wesley Patterson, Daniel McKenna and Brian Brogan next in the queue.
Service 1: Peadar Hurson holds an 11.9 second lead on Declan Boyle after the opening three stages. The Warrenpoint point, who has Damien Connolly on the pace notes in the Subaru, was quickest on all three of this morning’s stage and he really laid down a marker on stage 3, when he was 8.7 seconds quicker than the Boyles.
“It’s going good,” Hurson told Donegal Sport Hub at service in Buncrana.
“The stages are tricky enough and they’re hard to judge. It’s so far, so good. It’s anybody’s game here.”
Boyle won this event last year, but admits that he has some ground to make up now.
“Care is needed because it’s very slippy,” Boyle said.
“It’s technical, slippy and there’s a lot of hard work in there. It’ll be difficult to get that back. We have a battle on our hands but we just have to keep chipping away.”
Muff’s Joseph McGonigle, fresh from a fifth-place finish in Cork last weekend, is looking for a big push on his home event. Despite taking the wrong tyre choice this morning, he and Ciaran Geaney are third overall in the Skoda.
“We’ll go on wets now so hopefully we won’t be too far away. There are a few seconds left in us,” McGonigle said.
Listen to Charlie Collins’ interview with the top three drivers below:
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/donegal-harvest-stages-rally-service-1
Gary McPhillips is the quickest of the Escorts so far, with a 12.5 second advantage over Wesley Patterson – who has Letterkenny’s Johnny Baird on the notes.
There are only 7.7 seconds separating Camillus Bradley, Daniel McKenna, Brian Brogan and Damien Gallagher in a congested field.
STAGE 3: Peadar Hurson and Damien Connolly really set the pace over the third stage of the day, the opening loop of Grianan, as he set the fastest time by 8.7 seconds from Brian and Declan Boyle.
As the crews enter service for the first time today, Hurson and Connolly in the Subaru are 11.9 seconds clear of the Boyles.
STAGE 2: Peadar Hurson was again the quickest over stage 2,by 0.2 seconds from the Boyles. Hurson recorded 7:14.1 with the Boyles 7:14.3.
PJ McDermott’s rally appears to be over. The Burt man’s Subaru took a nose dive on stage 2 and hasn’t appeared at the finish of the stage yet. Joseph McGonigle and Ciaran Geaney were 7:25.6 on a stage that was reported by the crews to be ‘wild slippery’ while Damien Tourish from Cloghan was blistering on that stage doing 7:24.5.
Gary McPhillips was next in line of the Escorts in 7:25.6, the exact same time as McGonigle’s Skoda.
Aidan Wray continues to set the Group N pace. Wray was five seconds faster than Trevor Bustard on stage two while Pat Kirk is well behind, losing nearly 20 seconds on Wray over the first loop of Mouldy Hill.
STAGE 1: Quickest around the opening stage of the morning, with a slight drizzle now falling around the Inishowen peninsula, was the Subaru of Peadar Hurson from Warrenpoint. Hurson was three seconds faster than Brian and Declan Boyle with Hurson doing 3 minutes and 29 seconds to Boyle’s 3:32 on Newton Hill.
Joseph McGonigle did 3:38.9 and PJ McDermott was 3:46.2.
Lisburn’s Wesley Patterson, with Letterkenny man Johnny Baird on the notes, was 3:38, the exact same time as Gary McPhillips, while Brian Brogan and Damian McGettigan from Letterkenny recorded 3:42.9.
Among the local crews aiming for a good day out is Muff man Joe McGonigle and Ciaran Geaney from Falcarragh in the Skoda.
Last weekend, they were fifth overall in the Cork 20 International and Ciaran clinched the navigator’s award in the Tarmac Championship.
“It’s been a great year for both of us,” Geaney told Donegal Sport Hub.
“It’s a two-man team and I wouldn’t be here without Joe. This is our first year in a four-wheel drive car.”
https://soundcloud.com/donegalsporthub-club-notes/ciaran-geaney-rally-navigator
There are plenty of battles in store in the main field, in Group N and, of course, the Escorts of the likes of Gary McPhillips, Wesley Patterson and Brian Brogan to name three.
Karl Reid knows Donegal’s rallying roads better than most, but he gets a different view of them around Burt this morning.
Alongside his brother Paul, Karl has been a long-time competitor in local events over the years, but today he is the Deputy Clerk of the Course for the 2015 An Grianan Hotel Donegal Harvest Stages Rally.
“They’re fast stages and if a man is awake he could do a blast of a time,” Reid told Donegal Sport Hub at Rally HQ before the driver’s brefing this morning.
“This county is exceptional. We had as big a reserve list as finished the Cork 20 International Rally last weekend.
A record entry has gone in for the event with 183 crews listed, headed by the 2014 winners, Declan and Brian Boyle from Lettermacaward. The Boyle cousins are now in a WRC Fiesta having triumphed last year in a Subaru.
Donegal Sport Hub will be carrying extensive coverage of today’s An Grianan Hotel Donegal Harvest Stages Rally, based at An Grianan Hotel in Burt.
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