It was another busy week for the Donegal Motor Club as they took part in the ALMC Rally in Meath over the weekend.
Bruckless navigator Shane Byrne was on board with Kilrea driver Desi Henry for the first time on Sunday in a last minute entry. This is the first time that Shane sat with Desi and the crew provided one of the main stories of the rally in their Citroen C3 .
Competing against on form Donegal International winner Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan with the equally on form Josh Moffet and Keith Moriarty in their Hyundai the battle at the front of the ALMC Hellfire Rally with its fast, committed and flowing stages was sure to provide a great spectacle.
It was nip and tuck all day between the top crews with each of the crews winning stages. Desi and Shane had been chasing Devine’s Polo all day going into the last stage with only a 2.2 second lead. The race was on but it was Devine and O’Sullivan who managed to win the last stage by a mere 2 seconds over the chasing crew. All 3 crews are heading to this weekend’s Ulster Rally, sure to be another epic battle.
Desi Henry, Laura Furey and Shane Byrne. Photo: Kevin Shields
In the 2wd drive modified battle it was again Donegal’s Kevin Gallagher and Ryan Moore in their Darrian who took the overall victory in stages that suited his KGP Darrian. They are the men to beat this year with another dominant performance from start to finish, finishing 5th overall.
Next Donegal Crew was Frosses driver Ryan MacHugh and Glenties’ Declan Boyle finishing a comfortable 2nd in the Rally 4 class and leading the championship going into the final National Championship Road in Clare.
Ryan Moore, Laura Furey and Kevin Gallagher. Photo: Kevin Shields
Matthew Boyle and Gary Byrne was finished 38th in their Fiesta R2. Dunfanaghy’s Shaun Murphy and Jonny Gallagher finished just inside in the top 50 with Dungloe’s Geard Greene and Jamie Ward finishing 3rd in 11R.
Shaun Murphy. Photo: Kevin Shields
Other Donegal crews to finish were Glasha Motorsports Kevin and Katie Wilson in their Hyundai i20 and Bobby Baldrick and Dermot Friel in the red Talbot Sunbeam. Glasha Conor Wilson and Sean Marsh in there Fiesta finished in 69th overall. Letterkenny’s Andrew Hegarty ventured out of Donegal for the first time in a while with new navigator Michael Ward, introducing some notes for clipping hedges in the same way Damian Sherdian took Mac Walsh went ploughing in Cork last weekend.
Andrew Hegarty. Photo: Kevin Shields
The Falcarragh duo of James Cannon and Paddy Gallagher got a finish in James first stage rally, finishing 3rd in class. The only drama of the day was that a bale jumped out in front of him but that happens in rallying.
Again in the junior class it was all Donegal Crews with Patrick Doherty and Dylan Boyce finishing ahead of Gortlee Tool Hire’s Seimi Browne and cousin Mickey Joe Brown calling the notes and finishing 2nd.
Seimi Browne. Photo: Kevin Shields
Knockhalla Hill Climb
As was extensively discussed at last Monday night’s Club Meeting, there a number of issues that are of concern for this year’s event that have just surfaced in recent days but it was clear from the COC’s, the committee members with the support of all members present that all avenues will be exhausted to find solutions to run the Knockalla Hillclimb in September this year. A further statement will be made in the coming days as things develop.
Harvest Rally 2023
COC Tony Boyle also confirmed at the club meeting that this year’s Harvest Rally is confirmed for November and that planning is under way with more details to follow soon.
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