Maguire takes the honours in Cavan

It was victory number 6 in Cavan for Niall Maguire as the Ballinode man took the win by 1 minute and 47 seconds over Rodney Wilton and Conor McMahon. Maguire, whose co-driver Conor Foley also took his first ever out right victory, took the lead from the start and never looked back in the difficult conditions in Cavan. Trevor Bustard and John Mc Caffery too the final spot on the podium.

With Wilton holding second place overall all day he was not considered in the battle for Class 14. Michael Curran and Enda Gererty were setting the pace for most of the day but retired after stage 6. In the end it was Adrian Hetherington and Gary Nolan that took the honours by 36 seconds from Jack Maguire and Andy Hayes, Daniel Doherty and Michael Doherty were a further minute and a half behind in 3rd.

In Group N it was Stephen McCann and Paul Kelly who were the early pace setters but a collision with a bank on stage 4 would eventually lead to their retirement in the end it was Trevor Bustard and John Mc Caffery who took the class but with Bustard finishing 3rd overall he forfeited his class win and the spoils went to Pat Kirk and John McEilhinney with William Mavitty and Niall Byrne in 2nd. Neil and Gerard Tohill took 3rd.

In class 20 there was an incredibly close battle for the win between Michael Carbin/Emmett McCooey and David Leonard and Darragh Mullen. The two crews were never more than 20 seconds apart all day. Carbin held a slim lead of 11 seconds after the first loop but by the second service that gap had been whittled down to just 3 seconds. On stage 7 Leonard took the lead briefly by just one second but Carbin struck back on stage 8 regaining the lead by 3 seconds. He finished the final stage 14 seconds ahead earning a hard fought victory.

In class 13 it was Paddy Boyle and Mary Sherlock who took the spoils by 15 seconds from the class winner in Monaghan, Richard Moffett and Martin Connelly. Mark Wedlock and Adam Kinkade took 3rd. It was Russell Woods who took the Paddy Kiernan Memorial Award for his fastest time on stage 7.

Brian Armstrong and Mark Tierney took an impressive win in class 12. They were over two minutes ahead of  James Cassidy and Declan Smith. Arthur and Mac Kierans took 3rd spot.

It was a good win for Chris Snow and Sean Brady in their Honda Civic in Class 11F. The crew won the hotly contested class by over a minute from Darren O'Brien and John McCabe with Adrian Cannon and John McCrudden in 3rd.

It was an all Monaghan top 3 in class 11R with David Moffett and Fintan Sherry taking an impressive win from Martin McPhillips and Ciaran Tynan who were over two and a half minutes behind. Barry Treano
r and Colm Connolly took 3rd.

There was a very close battle in the juniors section with Martin Swinburne and Keith McCannon snatching the win on the final stage from Adrian Sweeney and Gary Lockhart. The Monaghan crew took the win by just 3 seconds. Adam Faulker and Brian Brady took 3rd. The sole entry in historics of Malcom Pedlow and Ivor Ferguson managed to get their BMW 2002 to the finish.

In class 6 Stephen Wright and Karl Atkinson dominated. The Billy Coleman Award Winner took the class win by over 11 minutes from Max McKillen and Tim McQuaid with Liam Branley and Nathan Burrows a further 3 minutes behind in 3rd.

Other class wins include Brian Quigley and Seamus McTigue who took class 2, Timmy England and Breege Reilly were the sole finishers in class 3, Eammonn McCafferty and Michael Donallan were the sole finishers in class 5, Joseph McGonigle  and Ciaran Geaney took class 7, Gene Callan and Sean Bruton took class 9 and John Kelly and Niall Kelly took class 10.

The next round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship takes us to Sligo for the Connacht  Sligo Stages Rally, the penultimate round of the championship. Hope to see you there!!

2014 Cavan Stages Rally Preview

As another weekend looms we prepare for round 3 of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship. The Cavan Stages Rally offers another demanding challenge for crews as over 100 entries are ready to tackle the nine stages. Looking down through the entry list there's plenty to get excited about as the Border Rally Championship has succeeded yet again to attract a high quality entry.

At the head of the field we have the 2004 champion Niall Maguire who is returning after injury put him out of his home rally in Monaghan. He will be followed by Paddy Mc Veigh who will be hoping for better luck this time out after retiring from round 2. Pat Mc Daid, seeded at Number 53. rounds out class 8 and will be on a real charge against the Subaru's ahead of him. There's an impressive line up in Group N which include Aaron McHale, Shane Maguire and Trevor Bustard. All the ingredients for a great battle!

Rodney Wilton leads away the Class 14 contingent and will be looking for a repeat of his class win in Monaghan. He won't have it all his own way and will have to contend with the likes of Adrian Hetherington, Jack Maguire and Tom Flannery to name just some of the entries in class 14 setting it up for a thrilling battle all day. Class 13 is certainly no less enticing. Richard Moffett will be looking to pick up where he left off in Monaghan with another class win. He'll be challenged by the likes of Russell Woods, Paddy Boyle, Chris Armstrong and Gary Kiernan to name only a handful of the 13 crews contesting the class.

Double Border Rally Champion Arthur leads away another strong entry in class 12. The Smithboro man is having a busy year co driving for Daniel McKenna in the British Rally Championship but he proved he still has what it takes in the drivers seat by talking the class win in Monaghan by 53 seconds. Martin Toner and Brian Armstrong have been very closely matched over the first two rounds and it will be fascinating to see who emerges ahead at the finish ramp Sunday evening. Class 11R should see a good battle between David Moffett and Kevin Bradley, both have a class win under the belt this year.

Plenty of entries in the rest of the field promise an exciting days rallying. Please remember to obey the marshals at all times. We had a tragic reminder how dangerous this sport can be two years ago in Cavan so lets have a safe and enjoyable day, best of luck to all competing, I'll see you on the stages!!