Breen wins Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally
An exciting Sepam Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally was won today by Ray Breen with Andrew Purcell in a Ford Focus WRC.
On what was their third victory in a row, they finished the eight-stage rally just five seconds ahead of the Toyota Corolla WRC of Charlie Donnelly and Paddy Toner.
Noel Redmond and Killian Duffy (Subaru WRC) were a distant third in what was the seventh round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship.
Jim Harrison and co-driver Harvey Bell crashed their Subaru on the second stage where the Subaru WRC of Sean Gallagher and Enda Sherry crashed further on and caught fire.
Harrison eventually rejoined the action but the stage was stopped due to the Gallagher accident and all competitors – with the exception of Harrison/Bell - were accredited with the stage-interrupted time.
The championship duo received the interrupted time plus an additional two and a half minutes, they eventually finished fifth overall.
Alan Ring (Subaru) came home sixth overall and Kevin Barrett (Subaru) completed the top seven.
Mike Curran/Fabian McShane (Mitsubishi) won the Group N category. The top two wheel drive crew were Liam Wall/Bob Kelly (Escort). They were twelfth in general classification.
On the penultimate stage, Breen and Donnelly set equal fastest time and even though Donnelly took a second out of the championship leader on the final stage, Breen did enough to take his third victory in a row.
Non-starters included Patrick Elliott, JJ Fleming and reigning Dunlop champion, Niall Maguire.
1. R. Breen/A. Purcell (Ford Focus WRC) 51m. 25s.
2. C. Donnelly/P. Toner (Toyota Corolla WRC) 51m.30s.
3. N. Redmond/K. Duffy (Subaru WRC) 53m. 54s.
4. M. Curran/F. McShane (Mitsubishi) 54m. 23s.
5. J. Harrison/H. Bell (Subaru WRC) 54m. 45s.
6. A. Ring/D. Brannigan (Subaru) 54m. 45s.
7. K. Barrett/B. Goodman (Subaru WRC) 54m. 46s.
8. G. Quinn/M. Costello (Mitsubishi) 55m. 05s.
9. W. Fannin/M. Courtney (Subaru) 55m. 06s.
10. J. MacHugh/D. Gallagher (Escort Cosworth) 55m. 33s.
Dunlop Championship Positions (Provisional positions after Round 7):
1. R. Breen 118 points; 2. J. Harrison 87 points; =3. C. Donnelly 83 points; 4. K. Barrett 77 points; =5. P. Elliott & N. Maguire 63 points; 7. K. Lynch 58 Points; 8. M. Curran 57 points.
