Ambrose Gaughan from Foxford and his Lahardane co-driver Derek Molloy claimed one of the best results of their rally careers to date, with second in class nine on Sunday’s Cavan Stages Rally. Competing in a Toyota Corolla the pair had a trouble-free run to finish 53rd overall from a starting position of 146th, recording a great result against some very strong opposition.
Also bringing their car home safely were Gerry Casey from Castlebar and Peter O’Toole from Claremorris, finishing in 52nd position in their Ford Escort. Other Mayo competitors in action at the weekend did not fare quite as well. Ciaran Walsh and Aidan Gannon are battling for class 2 honours in the HASS Border Rally Championship with fellow locals Brendan Corcoran and Shane O’Brien. However neither of the Honda Civic mounted rivals was to finish the Cavan Stages, mechanical woes and off-road excursions accounting for their respective retirements. At least for both crews the double non-finish keeps their championship battle wide open going into the second half of the season.
Internationally it was one of the busiest weekends in the motorsport calendar, with events ranging from the Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 to the Sardinia round of the World Rally Championship vying for attention. Competing in the latter event (which was won by Ford’s Jari-Mati Latvala, breaking Sebastian Loeb’s string of successes in the process ), was top Mayo co-driver Killian Duffy. The Crossmolina man was once again navigating for the up and coming Ahmed Al Mansoori in the Team Abu Dhabi Ford Fiesta ST. Unfortunately it wasn’t a successful event for the UAE/Irish pairing, a series of problems leading to their eventual retirement on the second day.
Meanwhile Duffy’s erstwhile driver Aaron MacHale was having to do without his regular note-caller as he took part in the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland, round four of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. The Mayo and District Motorsport Club member still managed to bring his Ford Focus WRC home in fifth position overall behind event winner Eugene Donnelly, scoring valuable championship points in the process.
