Tim McNulty and Paul Kiely in their Impreza WRC have scored a very impressive win here on this Safety Direct Galway International Rally. Tim & Paul overcame some atrociously wet roads on their way to victory. They now lead the Tarmac Championship. McNulty had all sorts of bad luck last season when he led many of the Tarmac rounds but success eluded him. His last Tarmac series victory was the 2009 Killarney Rally of the Lakes. Perhaps today-s win will signal the start of a successful run. Tim said at the finish. “This win has been a lot time coming. I have led the rally several times and I’m delighted now to get my hands on the trophy”. For 43 year old Tim this is his first Galway win while for co-driver Paul Kiely this is his 4th Galway Int. victory. Kevin Barrett & Sean Mullally drove a very controlled rally in their Impreza WRC to take 2nd place. Alan Ring & Adrian Deasy were 3rd in their GpN Lancer and bonus points will mean they are 2nd in the Tarmac series.
Tommy Doyle & Liam Moynihan overcame severe de-misting problems as well as power steering failure to take 4th o/a and best in class 3. Sam Moffett had last minute worries about the transfer gear box on his Lancer but kept it all together to finish 5th with Ross Forde rounding off the top 6 in his similar Lancer. David Quigley & Des Sherlock in the All Weather Covers Civic finished 8th and won Cl.1. Tom White took 7th in his Lancer.
Ed Murphy/John McCarthy in their Mk1 Escort were able to ease back through the final stages to win the Historic Rally by 3m from Seamus Burke/Martin Brady. Seamus had some starter motor problems with his car over the final stages. James Power/Declan Kelly who were also in an Escort, but with a Pinto engine, finished 3rd while Alan Courtney/Paul Soutar overcame severe de-misting problems to take 4t in their Porsche 928.
International Results:
01) Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Subaru Impreza WRC) – 2.09.47.6
02) Kevin Barrett/Sean Mullally (Subaru Impreza WRC) – 2.14.03.7
03) Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution) – 2.15.06.5
04) Tommy Doyle/Liam Moynihan (Renault Clio) – 2.19.24.5
05) Sam Moffett/James O’Reilly (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution) – 2.20.21.1
06) Ross Forde/Robbie Ward (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution) – 2.23.42.5
National Results:
01) Tom Flaherty/Patrick Curley (Ford Escort) – 2.20.23.9
02) Geoffrey Dolan/Conor Murphy (Talbot Sunbeam) – 2.24.48.0
03) Neil Pierce/Enda O’Leary (Honda Civic) – 2.28.24.3
04) Jonathan Folan/Ger Myers (Subaru Impreza) – 2.32.36.0
05) Alan Fair/Jarlath Conneely (Honda Civic) – 2.32.47.0
06) Patrick & Gerard Divilly (ToyotaCorolla) – 2.36.28.0
– Credit: www.rallynews.net