John Warren and Ruthann O Connor had all but sealed the Class 13 win at a very competitive Cavan Stages Rally on Sunday last, but after a heavy landing over a big jump on the final stage resulted in an electrical issue with the McHale Toyota Corolla, the ‘Green Machine’ ground to a halt with only a handful of kilometers remaining on Round 3 of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.
Having dominated the Ballyhaise/Cootehill based event from the start with a string of fastest stage times a disappointed Warren added “It was one of the best day’s rallying we have ever had up to that point, We had built up a lead of over a minute going into the last stage, obviously we are disappointed, but we were proud of our performance as well. The car was great, and everything was really perfect up until the last stage.”
“We had a good feeling and had a great flow, and literally every corner was maximum attack. It was next level stuff, and it was very rewarding when we were getting the stage times, but it’s a sickener when some-thing like that happens.” added Ruthann “The tight twisty stages really suited us, it was quite bumpy, but John had the car set up well to handle the bumps, but now our attention turns to resolving the electrical issue before next weekend’s Laois Heartlands Rally”.
Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty in a Hyundai I20 R5 claimed victory in the event which seen over 150 cars roll over the start line, thepair finished 1.8 seconds ahead of Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan in their Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.Desi Henry and Paddy Robinson in their Citroen C3 Rally 2 finished third.