Michael Carbin and Ben Mohan were the top placed crew at the end of the Co. Monaghan Motor Club, Endurance Trial last weekend.
The event counted as round four of the County Monaghan Motor Club Championship, and round four of the Skoda Parts Ireland, Motorsport Ireland National Endurance Championship.
Michael and Ben took their Subaru Legacy home as the fastest crew throughout the trial’s 20 selective’s. A feat that secured the class C win and maximum Monaghan Motor Club Championship (Traders Championship) points.
Although Michael and Ben on paper won the event; as they weren’t competing in an Endurance specification car, they were ineligible to place in the overall positions.
First place instead went to Graham O’Donoghue/Kevin Fagan with second place going to TJ O’Brien/Paul Reilly. Whereas, third place went to Darragh Mullen/Aideen Lynch.
The overall positions were filled by a trio of crews competing in Toyota Starlet’s, built to Endurance specification.
Garry Farrelly, assisted by Michael Sheridan and Sam Patterson once again organised this year’s event. The event headquarters were Aughnamullen GAA grounds in Tullynanegish.
Garry and his team organised 20 selectives in the area between Scotch Corner, Latton, Broomfield, Corduff and Lisdoonan.
The event was divided into two sections. Section one consisted of 11 selectives before a lunch and refuel break at McCaugheys services in Broomfield. Whereas, section two took place in the afternoon following the lunch break, and consisted of nine selectives.
Section one’s selectives were all based between, Lough Egish, Latton and Scotch Corner. Whereas, section two’s selectives were all based around Corduff Cross and Lisdoonan.
In the classes; Karl O’Donoghue/Evin Hughes finished first in class A2M and Owen Murphy/Patrick O’Sullivan finished second in the same class.
Strong class participation
In class A2E, Darren Moore/Liam Tuomey finished first. Whereas, in class A2S, Ernest Alford/Darragh Gannon took first and Martin Nugent/Paul Tiernan took second.
In class A2N, the father/son team of Sean and Caolain McCaffrey finished first. Whereas, in class A2B, Daniel Buckley/Conor Lennon took first, Timmy Lynch/Stephen O’Neill took second and Aidan Dennehy/Gerard O’Connor finished third.
In class A1, Frank Byrnes/Sophie Byrnes finished first, Gerard and Luke of Reilly took second with John O’Sullivan/Noreen Stanley third.
Indeed, in class B, Dominic Loughran/Oscar Mangan finished first in their Suzuki Swift, Geoffrey Conboy/Luke Gallagher took second and David Forde/Patrick O’Leary third.
In class C, Michael Carbin/Ben Mohan finished first, Martin Tynan/Oisín Sherlock took second and Andrew Mackarel/Richard Cassidy finished third in that navigation specification car class.
A standout performance on the day, was that of Aaron McGorman and Darren Lavery.
Fastest crew after 16 selectives
McGorman/Lavery were the fastest competing crew after Selective 16 on-board their Subaru Impreza. At the time, they had a reasonably comfortable lead of 14s in class C.
Unfortunately for the pair, a driveshaft broke on their Impreza. Taking off from the start line on Selective 17 ‘Courtneys 2’, this driveshaft failure spelled immediate retirement.
Luckily for them, (if there is such a thing). The pair had completed the minimum distance required before the retirement (App 35, 16.9).
This minimum distance requirement qualified them to receive a maximum time penalty on each of the remaining four selectives (App 35, 19.22.2), so they still qualified as finishing the event, but they now were down in 10th in class C and 30th fastest crew throughout the day.
After the awards were presented to all the winners, the clerk of the course Garry Farrelly and the overall winning team, thanked all the landowners for allowing the event to use their property and the plethora of marshals who came to man each selective of the event.
Garry further thanked the Aughnamullen GAA club for the excellent facilities and everyone who helped him set-up the mammoth event. Including his deputies Michael Sheridan and Sam Patterson.
He also gave a big thank you to local man, Owen Connolly, for his tireless effort in helping to get everything in order and available on the day of the event. His assistance is very much appreciated.
