Sunday Morning, Stages 8 and 10.

Sunday Morning and all is well with the weather. More breakfast (its only polite) and we're off North of Killarney to hopefully take in 4 stages today.  As we approach Stage 8, Sharnera, there's a heavy downpour to wet the roads.  We're at a sharp right-hander with quite restricted viewing.  Those who arrived earlier (perhaps they didn't have the temptation of a cooked brekkie to delay them) had a good view from an open ended barn which looked like the farmer had built a stadium especially for the event.

No photos from there as there was just too much tape, bails etc.  It wasn't that good to watch either.  With the sudden shower there's a fair chance that those on the start line had opted for slicks and so were taking it steady.  McNulty quick but not spectacular to watch again..  There were a few of the rear wheel drive boys taking a risk as the back stepped out under power - the road narrowed quite severely on the exit of the corner.

So we didn't hang around for all the competitors to run through here - we headed off earlier than planned to Stage 10 Currowross to see if we could find some fast easy bends to get an impression of speed.  As we got near the stage pretty much all the other speccies went one way and we went another way - we headed for the middle of the stage at the foot of Currow Hill near Curraknockaun.  There were about 3 other specatators' cars parked up so we had an easy choice of places to watch.  After a bit of a wander, we headed up a steep bank and settled into the bracken - we could see a good bit of the stage with 4 sweeping bends of the single track in view.

Location

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So the famous rally cars demo came through and their numbers continue to diminish  with only the Porsche, Legacy, Innocenti and Manta still in the running.  Of the course cars, the Chevette is still entertaining well.  Despite its age and the harshness of the roads its running well, its quick, and its great to watch.  It would be interesting to know what times it would be setting compared to the National Rally and Historic runners.  Beyond that, it was suprisingly tame to watch here, very few of the cars looking like they're really pushing on.  The S2000 Fiesta of Breen and the S1600 Renault Clio look to be trying hard, but I'm sure the scream of their high revving non-turbo motors helps with the sensation of speed.

Legacy

Fastest Postie in the Republic?

We watch most of the runners through as the next stage we're heading for (Stage 12 - a re-run of Shanera) is not too far away and there's plenty of time.  Could we have made 5 stages today perhaps? As we walk away from the stage there's a big gap in amongst the Junior crews. Then, as we get to the car we hear a number of competitors running through the stage in convoy. We guess there must've been an incident that blocked the stage. The vid below was taken earlier in the same stage, so I'm guessing this is what caused the hold up.

Patersons Report After Stage 8

Patersons Report After Stage 9