Sunday Afternoon Stages 12 and 14

Stage 12 - Shanera

A short run across to the N22, into the North West outskirts of Killarney then out on the N72 towards Kilgobnet saw the Scooby performing well and an air of confidence returning in the cabin.  Probably.  Again, we got within about 500m or so of the stage, spent a bit of time in the car eating something healthy (ish) and then headed out for the action.

Turns out we've arrived at the 90 left that brought the earlier running of this stage noted in the blog entry here to a halt during the junior run.  Its worth noting that, because of the easy access to stages, its really easy to watch the same stage layout both times and get a completely different viewpoint.  So this was the least entertaining stage we'd seen (stage 8) so far, but here, 3 miles away was one of the most entertaining.  A long straight and lots of over-confidence in braking power meant that this very fast approach along a reasonably wide road into a very tight left hander framed by high banks caused some sideways actions, over-shoots and spins.  You'd think the co-drivers notes would've been updated from mistakes on the first run though.



Getting It Right (click to enlarge)

Getting It Wrong (click to enlarge)

 Howlett Entertains Again (click to enlarge)

And It's Always Good To See Dolan's 'beam In Action (Click to Enlarge)

Patterson Rally News Report Stage 12

Stage 14 - Rockfield

THE busiest spectator point we've been too - looks like half the spectator population have headed to this double open right junction with a short straight in between.  As we walk down to the stage we notice again just how many young all female spectating groups are out to watch the rally - very different to the UK where the speccies are about 80% male and not as young as they used to be.  Getting access is a bit tricky and involved us jumping off a 8 foot high wall down into a field.  Equally, viewing points were hard to find, and would've been even if we'd got there a bit earlier.  There are bales, tape and marshals everywhere.  Even so, as the cars approach downhill into an open, slightly off-camber right hander there's still something worth seeing.  We work out that there are still places to fight for as a number of competitors are still trying hard rather than nursing the car to the end of the stage.

Due to all the spectators and other clutter, I didn't even get the camera out of its bag, so no photos.  We enjoyed it here, more than might be expected.  There was a longish walk back to the Scoob and then we headed back into Killarney.  It's here that we find out that the local radio has been broadcasting hourly rally reports over the past 2 days, it would've been nice to see that in the programme or other rally info.

Patterson Rally News Report Stage 14

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

View Larger Map

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