Bone Shaker Rally Report
16 April 2010
A respectable entry list of twenty crews tackled a demanding 70 mile route in perfect weather conditions during the Bone Shaker Navigation Rally organised by Omagh Motor Club during the previous weekend, which formed the fifth round of the McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Navigation championship.
The eventual winners with four minute penalties were the local pairing of Leslie Young and Lewis Boyd driving a Vauxhall Vectra winning by six penalties from Loughgall pairing John and Jonathan Henderson with the remaining podium placing going to last year's winners Leslie and Gareth Hawe from Dungannon.
The first half of the rally started from the Gortrush Industrial estate and proceeded through the Gillygooley and Clanabogan regions.
At the halfway halt at the Ballynahatty, five crews were only separated by a meagre six points with the Championship leaders Sheridan / Cochrane sharing the lead with Young / Boyd crew with no penalties incurred. The Semi expert class was also keenly contested at this point with only one penalty separating the Howard and Deazley crews, leaving both of them placed in the top eight overall.
The second half of the course proved more difficult for the crews as it looped towards the Seskinore and Beragh regions with an approach to a time control at a triangular junction close to Roscavey catching out a considerable number of crews resulting in a costly penalty.
Although the Young / Boyd crew incurred three penalties over the final two tests over demanding sections around Knockmanny and Eskra regions, they maintained a comfortable margin to deservedly win their first Championship event this year. The crew hope they can build on this success and provide a serious challenge for Championship honours when it resumes in the autumn time.
Other excellent finishes from local crews in the Championship classes were provided by William and David Howard who eventually finished an impressive fourth overall and first place in the semi expert category, closely followed by father and son pairing Raymond and Gareth Deazley finishing second in the class and sixth overall.
In the novice class, Clive Latimer and David McElroy led almost from start to finish. Every one of the Novice crews fell foul of that tricky triangular junction, so it effectively meant they cancelled out each others' errors. Latimer/McElroy finished on 47 marks, less than half of that accrued by second place finishers, Richard and Mark Hughes. Malcolm Johnston and Michael Gilmore just did enough to finish in front of Ian and Aaron Johnston.
The best of the Clubman class was father and son combination Conor and Tony Kelly finishing strongly to win the class closely followed by Jonathan Sands/Alan Davidson, John Crawford/Andy Alexander, Alastair Bristow/Michaela Bristow, Gordon Simpson/Nigel Campbell and Gerard McHugh/Mark McCaffrey.
At the prize giving ceremony at the The Bridge Tavern, Eskra, Lewis Boyd thanked Omagh Motor Club for putting together another excellent event.
Derek Graham
Results
Overall
- Leslie Young/Lewis Boyd 4 marks
- John Henderson/Jonathan Henderson 10 marks
- Leslie Hawe/Gareth Hawe 11 marks
- William Howard/David Howard 23 marks
- Gary Sheridan/Lloyd Cochrane 24 marks
- Raymond Deazley/Gareth Deazley 25 marks
- Eddie Murphy/Barry Taggart 28 marks
- Andrew Hughes/Neil Anderson 63 marks
- Willie McKeown/John Lindsay 134 marks
- David Kerr/Maurice Cresswell 141 marks
Experts
- Leslie Young/Lewis Boyd 4 marks
- John Henderson/Jonathan Henderson 10 marks
- Leslie Hawe/Gareth Hawe 11 marks
- Gary Sheridan/Lloyd Cochrane 24 marks
- Eddie Murphy/Barry Taggart 28 marks
- Willie McKeown/John Lindsay 134 marks
Semi-Experts
- William Howard/David Howard 23 marks
- Raymond Deazley/Gareth Deazley 25 marks
- Andrew Hughes/Neil Anderson 63 marks
- David Kerr/Maurice Cresswell 141 marks
Novices
- Clive Latimer/David McElroy 47 marks
- Richard Hughes/Mark Hughes 96 marks
- Malcolm Johnston/Michael Gilmore 128 marks
- Ian Johnston/Aaron Johnston 131 marks
Clubman
- Conor Kelly Tony Kelly 31 marks
- Jonathan Sands/Alan Davidson 42 marks
- John Crawford/Andy Alexander 42 marks
- Alastair Bristow/Michaela Bristow 46 marks
- Gordon Simpson/Nigel Campbell 48 marks
- Gerard McHugh/Mark McCaffrey 119 marks
Posted by PMcCollum on 24/8/2010; Last updated by PMcCollum on 24/8/2010