2008 Bone Shaker Rally Report
11 April 2008
A strong entry list of thirty crews tackled a demanding 80mile route in perfect weather conditions during the Bone Shaker Navigation Rally organised by Omagh Motor Club last Friday , which formed the fifth round of the Energia Northern Ireland Navigation championship.
The eventual winners with twelve minute penalties were the local pairing of Leslie Young and Lewis Boyd driving a Ford Sierra winning by eight penalties from Belfast pairing Willie McKeown and Chris Ragg with the remaining podium placing going to Eddie Murphy and Barry Taggart from Portadown.
During the first half of the rally which incorporated the route going through the Fintona and Clanabogan regions, the majority of the expert crews found very few difficulties in negotiating the course until a couple of tight sections at the Blacksessagh and Blackfort areas had crews dropping a variety of penalties.
At the halfway halt at Tattyreagh, five crews were only separated by eight points with the Young and Boyd impressively only dropping one penalty, closely followed by the McKeown/Ragg at four penalties and Kerr / Cresswell leading the class on five penalties.
The second half of the course proved more difficult for the crews as it looped towards the Eskra region incorporating the Knockmanny and Seskinore areas with a section on the 50 mile mark proving to be the downfall of some crews especially Kerr / Cresswell by missing a passage control and incurring a thirty minute penalty and effectively ending their chances of a top placing.
In the end the Young / Boyd partnership maintained a trouble free run and maintained a comfortable buffer to the end which boosts their bid for the Championship itself which restarts again in the autumn time.
The semi-expert class was won by the Dungannon brothers, Leslie and Gareth Hawe. Other notable finishes from Omagh crews in the Championship classes were provided by David Kerr and Maurice Cresswell who eventually finished with a creditable sixth overall and second place in the semi expert category. They were closely followed by father and son pairing Gary and Robert Milligan, who finished seventh overall and third in the class. In the novice class the Howard brothers, William and David continued their good form by dropping only seven penalties to win their class, with Nigel Campbell and Colin Harkness and father and son crew Raymond and Gareth Deazley completing the top three placings.
Other finishes were recorded from local crews in the Clubman class with an impressive showing from father and son combinations Conor and Tony Kelly, Ian and Aaron Johnson finishing first and second respectively with Gordon Simpson and Aaron Vance completing the top three.
Also, the popular Class five which facilitates the participants of the recent navigation classes run the Motor Club resulted in Kesh pairing Jennifer Bonner and Trevor Elliott winning, closely followed by father and son pairing Mervyn and Richard Galbraith with George Elliott and Adrain McDonagh completing the top three.
At the prize giving ceremony at the Halfway House, Tattyreagh, Lewis Boyd thanked Clerk of the Course, Derek Graham and Secretary, David Vance on behalf of all the competitors for putting together another excellent event.
Derek Graham
Posted by PMcCollum on 3/10/2008; Last updated by PMcCollum on 3/10/2008