SS2: Greer Grabs Lead as Henry Loses Time with Fuel Pump Trouble

By NI Rally Championship
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Updated: 21 August 2021

SS2: A disappointed Desi and Mark Henry arrived at the finish of stage two reporting fuel pump issues. They had to drive through part of the stage in the car’s ‘road mode’, losing precious seconds as well as the rally lead.

Instead, Jonny Greer and Kirsty Riddick have surged to the top of the order after a blistering time through the test – but it wasn’t without its risks…

“We ran a bit wide towards the end of the stage, Greer explained. “The car was trying to go sideways down the road as we tried to get off the grass but we didn’t lose much time.”

Greer was almost four seconds faster than Stephen Wright on the test, promoting him to the top of the leaderboard. His advantage now stands at 1.7s over the troubled Henry, with Wright just a few tenths further adrift.

“It’s difficult to push hard and really lean on the car but we had a good run,” Wright said.

Aidan Wray and Kieran McGrath have moved up to fourth in their Fiesta R5. They reckoned it was a bit slippier on that run compared to the first stage with more muck pulled out on the road.

Damian Toner and Denver Rafferty continue to lead the 2WD category and are equal fifth overall. They put new tyres on the stage and Toner said it took them a while to start working properly.

Also on the move are Aaron McLaughlin and Darren Curran in their Fiesta. They share fifth with Toner having set a time that was 14 seconds quicker than their stage one time.

“That was much better!” McLaughlin enthused. “Now that we know where the grip is, we were able to go a lot faster.”

Barry Morris and Dylan Doonan reported another clean run in their Darrian T90 and hold seventh overall as well as second in the 2WD category. In eight, Derek McGarrity and Paddy Robinson were also happier after the second stage but reported clipping something solid.

“We cut a corner and hit a rock,” McGarrity said. “I thought we might have had a puncture.”

Jason Black and Karl Egan lost time with a spin this morning but their stage two run was much cleaner and faster. They were quickest among the 2WD crews, lifting them to ninth overall and third in the category. Both Damian Toner and Barry Morris will have to keep an eye on their rear-view mirrors!

John Devlin and John McCarthy complete the top 10 in their Escort and just a couple of places behind them in 12th, Niall Henry and Barney Mitchell climbed four places in their Fiesta.

As for Ian Millar in 18th position, the last time he competed in Loughgall was in a two-wheel-drive car.

“The last time I rallied here was in an Escort,” he said. “This car is about 16 inches wider so I’m still getting used to it!”

A number of 2WD crews fitted new tyres for the stage, including both John Bradley and Adrian Hetherington. Hetherington had earlier reported a “horrible” stage one but he was a bit more content after the second test.

“The new tyres made all the difference,” he said. “It took them a while to work but once they were up to temperature, it made all the difference.”

Marty Toner lost time with a spin in his BMW, forcing him to reverse. In the battle for class 8, there was nothing to separate Andrew Bustard and Paul Britton on the stage. They set exactly the same time, leaving one second separating the two crews.

Stage two is still live so positions are subject to change. Latest results are available from rallyscore.net.

After SS2 of 6
1 J Greer
2 D Henry +1.7
3 S Wright +2.1
4 A Wray +9.6
5 D Toner +9.8
5 A McLaughlin +9.8
7 B Morris +14.8
8 D McGarrity +18.1
9 J Black +20.3
10 J Devlin +23.7

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