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LinksFord Ka Championship - Round 5 - Sligo Stages Rally
Posted: July 16, 2002 4:25 PM - 17175 Hits
MULVANEY SCORES MAIDEN VICTORY
: Local Driver Kenneth Mulvaney from Coolaney, Co. Sligo scores a dramatic maiden victory on fifth round of the 2002 Ford Ireland KA Rally Championship, the Sligo Stages Rally.
Posted: July 16, 2002 4:25 PM
Kenneth in the Henderson Motors Ford KA, set the early pace to take a seven second lead from Championship leader Gerry Keyes (Limerick) after the first two stages of the day. However on the third stage Kenneth’s co-driver Paul Morrow never turned off his mobile phone and when the phone kept ringing the interference caused the crew to lose concentration and with it a seven-second advantage turned into a thirteen-second deficit to Keyes. Kenneth drove magnificently over the next loop of stages setting fastest KA stage time to retake the lead from Keyes, however disaster struck again on the sixth stage when Kenneth experienced brake failure. Luckily the KA’s entered service after stage six and the problem was resolved. Kenneth continued again setting fastest KA stage time on stage seven, however Keyes fought back to take fastest stage time on the eight and final stage of the day to narrow the gap to just four seconds after eighty competitive stage miles.
"I am over the moon, absolutely delighted. I have waited a long time for this victory; second twice and one third place finish so far this year. We had a lot of problems, the mobile phone ringing and the brake problems. I was determined to win here today, it is my home rally and in front of the home crowd it makes the victory more special. We worked really hard building up to the event and I must thank everybody who helped me, especially Pirelli tyres" said Kenneth.
Gerry Keyes took a well-deserved second place with John Folan (Galway) third and David Lyons (Limerick) fourth.
"The competitiveness of the 2002 Ford Ireland KA Rally Championship once again has been underlined with Kenneth taking a dramatic victory. We are all eagerly awaiting the outcome of the next round of the series," said Declan Foley, KA Brand Manager.POS. NAME TIME 1 Kenneth Mulvaney 0 2 Gerry Keyes 0.00.04 3 John Folan 0.01.54 4 David Lyons 0.00.14 5 Walter Walsh 0.01.43 6 James Eivers 0.00.25 7 Mark Kane 0.01.55 8 Vivian Noone 0.00.03 9 Emily O’Mahony DNF 10 Martin Laverty DNF 11 Austin Bishop DNS 12 Trevor Hutton DNS 13 Trevor Harding DNS 14 Keith Colton DNS POS. NAME POINTS 1 Gerry Keyes 146 2 David Lyons 106 3 Kenneth Mulvaney 105 4 John Folan 95 5 Vivian Noone 83 6 James Eivers 80 7 Martin Laverty 60 - Mark Kane 60 9 Emily O’Mahony 30 10 Trevor Harding 21 11 Walter Walsh 19 12 Trevor Hutton 12
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