Elliott win in Clare confirmed

IT TOOK a few days before it was confirmed, but Patrick Elliott and Paul Goodman did win the Clare Stages Rally the weekend before last. Elliott had secured the Dunlop National Rally Championship two weeks earlier in Galway, but Goodman didn"t make that rally as his brother was getting married, so the pair had unfinished business in Clare. They started the rally by renewing their battle with Niall Maguire and Paul McLaughlin, had a 20-second lead by the end of Stage Four and built on that as the day progressed. But Elliott and Goodman were declared provisional winners following a protest against the results, until Wednesday evening of last week, when a hearing was conducted. The outcome was that the result stood, and Goodman takes the national title for co-drivers. 'The conditions were difficult in Clare,' said Patrick last Thursday. 'It was a tough rally but we were competitive and we"re delighted with the result. We"re delighted that the protest was found to have no grounds; the marshal gave evidence that called us into the control - the evidence was there; and we did what we were supposed to do.' The clerk of the course conducted the hearing and found that the Cavan crew did the proper thing, so the matter is now closed. 'I think we won by 42 seconds in the end,' said Patrick. 'We"ve been getting the car set up better and better all year and we were confident even though the conditions bad. The thing is, experience plays a part, to know when to go hard and when to be cautious.' His co-driver echoed that sentiment: 'I"ve been working towards this for about 15 years,' said Paul. 'It takes a long time to get to his level. Co-drivng is all about experience, it takes time to build a relationship with your driver and to become successful.' He pointed out that he and Patrick have been together for more than two years, and though last season was disappointing, this year 'we really gelled'. They have won the last five rallies in the National Championship and, according to Paul, 'seem to be doing particularly well in the south of the country, in Shannon region, where the stages tend to be faster. They suit our style more - we like the fast flowing roads.' Both men are now looking forward to the final round of the championship, the Donegal Harvest Rally, which is based in Ardara this year. 'It will be a fun event for us,' said Paul. 'The pressure"s off, we"ve wrapped up the championships so we"re going for a stress-free event. 'I"m looking forward to having few beers after and hopefully we"ll celebrate the title success with another win.' He thanked his driver for going to Clare and giving him the opportunity to take the co-driving title. Patrick had considered doing the Cork 20 international rally, but has changed his mind now and will go to Donegal instead: 'We"ll go up and do the rally and support the championship. It"s the last run for the year. 'I"m going do the National Championship again next year - it"s a good championship, I enjoyed it, and by all accounts Aaron MacHale will be back so there"ll be more competition for Niall and me.' Sean Sharkey challenged for victory on the final round of the Irish 205 Challenge in Wexford, but his car let him down and he"s now looking to next season for success. 'It was a brilliant event,' said Sean. 'We were fastest on the second, third and fourth stages, and built up a 25s lead but then on the fifth stage there was gravel coming into a corner and I lost control of the back end of the car - it bent the tracking arm on the right. We lost more than a minute with that before we got to service.' Martin Brady and Gerry Buckley then repaired the Peugeot and Sean set joint quickest time on the last stage of the Saturday. 'Sunday morning started well, we were taking seven seconds per stage back and got within 15s of the lead by the fourth stage of the day. We noticed the rally leader had crashed out, and we were hoping that if we"d got to the finish we would"ve been fast enough to reclaim the lead... but the driveshaft broke going into a tight right! That"s rallying for you.' Sean had Donal Lynch from Mountnugent as his co-driver, and though it was only his second rally, he did a good job: 'He was on the ball all weekend,' said Sean. 'It makes a huge difference having a good co-driver.' Sean is planning to do 205 Challenge again next year and is looking forward to being at the front with some of the other young drivers who have come through the ranks. Between now and Christmas there are a few autocrosses he might compete on, if Martin Brady gets his car fixed in time, he said, adding 'Wexford was hard on pocket over the two days, so we"ll see'. Round five of the Mervyn Wedlock Plant Hire Autocross Championship takes place in Latton, off the Ballybay, Cootehill road on Sunday (September 28). Entries should be with the event secretary before tomorrow (Thursday, September 25). Gates open at 9am, scrutiny is at 9.30am, practice at 10.30am and the official timed runs start at 11am.