Wet hinders Wilton in Donegal

'It went the best now,' was the soft spoken way Rodney Wilton described his second place in the national section of the Donegal Rally, writes Brian O"Loughlin. With his Roslea co-driver Conor McMahon, the MkII pilot enjoyed a battle with Wesley Patterson and Martin McGarrity but wet weather blunted his challenge. Mark Wedlock and Adam Kinkade also had a second place - in the junior category, just eight seconds behind Richard and Laura Moffett. 'We were leading the national end until dinner time on the Saturday,' said Rodney, 'but Wesley Patterson was beating me by three seconds going into the last two stages. Then the roads dried out, which helped us and we had fastest times on those two.' That put the Ballyjamesduff man in the category lead and 11th overall, but the Sunday stages were wetter: 'Patterson went well on all the Sunday stages, and I hadn"t done them before,' said Rodney. 'We couldn"t push on like in the dry, and, as well he as 20 years" experience in Donegal.' Asked to explain the effect of the damp, Rodney said: 'He [Patterson] runs 15-inch rims, which give better traction in the wet. If it had stayed dry we would"ve pushed him a bit harder, and the Sunday stages need experience as well. But it would"ve been hard to beat him anyway.' Patterson"s Escort also has a more powerful 2.5 Millington engine, so the Cavan man decided to settle for second and finish. 'It"s better than ending up in the hedge,' he reasoned. National Championship Patrick Elliott finished third, behind rival Niall Maguire and the rally sensation Keith Cronin, on the Raven"s Rock Rally at Carrick on Suir on Sunday, the fifth round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship. Cronin and co-driver Greg Shinnors took their Mitsubishi by the scruff of the neck and gained 15s on Elliott and his co-driver Paul Goodman on the first test, though the latter thought the suspension of their Subaru was too hard for the Tipperary roads. Elliott and Goodman took a few seconds back, but Cronin/Shinnors were quickest on all three tests in the second loop, while Maguire and co-driver Enda Sherry moved into second, as Elliott regretted a bad tyre choice. It finished that way, as Cronin sealed victory and Maguire took maximum points to extend his lead over Elliott in the Dunlop series to 16 points. • Dunlop National Rally Championship after round five: Maguire 94pts; Elliott 78pts; 3. K. Barrett 66pts.