Battle hots up below Hurson
Rally Report 32
Saturday, November 17 2001 - 3:20pm
John Dier and Will Downing - Ballinaboola

Down's Peadar Hurson in his Toyota Celica is the new leader of the 2001 Wexford Rally after previous pace-setter Sean McArdle finished one minute and two seconds slower than had been timed on his first provisional run, with the Armaghman slumping down to 13th. A discrepancy has apparently shown up on McArdle's opening stage time, which it transpires was 1'10" slower than he was originally given credit for. Hurson may have been three seconds slower than the first time he traversed the Gusserane-Newbawn stage, but still managed to beat McArdle by 58 seconds in recording the fastest time on stage two. Hurson was 14 seconds quicker than the rest, and now lies 28 seconds ahead overall of second-placed Meathman Tim McNulty, driving a Subaru Impreza. Another Downman, Maurice Gass, now lies third - 21 seconds down on McNulty and 49 seconds behind leader Hurson - after a useful second passage. The big news from a local perspective is that David James is battling impressively with the big boys - the Goreyman lies fourth, 100 seconds behind leader Hurson. Effectively, James is performing better than he should be, considering he's dropped back from a GT3 to a Mark II. Also, when you consider his two-wheel drive is outperforming many with 4WD, the performance is even more incredible. A major battle is emerging for seventh - with Tom Holton, Jimmy Lambert and John Nolan all sharing that spot. TOP TEN PROVISIONAL - After 2/3 stages 1 7 Peadar Hurson/Ian Porter - Down Celica 18:29 2 5 Tim McNulty/Julian Nangle - Meath Impreza 18:57 3 6 Maurice Gass/Geoffrey Orr - Down Impreza 19:18 4 18 David James/Ron Guha - Gorey, Co Wexford Escort BDX 19:53 5 39 Willie O'Dwyer/Andrew Purcell - Kilkenny Metro 6R4 20:01 6 29 Willie Carroll/Jason Mernagh - New Ross Escort Cos 20:12 7 12 Tom Holton/Andrew Cullen - Meath Celica 20:15 7 19 Jimmy Lambert/James Coleman - Tipperary Escort Mk2 20:15 7 23 John Nolan/John Smithwick - Carlow Escort 20:15 10 27 Trevor Culbert/James Glynn - Wicklow Escort Mk2 20:19 11 16 Kieran Molloy/Brian Boland - Tipperary Lancer 20:20 12 22 Derek Smith/Darragh Cafferty - Wicklow Escort 20:33 13 8 Sean McArdle/Gerard McMonagle - Armagh Celica 20:36 14 35 Donal Bowens/Enda Shiels - Meath Escort Cos 20:56 15 25 James Foley/Ann Foley - Meath Honda Civ 21:10 Visit wexfordrally.tripod.com for the latest updates.