The gap remains constant, but McGrath goes by the wayside.

Rally HQ Riverbank House Hotel

John Dier

Saturday 8th September, 19.45hrs

The gap between the two top runners had more or less held station overnight, with the gap only increasing by one second over the last two tests of the day. The big change though is the demise of PJ McGrath. Whether it is the curse of commentators, but as soon as we reckoned that he was a shoe in for third, he nevr made it back to rally hq. This has had the effect of raising his fellow local Noel redmond up to third place. With only 19sec seperating him from leading two wheel drive man Phil Collins, there can be no certainty that the last step on the podium is sown up.
The battle for fifth and sixth is another craccker. There is the minimum gap between Neil Williams and Eoin Doyle. The most interested spectator in this battle could be Liam Wall. If either Williams or Doyle slip up, Wall could capitalise. Mark Nangle and wayne Evans are having their own little tussle for eight place, as are Gabriel Martin and John Kehoe for tenth, only 2sec the gap here.
With good weather forcast for Sunday, and the possibility of a top class entry for the Sunday run, it looks like a very good days racing in the morning. David James is possibly going to run in the Sunday run, having sorted out his oil problems, and we may also see Melvyn Evans and David Parle make it a good tussle.

The top 15 for the Riverbank House Hotel Dick Bailey Stages Rally 2007 after SS8

1  Eamonn Boland  Francis Regan  Ford Focus  8             1:01:24        
2  Gareth Machale  Paul Nagle  Ford Focus WRC  8           1:01:51  0:00:27  0:00:27  
3  Noel Redmond  Andrew Purcell  Subaru WRC  8             1:05:17  0:03:26  0:03:53  
4  Phil Collins  Derek Branigan  Escort MkII  14           1:05:36  0:00:19  0:04:12  
5  Neil Willams  Eurig Davies  Escort  13                  1:07:25  0:01:49  0:06:01  
6  Eoin Doyle  Paul Walsh  Subaru Impreza  8               1:07:26  0:00:01  0:06:02  
7  Liam Wall  Dennis O'Mahony  Escort MkII  13             1:08:03  0:00:37  0:06:39  
8  Mark Nangle  Nollaig Breen  Impreza N12  4              1:08:37  0:00:34  0:07:13  
9  Wayne Evans  Sion Jones  Escort  13                     1:08:50  0:00:13  0:07:26  
10 Gabriel Martin  Paddy Robinson  Mitsubishi Evo 9  4     1:09:21  0:00:31  0:07:57  
11 John Kehoe  Colm Kehoe  Escort  13                      1:09:23  0:00:02  0:07:59  
12 John Ashton  Mark Lewis  Escort MkII  14                1:09:43  0:00:20  0:08:19  
13 Neil Hickey  Ray Greene  Escort MkII  11                1:10:13  0:00:30  0:08:49  
14 Trevor Culbert  Colin O'Toole  Escort  13               1:10:19  0:00:06  0:08:55  
15 Alan Mackey  Frank Dwyre  Vauxhall Nova  9a             1:10:21  0:00:02  0:08:57 

JD