MacHale finishes eighth in 2017 West Cork Rally

AARON MacHale finished eighth in the West Cork International Rally at Clonakilty last weekend.

The second round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the event saw the Rathcoole man and co-driver Darragh Kelly make a slow start in the opening two stages of the competition as they adjusted to the new car.

They started to generate some momentum only to suffer a puncture on Stage Six.

Again they managed to put together a decent run, but on the night stage, their inside light went, making it very difficult to read notes.

They consequently lost some 30 seconds and found themselves heading into Sunday’s run in 11th position overall.

Yet some clean driving saw over the closing six stages that covered some 100km as they climbed three places to eighth by the close of proceedings.

“I was happy enough with this performance” said MacHale “We’d had two accidents when we competed in Galway and Ulster and we only got the car ready just before this event,” he explained.

MacHale may well contest the Circuit of Kerry early next month as he gears up for the Killarney Rally of the Lakes in May.

While he has been bolstered by last weekend’s display, he will be looking to build on that over the course of the season.

“It’s my first year in it with the new car, a Citroen R5, but I’d be hoping to be finishing in among the top three at some of these rallies and earning probably a top five finish in the championship.

“But there are a lot of experienced drivers who have been competing in this a long time so it’s going to be tough” he added.