The fourth round of the 2009 Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland enjoyed beautiful sunshine, a rare sight in Irish rallying at present for the Cavan Stages Rally. It allowed the Citroen C2 R2’s to fully stretch their legs on the nine Cavan Stages, and the winner, Donegal’s Adrian McElhinney really stretched the legs of his 1600cc flyer as he dominated the Cavan Stages, taking his third win of the season.

It all started with a superb time on stage one for Adrian, his time of 10 minutes 16 seconds, significantly faster than his nearest C2 rival. The closest to this benchmark time was relative C2 newcomer Mark Kane who was 23 seconds down over the 16 kilometre test, with another newcomer, Tempo’s Stephen Baxter just one second down on his third rally.

A further six seconds behind was the winner of the last round in Monaghan Sam Moffett, but his usual rivals Martin Tynan and Barry Evans were struggling, Barry with locking brakes, and Martin not happy with the feeling of the car. For Barry, the rally was to end after stage two, with an alternator fault putting him over the time limit. As the cars reached the first service, Adrian had taken command with fastest times on stages two and three.

Second place was Roscrea’s Mark Kane, just one second but Mark was complaining of a notchy second gear, and on closer inspection the team decided to pull out before any further damage was done. Just one scant second behind was Sam Moffett, who now slotted into second, although Sam felt his car a little loose at the front, and was resigned to the fact that was unable to catch Adrian. Stephen Baxter was having another excellent showing just five seconds behind Sam, but Stephen and co driver Martin McGarrity’s rally was to end on stage four, the C2 doing its best to impersonate a Reliant Robin as it definitely wasn’t rolling along, when a wheel came off the wagon! Fractured wheel studs were the cause as Stephen having repaired the car after his Monaghan accident was left on the sidelines.

On the second loop of the same tests, Adrian extended his lead, although there was drama at the end of stage five, a tie strap being borrowed to secure a loose gear stick turret, and Sam Moffett too was feeling a vibration in the front of his C2. Martin Tynan wasn’t on his usual form, and the Clones driver, had no option but to stop and change a puncture on stage 6, loosing almost five minutes.

Leaving the final service with three stages to tackle Adrian McElhinney had it all to loose with almost a minute and a half’s lead over Sam Moffett, with Martin Tynan now the final C2 running many minutes adrift. For Adrian and co driver Shane Buckley it proved a superb victory as they reeled off the remaining stages, and celebrated at Hillgrove Hotel finish.

Indeed they set top ten stage times during the day and were understandably delighted. “It’s been a very enjoyable event, and this time we had a much better start than in Monaghan. I think that helped us, and things have just flowed quite well today.” Sam Moffett should have been next onto the ramp, but the Monaghan youngster was robbed of his second place by drive-shaft failure with just one competitive mile to complete. Despite having one of their worst ever days of rallying, Martin and Ciaran Tynan found themselves leaving the Cavan round with second placed points, the brother’s decision to continue being the right one, for their championship efforts. Round five the Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland takes place on the ALMC Stages in July.

Round Four Results- Cavan Stages

1 Adrian McElhinney/ Shane Buckley Citroen C2 R2  
2 Martin Tynan/ Ciaran Tynan  Citroen C2 R2  

Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland after Round 4

1 Adrian McElhinney                   112 points
2 Martin Tynan                          66
3 Mark Kane                             65
4 Sam Moffett                           55
5 Barry Evans                            44