Sam Moffett gets Cork 20 Rally podium after time correction

Sam Moffett has been promoted to a third-place finish on Sunday’s Cork 20 International Rally. Moffett and co-driver Keith Moriarty initially appeared down in eighth on the rally results after losing one minute on Stage 3.

The issue arose when several crews had to slow down after Donagh Kelly collided with a chicane on Cork’s third stage. Moffett and Moriarty were hit the hardest as they stopped at the scene, losing a minute to their rivals.

The rectified results released on Monday night showed Callum Devine, Sam, and Josh Moffett had been given a notional time based on Roy White’s 7:46.7s time through Ballylusky. White was the only driver through the stage ahead of Kelly.

Sam’s updated timing inadvertently means his brother Josh drops a position on the Cork 20 results, 21.7 seconds behind.

Meanwhile in Cork 20’s national section, a corrected Stage 5 time for Richard Moffett moves him into fourth, four seconds ahead of Chris Armstrong.

The Toyota Starlet driver had been given a time of 7:38.6s through Cork’s fifth stage but this was 30.9 seconds slower than the time he actually set.

A summary of Cork 20’s final top ten results for the international and national sections can be seen at the bottom of this story.

Good news for McErlean and Johnston

Tuesday morning was filled with plenty of Irish related World Rally Championship news.

Firstly, Josh McErlean and James Fulton announced that they would compete in Rally Spain’s WRC 3 category next month. McErlean continues to drive the Philip Case Rally Sport Hyundai i20 R5.

“Like all the events in the WRC, these stages really do have their own unique characteristics,” explained McErlean. “So it will be another big learning exercise for me.

“It’s great to have James in the car once again to build on our initial outing in Ypres. We built an excellent relationship there and we now have a great synergy in the car which will help with the development process.”

Two of McErlean’s former co-drivers also had news to share. Unfortunately personal circumstances continue to halt Keaton Williams’ recent partnership with Toyota WRC driver Takamoto Katsuta.

The Japanese driver has called on the services of Northern Irishman Aaron Johnston for next week’s Rally Finland. The move comes after Johnston’s three-year stint with Oliver Solberg ended after September’s Acropolis Rally in Greece.

McErlean and Fulton will also be in Finland but only to complete the event’s recce. The Motorsport Ireland driver carried out the same exercise on Rally Estonia.

Cork 20 International Rally results:

1 Callum Devine / Brian Hoy (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 1:01:07.4
2 Meirion Evans / Jonathan Jackson (Volkswagen Polo R5) +20.3s
3 Sam Moffett / Keith Moriarty (Fiesta Rally2) +36.2
4 Josh Moffett / Andy Hayes (Hyundai I20 R5) +57.9
5 Daniel Cronin / Shane Buckley (Fiesta R5) +1:16.4
6 Cathan McCourt / Liam Moynihan (Fiesta Rally2) +1:17.0
7 Stephen Wright / Ger Conway (Fiesta R5) +1:25.3
8 Roy White / James O’Brien (Fiesta WRC) +1:29.1
9 David Guest / Jonathan McGrath (Fiesta R5) +2:47.0
10 Owen Murphy / Jonathan O’Mahony (Fiesta R5) +2:58.5

Cork 20 National Rally results:

1 James M Stafford / Jeff Case (Darrian T90 GTR, Class 14) 1:04:47.8
2 Gary Kiernan / Daren O’Brien (Ford Escort, Class 14) +34.9s
3 Damian Toner / Denver Rafferty (Escort, Class 14) +34.9
4 Richard Moffett / Darragh Kelly (Toyota Starlet, Class 14) +51.9
5 Chris Armstrong / Michael Coady (Escort, Class 14) +55.9
6 Padraig Egan / Tomas Ryan (Escort, Class 14) +2:15.1
7 JF Shovelin / Emmet Brosnan (Escort, Class 14) +2:25.8
8 John Warren / Ruthann O’Connor (Toyota Corolla, Class 13R) +2:31.2
9 Tom Holton / Stephen Reynolds (Mitsubishi Evo 8, Class 20) +2:52.1
10 Sean Moran / Donal Balfe (Escort, Class 13R) +3:18.0