Killarney Rally win will go on top of Eves’ mantle piece
Kevin Eves and Chris Melly were the modified pacesetters on the 2022 Killarney Historic Rally.
It was the Toyota Corolla crew’s maiden win on the end-of-season event and it is a victory Eves is particularly proud of.
“Things just went smoothly from start to finish,” said the modified winner. “I can count this as my first overall win. I’ve won nationals within internationals before but this one will be going on top of the mantlepiece.”
Eves and Melly arrived at Killarney’s finish ramp with a comfortable 38.5-second winning margin over Daniel McKenna and Andrew Grennan.
Conor Murphy was the fastest out of the blocks on Molls Gap with an eight-minute 55-second time up the formidable run to Kenmare. It gave Murphy and Sean Collins an early 1.6-second lead over Eves.
Jack Newman, who was seeded second in modifieds, had a first stage to forget when he was brought to a standstill for two minutes with mechanical trouble. The Ford Escort pilot was able to continue, climbing from 72nd to 16th on a day of what could have been.
Sam Moffett’s woes on stage one were somewhat more concrete – the Class 6 man was out at the end of Molls Gap after his Toyota Starlet’s engine gave up the ghost.
Less than 10 seconds separated the top five modified crews on Killarney’s opener.
Monaghan’s Dessie Keenan set a blistering fastest time through Ballaghbeama which moved him up four places to third overall.
A fastest time on stage three gave Eves a healthy 11-second lead over Murphy. The more traditional inland Irish rally stage seemed to suit the Pettigo pilot but he was still wary of a Murphy fightback on the subsequent Molls Gap test.
That fightback never came however as Murphy pulled up before Killarney’s fourth stage with transmission trouble.
Killarney’s expanding retirement list was perhaps a sign we’re at the end of a busy year of rallying in Ireland.
McKenna was the big mover on Killarney’s second run over Molls Gap. His time was only bettered by Eves as he jumped up to second from fifth in modifieds.
Keenan repeated his Ballaghbeama bravery but it wasn’t enough to make serious inroads into McKenna’s grip on second.
The Squealing Pig Escort was locked in between McKenna and Johno Doogan’s similar modified monsters with a gap of less than five seconds either way.
A fastest time for Doogan closed the gap to Keenan’s third-place position to 0.6 seconds with just one run of Molls Gap remaining.
Jason Black was another driver making a bit of a charge back. Black’s day out in his brother’s Starlet was proving a challenge with the Class 6 car’s brakes sticking on numerous stages.
The Armagh driver was as far down as 13th at one point and found himself 9.4 seconds behind long-time class leader Raymond Conlon with a single stage remaining.
Just like the historics, where Jonny Greer and Craig Breen, and Cathan McCourt and Neil Williams were set for their own final-stage duels, the modifieds had their own with Doogan, Keenan, Conlon, and Black.
As it turned out, both Doogan and Black proved to be the comeback kings as they clinched third and fifth overall respectively.
A stunning final-stage time for Black, 13.3 seconds faster than his class rival Conlon, gave him the Class 6 honours in Killarney. Black and co-driver Karl Egan’s success came after a late night shift repairing their engine which hit trouble just before the event.
Eves and McKenna were good value for their top two positions at the end of the Killarney Historic Rally. Their improving performances through stages like Molls Gap and Ballaghbeama is hopefully a good sign for renewed battles on the Rally of the Lakes next May.
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Photos by Roger Dawson
