Irish team finish 2nd on European championship rally

Shaun Gallagher Rallying – Rally Finnskog Report

Irish duo of Shaun Gallagher and David Moynihan have finished second in class on the Rally Finnskog a Norwegian and Eurpoean Championship round. The event is part of the eight-week training programme that Shaun has undertaken in preparation for his 2003
season.

The 250km event was run over fourteen snow and ice stages deep in the forests of Finnskog, Norway. Leg 1 was run in the dark and the Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Award Winner was not satisfied with the handling of the car from the outset. Shaun was also suffering from his poor seeding position and caught cars on both stages 2 and 3. Despite this the Irish team were lying 2nd in class overnight.

The team changed the entire suspension and brakes during the 45-minute service at the end of leg 1 and were hoping that this would solve their handling problems for the second leg. Unfortunately it did not work and it was not until stage 6 that the car was finally handling to Shaun’s liking.

He was now completely happy with the car and instantly upped his pace setting six fastest times in just eight stages. The crews only problem occurred on the final stage when they bent a steering arm after cutting a corner too much.

“I am reasonably happy with the result but I had hoped to win this one” commented Shaun. “We had an incomplete recce and I suffered all weekend because of that. It also took us a long time to get the car to my liking, but all in all it was a good result”

The Norwegian championship now takes a break until late June.