Tom Geraghty Tyres is a name known in the Motorsport scene in Ireland whether it is competing themselves or sponsoring drivers like Kenny Mckinstry or his daughter Emma.

It’s this link with cars and motorsport thats the difference between any other average tyre garage and Tom Geraghty Tyres.

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13/04/2014

Moonraker Forestry Rally 2014

With round 2 of the Irish Forest championship been cancelled, we returned to the action on gravel in Cork. The spectators were happy to see local rally ace Owen Murphy entring the event in his Evo 9. Competitors and spectators knew Murphy would be a hard man to beat on the day and they were 100% right.

But after the first short 4k test, we had a suprise leader in Andrew Purcell in his Evo 6, taking a 6 second lead after stage 1. Purcell had hit the stages running! But Murphy wasnt going to take this lying down hit back with fastest time on stage 2, going one second quciker then Purcell on the 16K tough test. Many of the top runners told us suffering from loss of brakes on the intense endurance stage. Murphy seemed happy with his pace commenting that they were pushing hard. Purcell had struck a water splash to hard in the stage and damaged an oil cooler on the car, and was leaking alot of oil, but said he was going to continue and see could he get to service.

Murphy was fastest again on the 3rd stage, with round one winner Desi Henry 2nd fastest from Josh Moffit. Entering service Purcell and Murphy were joint leaders of the event, it was a battle that no one would have predicted. In service Murphy commented that he hadnt been pushing this hard in a while but was really enjoying the battle. Henry was playing the waiting game and wasn’t going to risk championship points and was still getting used to his new evo 9. Purcell’s team cured his oil leak problems, but was worried about the oil light coming on for a second on the finish of stage 3, with oil presure looking good and everything checked over he said he’d try see how the car was on stage 4.

Stage 4 saw Murphy beating Purcell again by a single second, and it was looking like these two would both try decide the rally on stage 5 the 16K long stage. After finishing stage 4 with no problems Andrew was happy to bring the battle to Murphy. But halfway through the long test Purcell damaged his gearbox and was only left with 3rd and 4th gear, handing the stage to Murphy.

All the top runners completed the final stage, with Murphy taking his second Moonraker victory, Desi Henry finishing 2nd and taking full championship points, with Purcell somehow managing to finish 3rd even with only 2 gears. The weather was perfect on the day and helped produce a fantastic event.

 

20/02/2014

Carrick On Suir Forestry 2014

Unfortunately due to the bad weather in recent weeks and unrepairable stages the Carrick On Suir Forestry rally has been cancelled. Many sections of the 3 stages had been block by fallen trees, and with the rally only a few weeks away there was not enough time to repair the stages to the standard in which COC Andrew Purcell would like.

 

09/02/2014

Galway International 2014

This year saw the Galway international changing back to a 2 day event which was great to see, a sign of maybe things are on the up again. But it wasn’t just the layout of the event that was like that of old, the entry saw a great line up of names and cars both in 4wd and 2wd. Conditions were very difficult and saw some of the stage miles cut due to flooding. It was very close up the front of the field with Boyle and Jennings battling it out in the rain, the battle for Group N was just as close with Colm Murphy leading group N despite strong challenges from Josh Moffett, Stephen McCann, Eugene Meegan & Martin Doherty with just 50 seconds separating them.

In the modfied field a name from old Peadar Hurson lead for some of day one from the milk man Declan Gallagher in the starlet until Hurson retired with engine problems. The first day ended with Gallagher finishing the day with a 30sec lead over Wesley Patterson in the Escort.

Stage one on Sunday saw Eugene Donnelly in the Mini crash out of the event unfortunately. The battle for Group N went on til the end with Stephen McCann finally claiming a great victory. Declan Boyle managed to keep Jenning behind to take his first victory of the year. In the modified Gallagher extending his gap to patterson bit by bit for a well deserved victory.

 

Sean Conlon Memorial Forestry Rally 2014

So the first Irish Rally of the year is over, the Sean Conlon Memorial Forestry rally and 1st round of the Irish forest championship is over and has proven to be a great test for all drivers. Slippy conditions made it tough for all crews that competited, we saw some new faces taking to the woods this year and some old faces in new cars also to make for what was a very competitive event.

Desi Henry took the early lead on stage one beating Pat O Connell by almost 5 sec on the short stage. Only ten seconds separated the top 5 and it was looking like this could go anyway. Shane McGirr was the fastest man in the 2wd section not too unlike last year, with 7th fastest time.

On Stage two Brendan Cumiskey narrowed the gap to Henry by taking two seconds back, finishing the loop with Henry winning from Cumiskey by 7 seconds from Micheal O’ Brien in the WRC focus. Shane McGirr was up to 6th overall after Pat O Connell retired, his closest rival in the 2wd section was James Coleman who was lying 10th overall but was complaining of lack of front grip.

Josh Moffet was fastest on stage 3 after service beat Henry by a single second to move him up to 3rd overall. But Desi still had a solid lead going into the last stage with a 13 second cushion for the last long stage. But Desi didnt sit back on this cushion he went on to take fastest time on the last stage to make sure of a well earned victory by 15 seconds over Brendan Cumiskey. With Josh Moffet rounding off the top three. Shane McGirr took an uncontested 2wd victory with a very strong 6th overall in very slippey conditions.