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Day 3 - Killarney to Galway

More rain and drizzle greeted competitors on the beginning of this cold yet exciting Day, as the route took competitors from Killarney to Galway (famous for it's Oysters). However, the start control initially seemed very quiet due to the retirements of the first three cars on the previous two Days

Anthony Cazalet in his Ford V8 who was spotted at Cloghna Head on Day 2 with a blown head gasket managed to find a local garage with a supply of exhaust gasket material, fix the problem and rejoined the fray from Killarney this morning.

The run kicked off at a rapid pace starting with two Regularity Sections, one through the narrow roads of the Gap of Dunloe, to climb up near the finish control of Day 2, Moll's Gap. At the top of the Gap a marshal had to be moved as he was literally blown off of his feet (and he isn't slightly built either), comes to something when the marshal needs and anchor… Also on this Regularity it was not just the weather that was proving difficult, a horse box trailer was found on its side blocking the rally road. One of the devoted marshalling crews Geoff and Jayne Gibson, physically manhandled it off the road to allow this section to run. What's the price of broken fingernails in comparison to the love of motorsport!

The second Regularity took participants through the fantastic mountain pass of Ballaghbeama Gap. Both of these sections, however, demanded great caution and concentration from the drivers as heavy rain, through the night, meant surface water was a definite problem. The challenging sections proved too much for the back suspension of Ken and Jane Frazer's Morgan Plus 8, forcing them to limp directly from Milltown up to Galway, nursing a broken leaf spring.

The persistency of the bad weather brought problems for the Touring Masters Mike Allen and Mike Howell who were spotted at Minard Castle up to there knees in water shifting heavy shingles after the storms had breached the sea defences and covered the road with this uninvited matter.

Car No 7, John Abel and Stephen Bradley's 1924 Bentley, were seen under the car at Rockchapel suffering from loose propshaft bolts. However, they managed to find a local garage who replaced the missing bolts allowing them to rejoin the Rally in a fully fit state..

The cars then moved north-east before a detour inland to cross the River Shannon to bypass the city traffic at Limerick before a lunch halt at Castleconnell. Competitors at this point were in awe of the highly intelligent road signs en route - how could a road sign that read "SLOW" register the speed of the cars? They obviously could as further on down the road there was another reading "EVEN SLOWER"!

After lunch crews started the third Regularity Section, which comprised of a long run through the Burren allowing them to witness the strange yet beautiful surroundings of limestone crags and pavements that so vividly characterised the area. This was then followed by a special test at Aillwee Cave before dropping down to Galway Bay and onto the final control of the day in the visitor centre at famous Galway Crystal.

After Day 3 the overall leaders of the event are Geoff Stewart and Peter Murray in their MGB roadster with 106 penalty marks, a 200 mark lead over Nic Pryor and Lesley Stockwell in the MGA Coupé, whilst the Wignalls have dropped to 4th place just behind the Rondeaus. Perhaps appropriately Team Crocodile Duncrees are heading the way in the National Team event, lets hope they can take this lead into their own country as we cross the border in Northern Ireland. Team Tiger have dug their claws in at the top of the Marque Team competition…they're GRRRRRRreat!!!!!!