Thousands of fans held their breath – sort of – as three fellas clambered down the rocks to the side of the road. Four and a bit minutes later, the collected cheer could probably have been heard in Dublin. Kalle Rovanperä’s Toyota Starlet was moving again. And moving quickly.
How did that happen?
The story of how Rovanperä and co-driver Jonne Halttunen stopped 300 meters shy of the famous junction on the Moll’s Gap stage has been well told across the past week. DirtFish thanked the unknown three for the work they did in saving the day for thousands of fans and two Finns. We thought that was where the story would end.
And it would have done, had it not been for Kerry Motorsport News man Sean Morriarty digging deep and locating William Lynch, Sean Kenny and Jonathan O’Mahony.
And here’s the irony, if their weekend had gone to plan, they wouldn’t have been anywhere near that junction – and, quite possibly, the Starlet would have stayed silent.
This was not the sight any Irish rally fan wanted to see on Moll's Gap
Kenny came within an ace of getting a run out on Killarney. His Ford Escort was the very next reserve car to be called to the entry. Sadly for him, there wasn’t space for him in the packed 165-strong entry.
Lynch was set to co-drive with O’Mahony on the tools.
When it was clear there would be no competition for the trio, they headed for the Gap and some watching. Like the rest of us, they watched in disbelief as the Toyota came through the corner, coughed and coasted to a halt just beyond the lay-by on the left before the junction.
“It was incredible,” Lynch told DirtFish. “To be honest, when the car stopped in front of us, we did what we would always do. It doesn’t matter if it was a world champion or whoever, you go to help out and do what you can to keep them in the rally.
“To be honest, Jonathan was the one who got under the bonnet and fixed things. Kalle mentioned something about pressure, so I checked things like the crankshaft sensor and fuel pressure. Jonathan had been under the bonnet and just checking things, pushing things in and making sure nothing was loose. I don’t think it was rocket science. It was a bit of a turn it off, then turn it back on again thing… then she just fired up again.
After a few minutes of fiddling, the Starlet was ready to go again
“Kalle and his co-driver thanked us and they got on their way again. It was fantastic to see a double world champion competing in Ireland, I hope they had a good time and enjoyed their time over here.
“For us, it would have been nice to have been competing, but that wasn’t to be. We had a great day, the historics are amazing to watch – all those M3s. Great day.”
For so many a great day was made all the greater thanks to Jonathan, William and Sean. And a big thanks to Sean M for helping name the unnamed spectators.
