Donegal International Rally 2019.

DC.

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Just found out who it was and I’m shocked.
 

bob

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Terrible terrible news, just back from Donegal and it feels like a grey cloud has descended over it. Have never seen pace and commitment like it in my life over the past two days, such a sad ending.
 

Graham

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FM155

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Heard two crews went off but nothing since. Sounds bad, real shame as it had been a really great event up to that point.

Edit, terrible news. RIP. 8-(
 

Rob

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Truly dreadful and such a tragedy for his family leaving behind 5 children. I suppose he didn't win the rally three times without putting in total commitment, but it is still a massive shock to all involved. The pace this weekend was something else, I will remember it for the good that I saw but such a terrible shame that it has ended in the way it did. RIP Manus and best wishes for a speedy recovery to his co driver..

Ps what happened to Michael Dunlop? Was looking forward to seeing him on SS11 Knockalla yesterday but I didn't see his car coming through (perhaps I missed it?)
 

RevT

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Truly dreadful and such a tragedy for his family leaving behind 5 children. I suppose he didn't win the rally three times without putting in total commitment, but it is still a massive shock to all involved. The pace this weekend was something else, I will remember it for the good that I saw but such a terrible shame that it has ended in the way it did. RIP Manus and best wishes for a speedy recovery to his co driver..

Ps what happened to Michael Dunlop? Was looking forward to seeing him on SS11 Knockalla yesterday but I didn't see his car coming through (perhaps I missed it?)

Dunlop went out after hitting the car as far as I read.

Sad end to a great weekend.
 

davecoupe

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Was on Fanad this morning about a mile from where the accident happened and Manus passed us ..... in his element, on "his" stage.

He has won the rally many times on Fanad, it was his favourite stage, perhaps its fitting that that is where he spent his last few moments.

Motorsport, Rallying and Donegal lost a great man today.

Genuinely one of the nicest men I have had the pleasure of meeting, always greeted you with a big smile. I spoke to him on Thursday and he had the same answer that he always had when I asked him was he ready for the rally “I’m just mad for tar at this stage David sir”

Donegal will never be the same for me.

The King of the Hills.

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quattro Rick

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Was on Fanad this morning about a mile from where the accident happened and Manus passed us ..... in his element, on "his" stage.

He has won the rally many times on Fanad, it was his favourite stage, perhaps its fitting that that is where he spent his last few moments.

Motorsport, Rallying and Donegal lost a great man today.

Genuinely one of the nicest men I have had the pleasure of meeting, always greeted you with a big smile. I spoke to him on Thursday and he had the same answer when I asked him was he ready for the rally “I’m just mad for tar at this stage David sir”

Donegal will never be the same for me.

The King of the Hills.

View attachment 240642

Most people probably won't look at it the same way, yes it's truly terrible when something like this happens, but I would like to think, he went out doing something he truly enjoyed, it's horrible that he's left behind a family, but we chase thrills knowing full well there's a risk which comes with the possible reward!

I think I'd like to go in a similar way rather than using resources for X amount of years in a hospital bed when I'm 90 or something of the sorts.
 

chris_b

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I think I'd like to go in a similar way rather than using resources for X amount of years in a hospital bed when I'm 90 or something of the sorts.
I get what you’re saying but Manus was in his prime with his business doing well and just been elected to local government and relishing the challenges that lay ahead with that.
I’m sure he and his wife and five young kids thought he’d be around for a hell of a lot longer.
It’s simply tragic and something that thankfully does not happen often in motor racing

My brother in law last I spoke to him was attempting to console the guy who was beating him in class, bro in law was lying 2nd. This guy is Manus’s best friend who stays with him in his house for the Donegal and returns the favour when Manus done the Galway, he was completely inconsolable and crying deeply saying over and over about his little children 😢😔

It’s a sad sad day for a lot of people
 

FM155

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Desperately sad for his family. We all go out to have a bit of craic but fully expect to come back in one piece. I'm sure we will all find out more in time but given the way modern rally cars are designed and prepared these days, its a rare occurrence for this type of outcome. Just desperately sad, seemed like a total gentleman. 😢
 

quattro Rick

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I get what you’re saying but Manus was in his prime with his business doing well and just been elected to local government and relishing the challenges that lay ahead with that.
I’m sure he and his wife and five young kids thought he’d be around for a hell of a lot longer.
It’s simply tragic and something that thankfully does not happen often in motor racing

My brother in law last I spoke to him was attempting to console the guy who was beating him in class, bro in law was lying 2nd. This guy is Manus’s best friend who stays with him in his house for the Donegal and returns the favour when Manus done the Galway, he was completely inconsolable and crying deeply saying over and over about his little children 😢😔

It’s a sad sad day for a lot of people

Absolutely understand, maybe what I wrote didn't come across exactly as I meant, it's tragic to go so early in life, and as you say if he was just starting to stretch his legs in career/life/family then it's too soon a loss

I probably meant to say that I'd rather go sooner than later, not as young as Manus, but also not growing old wasting away.

To be able to race until your getting old would be ideal, I look at videos of Walter Rohrl still giving plenty of high performance vehicles an immense raking and think I'd love to be able to drive like a hooligan at his age.


The family aspect is the worst thing about putting everything on the line
 

Manta

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I am absolutely beside myself with what has happened to Manus Kelly, my heart goes out to his family at this time.

I know that Manus will be laid to rest soon and there is an ongoing investigation into the accident by the garda but i cant help but ask questions with fellow rally fans here who have knowledge in this sport with what has tragically happened.

I have uploaded a picture of Kris Meeke's crashed car from the 2018 Portugal WRC Event in which fortunately both his navigator and Kris himself walked away from.

I cant help but think that these hyundai r5 cars could have safety issues, if you compare the damage to meeke's car and manus's car i would think the opposite of who would walk away, now i know that wrc cars from 2017 were modified to the extreme in lots of ways with one of them being safety but i would have thought a 2019 r5 hyundai would at least share similar safety features of a 2017 wrc car, maybe they do and maybe they dont due to cost but either way it bothers me.

I understand that nobody is invincible in any rally car and i realise we dont know all the facts of Manus's accident yet and unfortunately maybe we will never know all the facts but what is also bothering me is what Manus himself stated at the end of the Knockalla stage which makes me think there was problems with that car in more ways than one.

If you fast forward to 6 minutes and 10 seconds you will see what i mean with Manus complaining about the cars handling and how it shook the crew up.



RIP Manus
 

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DC.

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There was a picture of Manus’ i20 from after the accident. Think it was in the Irish Times/Daily Mirror and it didn’t look too bad.

I’m guessing the only man who really knows is his co-driver, Donall Barrett.

Manus will be laid to rest tomorrow lunchtime.

RIP.
 

FM155

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You can have the best cage, seats and harnesses etc but it only takes something like a piece of debris to harm the occupants. TBH now is not the right time to speculate about what happened and I'm certain that it will be properly investigated in due time.
 

DC.

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Absolutely. I’m sure Hyundai will be eager to get to the bottom of it one way or another in case there is a fatal flaw with the design.

Thierry Neuville’s accident recently also shows what a WRC can withstand.
 

bob

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@Manta I was at the section on Knockalla Manus is chatting about, he had a massive moment and did very well to keep it on the road. Several others though had a moment at the same spot, it's just a very fast section of road with an off camber bump. I wouldn't look too much into it or rush to blame the car. Every crash is different, only the navi and incar will know what really happened, I don't think you can compare any one crash to another.

Incredibly tragic events and still hard to take in, seemed like such a decent fella from the comments of anyone who knew him. I see the S12 has been redone in his livery, sad to see.
 

davecoupe

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Incredibly tragic events and still hard to take in, seemed like such a decent fella from the comments of anyone who knew him. I see the S12 has been redone in his livery, sad to see.
Went and paid my respects tonight.

A few of my photos were used on the car and it was hard to look at it.

I got to shake Donall’s hand, gave him my condolences and wished him well. Every time you tighten the belts in a rallycar you are aware of the risks but you never think it will happen to you and you certainly don’t think it will happen to the man sitting next to you.

I feel for the first responders, the men who were running behind them on the road. They were his mates. They will need a lot of support in the coming months but the rally community is closenit, I hope they get the support they need.
 

FM155

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Was a good report on the UTV news tonight. Very fitting send off.
 

davecoupe

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Some positive news since the weekend. Ken and Alex really enjoyed themselves. Fantastic advertisement for Irish Rallying. Alex said on Tuesday night that they will be back next year..... and if ken isn’t, he will be.

Breen getting a seat in the WRC for Finland is another positive.

Tough to take but the show must go on.
 
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