A fifth Bushwhacker win by almost two minutes was a ‘dream’ result for Patrick O’Brien who took in the 50th anniversary rally as part of a trip back home to Omagh from his now place of work in Australia, writes William Neill.
The R317 Motorsport Skoda Fabia driver, with brother Stephen on the notes, was told he couldn’t do it (win again) in an ageing car but held the advantage from start-to-finish while closest rival Cathan McCourt bent a wheel on the final Lough Bradan stage after sitting 23.7 seconds shy of O’Brien.
Looking back at day one and three stage wins from four gave the O’Brien duo a 12.7-second head start into Saturday’s McKelvey Construction supported event, while McCourt would recall a mistake at a chicane on the first stage of the morning yet was fastest before contending with a misfire.
Cathan’s later demise promoted brother Conor McCourt and Caolan McKenna to second in a Rally2-spec Skoda Fabia, 24.1 seconds ahead of Sion Mills’ Darragh Cairns and Mark Preston who rounded off the podium with a second fastest stage time on the final test promoting the pair two places.
In fourth, 3.5 seconds back, Gareth Mimnagh and J Barry McCarney had a much better experience than 2024 when an overheating engine forced retirement. The Ford Fiesta Rally2 was only another 3.3 seconds ahead of Donegal’s David Kelly and Shane Buckley, such was the close race towards the Omagh podium.
Fastest of the Brown & Brown runners, in sixth, were Niall McCullagh and Martin Brady – a big jump up from a single point scored at round one to become another challenger to leaders Jordan and Paul Hone, who themselves took top points on the Friday that formed round two.
Stephen Dickson and Derek Mackarel are tied on points in second, ten off Hone, with two rounds to go.
Jason Mitchell had a job to do and that was to finish with enough points to win the Irish series and with a steady performance in eighth with Paddy McCrudden, has become the Irish champion in what the Victoria Bridge man said was a stressful event under the pressure of just getting through. The IN Sport Skoda Fabia Rally2 team are also registered in the Brown & Brown series so more points are in the bag ahead of the Premier Car Parts Dogleap – an event the pair won last year – on October 11.
Two-wheel-drive
Lithuania’s Martynas Samsonas and Ugnius Vainevicius won the two-wheel-drive category in a crowd-pleasing BMW M3 E36 by 32.7 seconds from Donal Sweeney and Oisin Joyce.
Historic-spec Ford Escort Mk2 of David Crossen followed with Paul Barrett next – a fitting year to see older cars right among the two-wheel-drive front runners.
In other news, Vivian Hamill was third overall before going off the road on stage seven, Marty McCormack had engine trouble and gearbox issues eventually forced Robert McKelvey out.
Results (full results via www.rallyscore.net)
1 Patrick O’Brien/Stephen O’Brien (Skoda Fabia);
2 Conor McCourt/Caolan McKenna (Skoda Fabia Rally2);
3 Darragh Cairns/Mark Preston (Volkswagen Polo R5);
4 Gareth Mimnagh/J Barry McCarney (Ford Fiesta Rally2);
5 David Kelly/Shane Buckley (Volkswagen Polo R5);
6 Niall McCullagh/Martin Brady (Skoda Fabia Rally2);
7 Jordan Hone/Paul Hone (Ford Fiesta R5);
8 Jason Mitchell/Paddy McCrudden (Skoda Fabia Rally2);
9 Brendan Cumiskey/Arthur Kierans (Volkswagen Polo R5);
10 Derek Mackarel/Eamon Creedan (Ford Fiesta R5).
Brown & Brown Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge 2025
RD1:September 6 Trailer Parts Lakeland Stages –
Enniskillen MC
RD2:September 19 McKelvey Bushwhacker Rally – Omagh MC
(Leg 1)
RD3:September 20 McKelvey Bushwhacker Rally – Omagh MC
(Leg 2)
RD4:October 11 Premier Car Parts Dogleap Rally – Maiden City MC
RD5:November 22 Fivemiletown – Omagh MC
