Brothers Patrick and Stephen O’Brien won the Trailer Parts and Spares Lakeland Stages after an epic day-long battle with both Niall McGonigle and Cathan McCourt – the latter picking up a puncture on the final 16-mile stage of the McGrady Insurance NI Forest Rally Challenge counter, writes William Neill.
The misfortune of McCourt, who won two stages during the day including the first pass of Ballintempo, meant Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan moved up to second in a PM Rally Hire Rally 3-spec Ford Fiesta by the finish, a minute and 47.5 seconds from O’Brien’s Skoda Fabia R5.
Back to the morning and McGonigle was quickest on the 2.4-mile opener with five seconds covering the top eight runners setting the scene. On Big Dog O’Brien cut McGonigle’s lead to half a second while McGonigle and McCourt both knew they were more cautious.
SS3 and McCourt survived reported close calls to be the third different stage winner and move into the rally lead while McGonigle had two small slips off the road before exiting the rally on stage four where O’Brien took the lead by 0.8 seconds.
Heading into the final stage O’Brien’s advantage was a mere 0.7 seconds from McCourt and a final stage shootout was set only for the costly deflating tyre to deny a close race to the finish.
Very much thinking about maximum points, third was enough for Derek Mackarel to double his tally in the McGrady Insurance-backed series following success in Fivemiletown earlier this year. The Clones man and co-driver Eamonn Creedon were six seconds from Kelly but place secured from David Condell and Michael Coady in another Ford Fiesta R5 by 39.2 seconds.
Strabane team Martin Cairns and Peter Ward went from 13th after the first pass through Conagher to finish fifth and ahead of second-place points finisher Paul Britton who remains Mackarel’s closest challenger at the half-way point.
Shane McGirr and Denver Rafferty won two-wheel-drive and put their first set of points on the board – seventh in the rally but third place points claimed following a race with Hugh McQuaid, eventually finishing with a difference of 7.2 seconds but with Ashley Dickson and Martin Brady sandwiched between in a Volkswagen Polo Rally2.
Class 2 Ford Fiesta of Craig Rahill and Conor Smith had a good run to round out the top ten, 14.5 seconds from McQuaid but keeping Castleblaney’s Michael Conlon at bay by 19.3 seconds.
Ben McFall has impressed so far this season and it was a 12th place finish at the Enniskillen Motor Club event, almost a minute ahead of fellow Mitsubishi Lancer E9 driver James Dunphy.
IN OTHER NEWS
There were lots of stories around the service park with news of Lukasz Czapnik’s engine damage on the opening stage and Ryan Caldwell off the road on SS3 while mixing it at the sharp end.
Electrical problems side-lined Gareth Mimnagh while power steering later retired Stephen McCann.
Paddy McToal had fuel issues and Sam Stewart’s car had a broken crossmember by service.
OVERALL RESULTS
1 Patrick O’Brien/Stephen O’Brien (Skoda Fabia R5);
2 Eamonn Kelly/Conor Mohan (Ford Fiesta Rally3);
3 Derek Mackarel/Eamonn Creedon (Ford Fiesta R5);
4 David Condell/Michael Coady (Ford Fiesta R5);
5 Martin Cairns/Peter Ward (Ford Fiesta Rally2);
6 Paul Britton/Mark McGeehan (Ford Fiesta R5);
7 Shane McGirr/Denver Rafferty (Lada Riva);
8 Ashley Dickson/Martin Brady (Volkswagen Polo Rally2);
9 Hugh McQuaid/Declan Casey (Ford Escort Mk2);
10 Craig Rahill/Conor Smith (Ford Fiesta 2).
CLASS WINNERS
Class 1: Walter Burke/Bobby Cooper (Ford Escort Mk2); Class 2: Craig Rahill/Conor Smith (Ford Fiesta); Class 3: Raymond Johnston/Marc Johnston (Nissan Micra); Class 4: Ian Millar/David Burns (Ford Escort Mk2); Class 5: Andy Magee/Michael Johnston (Ford Escort Mk2); Class 6: Hugh McDaid/Declan Casey (Ford Escort Mk2); Class 7: Shane McGirr/Denver Rafferty (Lada Riva); Class 8: Ben McFall/Damian McAuley (Mitsubishi Lancer E9); Class 9: Eamonn Kelly/Conor Mohan (Ford Fiesta Rally 3); Class 10: Derek Mackarel/Eamonn Creedon (Ford Fiesta R5); Class 11: Patrick O’Brien/Stephen O’Brien (Skoda Fabia R5).
NEXT UP
Next up in the four round series is the McKelvey Asbestos Bushwhacker Rally on September 21. Entries for the Omagh Motor Club event are available from www.rallyscore.net.
Words and Photos: WILLIAM NEILL/NI RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP [Images must not be used in any way without prior written consent of the photographer]
