Garry Jennings and his vastly experienced co-driver Rory Kennedy drove a superb rally to win the Ulster Rally today.
Garry, a past winner of the Donegal Rally, needed all the navigational skills of the Letterkenny man to steer him over the line.
This victory increases Garry`s lead in the Tarmac Championship and should make the final round in Cork very interesting. Derek McGarrity pushed hard but a few overshoots cost him any chance of victory. Donagh Kelly in a similar Focus WRC drove a very accomplished event to take 3rd place.
Josh Moffett won GpN in his Lancer from Stephen Wright. Stephen had led but an errant turbo pipe put paid to that. In the Rally NI category Osian Pryce was the very popular winner and really drove a copybook event in his Citroen. Following a cautious start as he tuned into the wet NI tarmac roads Jukka Korhonen produced an extremely professional drive to take 2nd place and reinforce his BRC points lead. Mark Donnelly at last got to grips with his Citroen and came slicing through the field to take 3rd place. Daniel McKenna survived several mechanical problems to bring his Fiesta into 4th and win R2.
Derek McGeehan took his Mini WRC to a 24s win over Frank Kelly (Escort) in the Ulster National Rally. Shane McGirr, normally rated as a forestry expert, drove superbly in his Starlet to take 3rd o/a. Shane was slowed over the afternoon stages when the tip of a spark plug came off and the car developed a misfire. Derek McGeehan had his share of problems also. His Mini got into a big slide on the St. Angelo stage and then the car developed a misfire and he drove out of his skin to stay in the lead. This win brings him maximum NI C/ship points, although Derek McGarrity still leads the series. Frank Kelly did lead the National Rally but overshot a 6 left junction in the rain and his Escort went up an escape road. He said at the end. `No excuses. The last two stages we were flat out but Derek beat us`. Jonny Leonard was 4th o/a and scored 2nd placed points in the NI series.
In the Challenge Rally 2, Galway`s Dean Rafferty and his co driver Aileen Kelly have taken their Civic to a convincing win on today`s rally. Steve Smith & Daniel Johnstone finished over a minute and a half behind in their Peugeot 206 but still won class 4. Enniskillen`s Jonni McDaid rounded off the top 3 in his Peugeot 106.
In the Ulster Historic Rally Ryan Barrett and Barry Ferris have scored an outstanding win in their Escort MK2. The crew has been competing on the BHRC this season and this victory will do their class championship hopes no harm at all. Richard Hill was 2nd in his RS1600 with Rob Smith 3rd in his K category RS1800. James O`Mahony has won the B5 class in his older Volvo with Dessie Nutt runner up in his Porsche.
Finally for now we would like to thank everyone who supported and helped with our RallyNews service. Well done to Lewis Boyd and all his team for all the hard work in putting this complex rally together here in Fermanagh. Thanks as well to Paddy McCollum and his Results team and to Dougie Hughes.
RALLY NEWS NO.10 St.Angelo/Saturday
UNOFFICIAL (ULSTER) L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 15 Final Stae
1st (W1) Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Impreza WRC) 1.59.42.8
2nd (W3) Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Focus WRC) 2.01.01.5
3rd (W5) Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Focus WRC) 2.02.12.6
4th (W7) Josh Moffett/John Rowan (Lancer N) 2.07.52.6
5th (W6) Stephen & Susanne Wright (Lancer N) 2.10.07.0
6th (W9) William Mavitty/Andrew Brown (Lancer N) 2.14.09.5
UNOFFICIAL (RALLY NI) L/BOARD AFTER STAGE 15 Final Stage
1st (R7) Osian Pryce/Dale Furness (Citroen) w.05.36.7
2nd (R1) Jukka Korhonen/Marko Salminen (Citroen) 2.06.27.6
3rd (R5) Mark Donnelly/Dai Roberts (Citroen) 2.07.15.4
4th Jonny Greer 5th Daniel McKenna
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