Last Saturday saw the final round of The Mc Grady Insurance NI Rally Championship at The Down Rally.
There was strong Donegal interest with a wide range of both drivers and navigators looking to finish the championship with top results.
The Inishowen Glasha Motorsport Junior Crew of Conor and Katie Wilson won the Junior Championships and the FIA 2WD Championship in their Ford Fiesta.
Conor and Katie Wilson
The big news of the day was that Kilmacrennan Navigator Paddy Robinson won the NI Navigator Championship by finishing 2nd along side Desi Henry in their Citroen C3 Rally2.
Donegal Town postman Paddy McCrudden finished 3rd overall, calling the notes for Jason Mitchell in the Greenville Polo. They finished ahead of Championship winner Jonny Greer in 4th, who had Kilmacrennan man Niall Burns on the notes. Niall missed out on the championship as he didn’t do even round with Jonny.
Muff’s Joseph McGonigle with Kilmacrennan’s Ciaran Geanay finished 6th in their Citroen C3.
Aodhan Gallagher, alongside Damian Toner, was the top Mk2 Escort to finish in 15th. Raphoe’s Dean O’Sullivan was 19th in Darren McKelvey’s Fiesta R5.
Paddy Robinson
Mountcharles’ Oisin Joyce was jumped in with Gareth Deasley to set blistering times in their fiesta R2 to win class 4. Donegal Crew & Motosport Ireland Academy crew Kyle McBride and Liam McIntyre won class 2A ,which was a test for the Ulster Rally next month on the bumpy Northern Tarmac. They were followed by another Donegal Crew of Joseph Kelly and Ronan Comerford taking 2nd in class 2A.
Letterkenny navigator Johnny Baird finished the day along side Stewart Morrison in 40th and 4th in class 6. Creeslough man Eoghan Moore kept Jaye Nevin right over the jumps to finish the day in 45th, having started from 60th on the road in the yellow Peugeot 205.
Glasha Crew of Aaron Mc Laughlin & Darren Curran had a bad day at the office, finishing well down the field in unfamiliar territory of late. Non finishers for the day were Burt’s John A. Callaghan, with Justin McCauley and Adam Doherty in his Micra and Kyle McDaid on the notes.
