24.08.2010
Derek McGarrity wins Ulster Rally
Derek McGarrity and co-driver James McKee in his Kerr's Tyres sponsored Subaru Impreza WRC S12B claimed victory in the Toodsleap.com Ulster Rally after a great joust with Gareth McHale in his Ford Focus RS WRC. Both these cars were shod with BF Goodrich tyres.
In a super ding-dong affair, McGarrity held on for victory ahead of Gareth McHale by just 1.1 seconds, which is a record narrow margin of victory for this event. McGarrity had led by 10 seconds with two stages left but put himself under pressure by overshooting a junction.
McHale in his 'Patch Tyre Equipment' sponsored Focus had the consolation of moving ahead of Alastair Fisher (Mitsubishi Evo on Pirelli tyres)to top the Irish Tarmac Championships standings ahead of the Cork 20 event. McHale was earning his second successive runner-up spot in the Ulster event after being pipped by Eugene Donnelly last year.
Because of the new rules this year, cars from the Irish Tarmac and British championships could not compete together at the weekend, leaving the WRC supercars to battle it out against each other.
This presented a wonderful stage for Craig Breen, who won the concurrently run Rally Northern Ireland ahead of Keith Cronin and Fisher. For many, the performance of the 20-year-old from Waterford outshone the WRC performers. And he became the youngest winner of a round of the British championship and the first to claim victory in one of the new breed of Super 2000 cars, a Pirelli shod M-Sport Ford Fiesta. The result keeps Cronin in contention in the British Championship.
Another milestone was achieved by the new BF Goodrich shod Citroën DS3 R3, which made its competitive debut this weekend. Bryan Bouffier and his co-driver Xavier Panseri claimed two-wheel drive and Group R victory, ending the event in a superb fifth place overall.
In other news, Brendan Cumiskey and co-driver Conor Foley recorded a surprise victory in round six of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Ireland, the Todds Leap.com Rally NI. They tookd the lead when series front-runners Neil McCance went off the road. This leaves a tightly contested three way battle for the title on the final round in September.
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