Rallying is all about finishing, as
Enda McNulty can now testify after winning the Omagh Spring Rally in
his Subaru Impreza, watching as others fell by the wayside.
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| Enda McNulty 1st Overall |
Martin Cairns lead the rally after SS1
in his Subaru Impreza S12, but he made an unexpected trip into the
County Tyrone trees and straight out of the rally. Surely favourite
to win the rally, owing to massive forest experience and a far
superior car, it was a shame to see Cairns go out so early.
 |
| Gareth Sayers 2nd Overall |
More known for his sideways and
spectacular exploits in 'Baby Blue', his Ford Escort Mk2, Frank Kelly
was stuck without an engine before the rally. Quite unexpectedly,
Conor KcKenna stood up and offered his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo to Frank
for the rally, marking Frank's return to 4WD for a good few years. It
began well, and with only a brief test before the event, Frank was on
or near the pace from the start. A puncture on SS2 cost him loads of
time, but three straight fastest times brought him back up to third
place. Closing on second place, Frank outbraked himself and the Evo
found itself heading into a bog upside down. Little damage was done,
but no spectators were about so it was game over for Frank and
co-driver Sean Ferris.
 |
| Shane McGirr 3rd Overall |
Gareth Sayers drove a superb rally to
take second place, with the win only 7 secs up the road. Shane
McGirr, in the sideways Starlet, took third, less than half a minute
behind winner McNulty. Marty McCormack was back in the Historic-spec
Escort Mk2, and took fourth. Amazingly, co-driver Liam Moynihan
guided Marty to the Historic class win in Omagh, and then drove
straight to Birr to win 2WD with Tommy Doyle in his new Clio R3!
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| Marty McCormack 4th Overall Historic Winner |
Desi Henry took his Citroen DS3 R3 into
the forests for the first time this year, only 4 secs ahead of the
flying Fiesta R2 of Jon Armstrong, who was amazing the spectators
with his pace throughout the day. Desi and Jon took fifth and sixth
overall.
 |
| Jon Armstrong 6th Overall |
Adrian Heatherington took seventh
overall, surviving a big moment with a ditch to bring his 'gravel'
Mk2 home safe and sound. Oran Donnelly took eighth and dominated
Class 6, for 2 Litre 8 Valve cars. Anthony Cairns and Joseph
McGonagle took ninth and tenth, with Joseph taking the brilliant
little Clio R3 into the forests.
Father and son team Robert and Darren
McKelvey were out in force, with Robert back in his Mitsubishi Lancer
Evo 8 and Darren in the other Mitsubishi, this time an Evo 6. Robert
and co-driver Aaron Johnston took 19th place overall, and
third in Group N. Darren and Denver Rafferty fared a little worse,
within seconds of father Robert all day but they bogged the Evo 6 on
a particularly cut-up hairpin. Both crews running GRN stickers as
well!
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| Malachy Loughran 25th Overall 4th Class 6 |
GRN's Jordan Murphy made his début on
the stages on the Omagh Spring Rally, as co-driver to Malachy
Loughran. The pair got off to a shaky start, but steadily climbed the
leaderboard as the rally went on, ending the tough event only 7 secs
behind third in Class 6, Declan Campbell. It was a baptism of fire
for the young navi from Co. Donegal, who “took an awful battering”
over the rough gravel stages!
Photos copyright to Adrian Begley, no unauthorised use without express prior consent.
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