A rapid time through Stage 13, Badgers Hill, was enough for Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan to claim their fourth Irish Tarmac event win in a row on the Cork 20 International Rally.
The Volkswagen Polo R5 crew finished the two-day event 2.7 seconds ahead of day one pacesetters Meirion Evans and Jonathan Jackson who had to settle for second despite scoring seven stage wins over the weekend.
Devine and O’Sullivan were fastest out of the blocks on Saturday morning’s opening Caherduggan stage but subsequent fastest times from Evans and fellow ITRC title contender Josh Moffett paved the way for a three-car fight for Cork 20 honours.
A hat-trick of stage wins on Saturday afternoon put Evans out front and the Welshman eventually finished day one with a 6.8-second overnight lead. Devine ended the day as Evans’ nearest challenger. A scary high-speed spin for Moffett cost him ten seconds on stage five.
Devine and Evans shared stage wins on mixed-condition stages on Sunday morning but a storming run through the second pass of Badgers Hill rewarded Devine and O’Sullivan with a time 8.2 seconds faster than any of his rivals.
It put the Derry-Kerry duo into the rally lead for the first time since Cork’s opener, holding a 4.6-second advantage over Evans.
Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes fell away from the lead fight as they struggled for confidence in slippery conditions aboard their Hyundai i20 Rally2 and rounded out the podium.
The result means Devine is the title favourite ahead of ITRC’s final round – the Ulster Rally, but it’s still all to play for.
Michael Conlon and Domhnall Lennon had a strong performance, taking a convincing victory in Class 12 and 8th Overall in the modified section.
Flying high in Finland
Billy Coleman award winner Eamon Kelly and his co-driver Conor Mohan were in action on Rally Finland driving a Hyundai i20 Rally2 car.
Their second WRC event in a Rally2 car came about as a result of them winning the Junior element of the British Rally Championship last season.
Their prize drive was managed by the Red Grey World Rally team, and they finished a respectful 23rd.
Kelly described his Rally Finland debut as a “boyhood dream come true’ and has vowed to go back there again.
Their run to the finish was not without incident, a slow start on Saturday, attributed to a confidence-building exercise following their Rally Estonia crash in a Rally3 car was compounded by an off-road excursion on Saturday. They had brake issues for much of Sunday too.
“I really enjoyed it. I was happy with our drive considering the experience of the guys around us.
“It’s as positive and I know there’s so much more left and if we went back to Finland in the future, we can build on this and hopefully be a good bit faster,” said the Donegal driver.
“We know what to expect and improve pace notes and stuff like that.
“I definitely think the whole weekend as a whole served us served us well. It is great learning and such a challenge. It makes you learn a lot and it did that. It was just it was a fantastic experience.”
Brendan Cumiskey and Martin Connolly were the best of the privateer entries from Ireland, claiming 35th overall and sixth in the Rally3 class in their Ford Fiesta.
Cumiskey contested the recent Rally Estonia, finishing tenth in the class but Connolly made his World Rally Championship debut in Finland.
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy members Josh McErlean and James Fulton continued their WRC 2 Challenger campaign in Finland.
The Derry/Cavan pairing finished 19th overall.
County Monaghan Motor Club 