Donegal delight for Purcell/Brennan

Moving into the lead on the second stage, the Waterford/Cork pairing of Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan brought their Kumho shod Mitsubishi EvoIX to victory in the Donegal Forest Rally, the second round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship.

After the day’s six stages they were 7.1 seconds in front of the Mitsubishi of Josh Moffett/Jason McKenna with early leaders Michael O’Brien/James O’Brien (Ford Focus WRC) a further 10.4 seconds behind in third.

Opening round winner O’Brien set the pace on the first stage but Antrim’s Desi Henry (Subaru WRC) and his Cork co-driver Liam Moynihan pushed hard and were only a fraction off the pace. Purcell occupied third just 1.8 seconds further behind and 5.1 seconds in front of Moffett.