Peadar Hurson dominates as Kerry duo put in fine effort

Former National Rally champion, Warrenpoint’s Peadar Hurson (Subaru WRC), and his Monaghan co-driver Damien Connolly took a start to finish victory in the POC NI Distribution Tyrone Rally.

They finished 56.9 seconds ahead of the Escort of Frank Kelly/David Vance. One of the drives of the rally was that of Killarney’s Rob Duggan/Ger Conway — on their debut in a Peugeot 208 R2 they finished fourth overall.

Hurson quickly stamped his authority on the rally and opened up a lead of 14.4 seconds, but the loss of the digital read was a concern. Kelly was his closest pursuer with fellow Escort ace Camillus Bradley 4.3 seconds behind. In the R2 category, Duggan’s first competitive run in his Peugeot was very encouraging and he was 6.9 seconds faster than his main rival Jon Armstrong, who has Killarney’s Noel O’Sullivan on the notes.