Desi Henry and Liam Moynihan seal the deal

With a clean sweep of the fastest times on all eight stages, the Antrim/Cork combination of Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Skoda Fabia R5) won the Abbey Hotel Munster Moonraker Rally in Ballyvourney, Co Cork, the second round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally series.

They were a minute and 27.1 seconds ahead of the Mitsubishi of Cashel’s Pat O’Connell and his Cork co-driver Mark Wiley. Dundalk’s Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane (Fiesta R5) were a tenth of a second further behind in third. Fourth place for locals Gerard Lucey/JJ Cremin (Mitsubishi) was enough to propel them into the lead of the series. Killarney’s Rob and Tara Duggan (Peugeot 208 R2) were the top two-wheel drive exponents.

With just six-tenths of a second between Henry and Irish Forest champion Josh Moffett (Mitsubishi) after the short opening stage at Derreenaling, the prospect of a close battle loomed large, while Lucey was 3.4 seconds behind in third. On the fast, flowing stage on the opposite side of the N22, Moffett’s challenge ended when he nosed into a ditch. He lost over 10 minutes before spectators pushed him back on track, but turbo problems and panel damage forced his withdrawal. Liam Ryan (Mitsubishi) also retired with transmission failure.