Kelly/Foley combo tops in thrilling Monaghan finish

The Four Seasons Hotel Monaghan Rally ended in dramatic fashion as the Donegal/Monaghan pairing of Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley guided their KN Group liveried Ford Focus WRC to a final stage victory to deny long time leaders, the Monaghan/Cork duo of Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5).

Kelly overturned a 4.5 second deficit to win by just 1.8 seconds. Monaghan’s Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Subaru WRC) were a minute and 51.3 seconds further behind in third. The Modified category was won by Adrian Hetherington/Ronan O’Neill (Escort) and victory in the Group N class went to Monaghan’s Shane Maguire/Darragh Kelly (Mitsubishi).

On the first stage in greasy conditions, Sam Moffett (Fiesta R5) led both the Ford Fiesta WRC of his younger brother Josh and the Skoda Fabia R5 of Derry’s Desi Henry by 9.6 seconds. Niall Maguire (Subaru) was four seconds further adrift with Kelly in fifth spot — 14 seconds off the lead after he slid off and hit a bank.