Motorsport: Finlay and McHugh finish in top three in Bulldog Rally

Two Irish crews finished in the top three of the Bulldog Rally in Wales, the final round of the ANCRO Rally Championship.

The event was won by Marcus Dodd (Subaru WC), he finished 37 seconds ahead of the similar car of Ballygawley's, Stephen Finlay/Rory Kennedy.

Austin McHale/Brian Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC) were third - a further 28 seconds behind. Elsewhere, Eamonn Boland was eighth while Stephen Harron crashed on the second of the eight stages near Shrewsbury.

Both Finlay and McHale were using the rally as a shakedown for the Network Q Rally of Great Britain. Afterwards, McHale expressed satisfaction with his outing and remarked his Toyota ran faultlessly throughout.

Meanwhile, on the second day of the Tour of Corsica, the twelfth round of the World Rally championship, a string of fastest times has seen Jesus Puras (Citroen) extended his lead to 23.5 seconds.

The Peugeots of Gilles Panizzi and Didier Auriol are second and third. Britain's, Richard Burns in seventh as Colin McRae slipped to twelfth after problems. Neil Wearden/Trevor Agnew remain in 13th place.

In the Super 1600's, Niall McShea/Michael Orr (Citroen) consolidated their fourth place, Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) continues to lead ahead of tomorrow's final leg.

Meanwhile, in Brands Hatch, a truncated Dunlop RT2000 race was won by Mark Turley with Jonathan Fildes taking second and Brendan Donegan completing the podium line-up.

Fildes' second place was enough to clinch the series ahead of tomorrow's final round at the Kent circuit. Donegan and Cunneely are amongst the drivers now battling to claim the runner-up spot in the series.