Motorsport: Farrell best in Ballinasloe

A reversal of the top two places of the previous round, saw J.J. Farrell win the Galway Autotest at Ballinasloe where he had 1.8 seconds to spare over Saturday's Sligo winner, Eamonn Byrne.

Today's fifth round in Ballinasloe was in the balance until the final test with Navan man, Farrell, coming out on top.

Of the 12 tests, Farrell won six while Byrne had three wins and the remaining three tests were won by Eddie Peterson.

Elsewhere, Conor McCormack was fourth and the top six was completed by Paddy Power and Dermot Carnegie.

Chris Grimes, Ronnie Griffin and Frank Lenehan were amongst the class winners.

J. J. Farrell (Mini Special) 450.7S;

Eamonn Byrne (Mini Special) 452.5S;

Eddie Peterson (Mini Special) 454.3S.

Conor McCormack (Mini Special) 463.2S

P. Power (Mini Moke) 463.4S;

Dermot Carnegie (Mini Special) 464.5S.

In the MEC Sprint race at a sunny Mondello Park, John O'Hara came out on top from Peter McKinlay and Karl Cleary.

O'Hara, in a Formula Europa car, was fastest on the first and second runs.

The challenge from the entry of almost 100 drivers came from Peter McKinlay, in a Ralt RT4, who posted a time of one minute 58.26 seconds.

With no driver posting a time quicker than O'Hara, the Leinster Trophy winner didn't have to emerge for the third and final run.

1. John O'Hara (Formula Europa) 1M. 57.21S;

2. Peter McKinlay (Ralt Rt4) 1M. 58.26S;

3. Karl Cleary (Metro 6R4) 1M. 58.41S;

4. Frank Byrnes (Reynard SF81) 1M. 58.70S;