Motorsport: White retires in Belgium

Roy White's hopes of a Group N championship win in the Belgian rally series is over.

The Tipperary driver, co-driven by Glengormley's, Michael Patterson, has retired after special stage eleven today.

Their FESP backed and Michelin shod Mitsubishi succumbed with gearbox problems.

On this morning's first stage, they were fifth quickest in the class and the car showed a dramatic improvement on yesterday's performance.

Seamus Heron/Gerry McVeigh, in a Mitsubishi Evo 6 are the highest placed Irish crew, they are 25th after S.S. 18. Pat Price, also in a Mitsubishi, is further down the leaderboard.

Meanwhile, Aaron McHale, son of Irish rally ace, Austin, is battling back after rolling his Honda on yesterday's opening loop of stages.

McHale then lost over seven minutes on the second loop.

Xavier Bouche leads Group N, Larry Cols and Bruno Thiry are battling for overall honours while David Sterckx is the new Belgian Group N champion.

The rally finishes later today.

In the Galway Rallysprint at Tynagh, Gerry Dwane (Mini) has set the fastest time of the day, Alan Byrne (Special) is 0.82 seconds adrift with Pat Callanan, also in a Special, 0.11 seconds further behind.