Motorsport: Harris on top in Milford rally

Reigning national rally champions, Paul Harris/Eugene O'Donnell in their Auto Fast Fit Subaru, have a comfortable lead heading into the third and final stage of the Milford Rally in Co Donegal.

Harris, even though he collected a puncture near Glin village, still managed to set fastest times on the first of the three timed runs.

His time of eight minutes and 15 seconds gave him a 15-second lead over second placed, Trevor Cathers, in a Group N Mitsubishi.

Another Group N car, that of Andrew Stewart (Subaru), was only a second behind to complete the top three.

Ivan Stewart (Escort Cosworth), could have occupied one or two places higher on the leaderboard, but a spin in Glin cost him over 10 seconds, he slots into fourth place - 23 seconds adrift of leader Harris.

The national champion was again fastest through the second run as Andrew Stewart took up the mantle of nearest challenger from Trevor Cathers.

The gap between the latter duo is five seconds while Harris has a 32 second advantage over Stweart.

Philip Shaw (Escort) holds fourth place with Eugene Ferry (Escort) and David Greer, who is debuting a Toyota Corolla WRC, completing the top seven.

Meanwhile, in Gran Canaria, the Race of Champions has been won by Harri Rovanpera. He defeated German driver, Armin Schwarz in the final.

Spain won the Nations Cup and Stig Blomqvist scored another win in the Legends Race of Champions. Francois Duval came out on top in the Junior Race of Champions.