Motorsport: Kenny is king of Rallye Sunseeker

Kenny McKinstry and co-driver, Noel Orr have won the Rallye Sunseeker in Bournemouth, the opening round of the ANCRO Rally Championship. The Banbridge car preparation expert was never headed through today’s sixteen stages.

He set fastest times on the opening stage to eke out a slender advantage and even though he spun on special stage five, he retained his composure to maintain his lead.

Out of a total of 16 stages, McKinstry, in a Subaru WRC, was fastest in nine and he finished with a

winning margin of 26.3 seconds. David Mann (Subaru) took second place, over a minute and 30 seconds ahead of the Escort WRC of Mark Perrott.

The top five was completed by Steve Hill (Mitsubishi) and Steve Petch (Hyundai).

Top seed, Marcus Dodd was a non-starter.

Apart from McKinstry, Kevin Barrett and co-driver, Sean Mullally finished in 20th. place. Another Irish

crew, Ollie O’Donovan/David Moynihan, in a Subaru Legacy, were setting top ten fastest times until they retired with engine problems on S.S. 7. Cork born, Barry Coleman, in a Subaru Impreza, retired with power steering difficulties.

1. K. McKinstry/N. Orr (Subaru WRC) 1H. 12M. 48S.

2. D. Mann/A. Cook (Subaru) 1H. 13M. 14.3S.

3. M. Perrott/G. Mansell (Escort WRC) 1H. 14M. 44.5S.

4. S. Hill/A. Bargery (Mitsubishi) 1H. 15M. 06.9S.

5. S. Petch/J. Richardson (Hyundai) 1H. 15M. 16.4S.