Motorsport: Nesbitt leads Circuit of Ireland rally

Reigning Irish tarmac champion, Andrew Nesbitt, in his Subaru Ireland WRC has taken a 23 second lead after just three stages of the Buy & Sell Circuit of Ireland Rally.

The event began with a spectator stage at St. Angelo Airport on the outskirts of Enniskillen. There,

thousands of spectators watched Daniel Doherty, in his Subaru WRC, post the fastest time - two seconds ahead of both Derek McGarrity and Nesbitt. Austin McHale, out in his new Toyota Corolla WRC, forgot to switch on the response system and finished the stage six seconds adrift of the early rally leader, Doherty.

As soon as the rally moved to the real stages on the borders of Tyrone and Fermanagh, Nesbitt, with two fastest times set his mark on the event. Currently, he’s 23 seconds ahead of Derek McGarrity with the Subaru WRC domination broken by the Toyota Celica of Peadar Hurson, who is third – a second behind McGarrity.

Eamonn Boland (Subaru WRC) is a further four seconds in arrears with Austin McHale (Toyota corolla) holding fifth spot.

The top ten also includes Niall Maguire, David Greer, Group N leader, Trevor Cathers (Mitsubishi) and Seamus Leonard (Subaru).