Donnelly wins Downhill House rally

The first round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship, the Downhill House Hotel Mayo Rally, was won by Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Subaru WRC).

Over the nine stages in the Crossmolina/Ballycastle region they dominated proceedings and finished with a 49 second winning margin over the similar car of Michael Barrable/Dermot O'Gorman.

It was very much a family affair as Charlie Donnelly, a brother of the winner, and his co-driver, John

Conway (Toyota Celica) were third.

The Group N category was won by Seamus Leonard (Subaru Impreza).

On the final stages, there were no real dramas and Donnelly went on to take top points in the Dunlop

series. Behind the top three, James Harrison (Subaru WRC) came through to take fourth and the Subarus of Adrian McElvaney and Patrick Elliott were next.

Despite dropping time on the final stage, Seamus Leonard still managed to win Group N, his Subaru was 16 seconds ahead of the Mitsubishi of Aaron MacHale.

1. E. Donnelly/P. Kiely (Subaru WRC) 52m. 35s.

2. M. Barrable/D. O'Gorman (Subaru WRC) 53m. 24s.

3. C. Donnelly/J. Conway (Toyota Celica) 53m. 55s.

4. J. Harrison/H. Bell (Subaru WRC) 54m. 33s.

5. A. McElvaney/P. Goodman (Subaru WRC) 54m. 50s.

6. P. Elliott/M. Cahill (Subaru WRC) 55m. 13s.

7. S. Gallagher/L. Costello (Escort Cosworth) 55m. 32s.

8. M. McKenna/J. Loughran (Peugeot 205) 56m. 16s.

9. K. Shaw/C. Henderson (Escort WRC) 56m. 48s.

10. J. McCann/P. McCann (Escort Cosworth) 57m. 02s.