Dramatic finish sees Lynch take Loughman Forest Rally

A dramatic finish to yesterday’s Willie Loughman Forest Rally, the opening round of the McCauley Trailers Irish National Forest Championship, saw Derry ace, Kevin Lynch take a five second win.

A dramatic finish to yesterday’s Willie Loughman Forest Rally, the opening round of the McCauley Trailers Irish National Forest Championship, saw Derry ace, Kevin Lynch and his co-driver, Frances Regan (Subaru WRC) take a five second win over the Subaru 555 of Brian Murphy/Joe Downey (Subaru 555) with Pat Norris/Declan Tumulty (Subaru 555) third.

Entering the final stage, Lynch had trailed Murphy by five seconds.

The Derry driver is the surprise early leader of the National Forest Championship while two of the principal championship protagonists, John McCarthy (Cork) and Dermot Kelly (Limerick) both retired on the first stage.

McCarthy, in the ex-Austin MacHale Toyota Corolla WRC, slipped off the forest track while Kelly crashed out on the stage in South Tipperary.

Both drivers are expected to get their respective championship bid back on track in the next round in Mitchelstown in late March.

Following yesterday’s 10-stage rally, it appears that Pat Norris also has a realistic chance of success. He was an impressive third on his debut outing in a Subaru 555.

Meanwhile, former champion, Kevin O’Kane, has to re-ignite his championship bid after he crashed out of fourth place on the last stage.

Lynch is also planning to contest the Dunlop National Rally Championship that begins with the Circuit of Kerry in early April.