McGarrity wins Circuit of Ireland

Derek McGarrity’s third Circuit of Ireland victory was hard-earned and he was pushed all the way to the final stage where he eventually triumphed over arch-rival Andrew Nesbitt by 18.2 seconds.

Nesbitt tried hard, possibly too hard and his bid went awry on the final stage, the head to head at St Angelo when his Subaru clipped a wall of tyres.

On the morning’s opening three stages, McGarrity added to his lead, albeit slightly.

But Nesbitt punched in three fastest times and reduced the margin to just 4.6 seconds until that final stage where McGarrity netted his third Circuit win.

Eamonn Boland (Subaru) took third following the demise of Eugene Donnelly on the penultimate stage.

Tim NcNulty (Subaru), Austin MacHale (Ford Focus) and Sean Devine (Subaru) rounded off the top six.

In Group N, Gary Jennings (Mitsubishi) finished well ahead of the Subaru of Alan Nesbitt and Brian O’Mahony, driving a Ford Puma, won the two-wheel drive category.