Donnelly in command in Circuit of Ireland

In a rich vein of form that has seen him deliver wins in the Galway International and Rally Ireland already this season, Eugene Donnelly has a commanding lead at the end of day one of the Derry based Meteor Electrical Circuit of Ireland Rally.

The Derry driver moved into the lead on the second stage and thereafter was the dominant force, his Kumho/Esker Toyota Corolla WRC at unison with the demanding stages around Omagh.

Stage by stage he stretched his lead and overnight, he heads the Subaru WRC of Peadar Hurson by a minute and 1.5 seconds.

Hurson managed to survive an anxious moment on the day’s final stage when his Subaru slid along a hedge for several metres.

Triple winner of the Circuit, Derek McGarrity (Subaru WRC), began well, posting the fastest time on Stage 1, albeit with a slipping clutch.

The clutch was subsequently changed at the service halt, but he incurred a 30 second penalty for being late out of service.

Tim NcNulty moved into second, but two punctures cost him valuable time and his Subaru ended the day in 15th place.

McGarrity, who lost time when he caught McNulty’s Subaru, finished the day in third - 13.6 seconds behind Hurson and ahead of the Ford Focus WRC’s of Eamonn Boland and Austin MacHale.

Sean Devine (Subaru WRC) is sixth.

Garry Jennings (Mitsubishi), the Group N leader is seventh from the Subaru of Gareth Jones and the Mitsubishi’s of Seamus Leonard and James Cullen.

rian O’Mahony (Ford Puma) leads the Super 1600 category from Andrew Bushe (Peugeot 106) on a day that belonged to Eugene Donnelly, leader of the meteor Electrical Circuit of Ireland Rally by over a minute.

E. Donnelly/P. Kiely (Toyota Corolla WRC) 1h. 03m. 19.3s.

P. Hurson/D. Connolly (Subaru WRC) 1h. 04m. 20.8s.

D. McGarrity/C. Patterson (Subaru WRC) 1h. 04m. 34.4s.

E. Boland/F. Regan (Ford Focus WRC) 1h. 04m. 34.9s.

A. MacHale/B. Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) 1h. 05m. 14.6s.

S. Devine/K. Duffy (Subaru WERC) 1h. 06m. 40.6s.

G. Jennings/R. Kennedy (Mitsubishi) 1h. 06m. 52.3s.

G. Jones/D. Moynihan (Subaru WRC) 1h. 07m. 02.1s.

S. Leonard/G. McVeigh (Mitsubishi) 1h. 07m. 15.8s.

J. Cullen/R. Graham (Mitsubishi) 1h. 07m. 27.3s.