O'Sullivan wins West Cork Rally for second time

Without ever being under any real pressure, Donie O’Sullivan/Paul Nagle, driving a McKinstry prepared Subaru WRC, won the Quality Hotels West Cork Rally in Clonakilty by a comfortable margin.

In truth, the only pressure came from within as they overshot junctions on a few occasions, their Subaru also had a differential problem that was eventually traced to a faulty sensor.

Although it hampered their progress over the first four stages today, they still managed to increase their lead over second placed, Colm Murphy/Ger Loughrey in a Mitsubishi.

That pair seemed set to take second lace until they crashed on one of the most popular stages of the rally, Ring.

That allowed John Dalton (Darrian) inherit second spot and although Liam McCarthy (Toyota Corolla) began the day a fraction of a second adrift, Dalton went on to take second and finish 43.6 seconds clear of his rival.

The Group N category was won By Alan Ring (Mitsubishi), he actually posted the best time on the day’s penultimate stage and edged out Wesley Patterson (Ford Escort) for fourth overall.

Welsh driver, Phil Collins brought his Escort home in sixth place.

O’Sullivan’s victory was his second in the Clonakilty event, he previously won the rally in 2002 onboard a Ford Focus WRC.

1. D. O’Sullivan/P. Nagle (Subaru) 2h. 11m. 15.9s.

2. J. Dalton/G. Jones (Darrian) 2h. 13m. 39.9s.

3. L. McCarthy/K. Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC) 2h. 14m. 13.5s.

4. A. Ring/A. Deasy (Mitsubishi) 2h. 16m. 59.3s.

5. W. Patterson/R. Guest (Ford Escort) 2h. 17m. 02.9s.

6. P. Collins/D. Brannigan (Ford Escort) 2h. 17m. 26.1s.

7. S. Flanagan/B. Duggan (Subaru) 2h. 19m. 49.7s.

8. A. Hetherington/G. Nolan (Escort) 2h. 19m. 56.0s.

9. W. James/A. Jones (Darrian) 2h. 20m. 18.5s.

10. E. O’Callaghan/G. Clancy (Opel Manta) 2h. 20m. 52.6s.