Local crew wins Fastnet Rally

The local crew of Liam McCarthy/Kieran Murphy (Toyota Corolla WRC) won the Fastnet Rally for a third time following their 55-second victory on the West Cork Hotel sponsored and Skibbereen based seven stage rally today.

The Dunmanway driver won the rally in 1992 and also in 1988.

The McCarthy/Murphy combination is the first local success since Donal O’Donovan/Pat Lordan won the rally in 1999.

The first major retirement was that of top seed, Mel Evans (Subaru), who was sidelined with drive shaft failure.

McCarthy quickly opened up a five-second lead and stage by stage he extended his advantage.

Initially, Alan Ring (Mitsubishi) held second but Junior World Rally ace, Shaun Gallagher (Citroen) increased his tempo.

Gallagher was second after three stages - 38 seconds behind. However, his rally ended on the next stage where Eugene Donnelly also retired when his Citroen stopped with drive shaft failure.

McCarthy powered his way to victory while Ring regained second, a spot he maintained to the finish despite pressure from the similar Mitsubishi of Kevin Kelleher, who finished third overall.

The top two-wheel drive competitor was Washington James (Darrian), he also finished fourth overall - five seconds ahead of the similar Darrian of James Stafford.

Simon Kehoe (Astra) came home in sixth place followed by Fergus O'Meara (Escort), Tommy Doyle (Renault), Leonard Downey (Escort) and Ger O'Donovan (Subaru).

Germany’s, Aaron Burkart (Citroen) made his Irish rally debut and finished eleventh.