Donnelly wins Galway International Rally

A record-equalling fifth Irish Tarmac Championship title is one of Eugene Donnelly's goals this season.

The Derry driver has begun that journey on the Safety Direct Galway International Rally with a victory that didn't really look a good prospect earlier this morning.

Not that anyone doubts his driving ability, but the Derry driver was over a minute behind overnight rally leader, Eamonn Boland and he also trailed Kevin Lynch.

Remarkably, the opening three stages near Gort claimed three of the top five.

Mechanical trouble ended Boland's rally, Lynch bowed out with engine woes and Conrad Rautenbach crashed his Citroen Xsara.

By then, Donnelly was in total command and well ahead of Peadar Hurson's Subaru.

Gareth MacHale was within sight of second spot and he reeled in Hurson on Stage 15.

Donnelly continued to reign supreme, brake fade was his only concern but it scarcely mattered - the Derry man was already applying the brakes to his winning performance.

MacHale did as much as he could after losing 90 seconds yesterday while Hurson took a well-deserved third and Aaron MacHale was fourth in his Ford Focus.

When Damien Tourish retired his Mitsubishi with a broken track control arm, Sean Flanagan took up the mantle of Group N leader.

However, the showroom category was decided on the final stage where Anthony O'Halloran (Mitsubishi) edged out the Subaru of Sean Flanagan by 4.8 seconds.

Longford's Tommy Doyle in a Renault Clio took victory in the two-wheel drive category.

Local Galway driver, Mike Bird (Subaru WRC); Cork's Ger O'Donovan (Subaru) and Kilkenny teenager, Craig Breen in a Ford Fiesta completed the top 10.

1. E. Donnelly/P. Toner (Skoda Fabia WRC) 2h. 00m. 47.8s.

2. G. MacHale/B. Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) 2h. 02m. 02.4s.

3. P. Hurson/D. Connolly (Subaru WRC) 2h. 02m. 31.0s.

4. A. MacHale/B. Goodman (Ford Focus WRC) 2h. 02m. 55.1s.

5. A. O'Halloran/C. McEnery (Mitsubishi) 2h. 10m. 46.3s.

6. S. Flanagan/B. Duggan (Subaru) 2h. 10m. 51.1s.

7. T. Doyle /T. McDaid (Renault Clio) 2h. 14m. 02.3s.

8. M. Bird/K. Keane (Subaru WRC) 2h. 14m. 24.1s.

9. G. O'Donovan/S. Hayde (Subaru) 2h. 14m. 55.8s.

10. C. Breen/A. Purcell (Ford Fiesta ST) 2:17:25.8.

NATIONAL RALLY:

1. W. Patterson/M. McGarrity (Ford Escort) 2h. 10m. 46.4s.

2. T. Flaherty/P. Curley (Ford Escort) 2h. 16m. 03.1s.

3. E. Ferry/D. Heena (Ford Escort) 2h. 18m. 16.0s.

HISTORIC RALLY:

1. R. Cunningham/R. Hyland (Morris Cooper) 1h. 40m. 33.7s.

2. D. Boyd/R. Boyd (Porsche 911) 1h. 41m. 42.7s.

3. N. Conroy/K. Sheppard (Ford Escort RS1800) 1h. 45m. 15.2s.

JUNIOR RALLY:

1. P. Wilson/D. Lennon (Honda Civic) 1h. 02m. 32.7s.

2. J. Cunningham/P. Cunningham (Honda Civic) 1h. 02m. 54.6s.

3. C. Snow/B. Daniels (Honda Civic) 1h. 05m. 53.3s.