McCormack/Mitchell triumph in Carrick-on-Suir

Moving into the lead on the second stage, Derry’s Marty McCormack and co-driver Barney Mitchell went on to take their Tiger Risk liveried Skoda Fabia R5 to a 10.8 second victory in the Willie Loughman Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally, the opening round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship.

They were pushed right to the end of the day’s six stages by the Ford Fiesta R5 of last year’s winners and late entry, Waterford’s Andrew Purcell and his Cork co-driver Mark Wiley.