Donnelly and Kiely hold 20-second lead over rivals

EUGENE DONNELLY and co-driver, Paul Kiely in their Kumho shod Envirocare- backed Toyota Corolla WRC will begin today’s second leg of the Shell Donegal International Rally with a 20-second lead over the ADL-liveried Subaru WRC of Andrew Nesbitt/James O’Brien.

Sat, 19 Jun, 2004 - 01:00

Reigning tarmac champion Derek McGarrity is also in an S9 Subaru some 25 seconds further adrift.

Donnelly led from the start and his six-second lead on the opening stage became 17 at the end of the loop of stages close to Letterkenny.

Donnelly’s only blemish was a spin on the third stage. Nesbitt, on his first Irish outing of the season, was pleased with his performance and plans to increase his pace on today’s eight stages.

Derek McGarrity had a major moment on stage four but remains a firm third.

The surprise of the opening leg was the performance of Derry’s, Kevin Lynch, who occupies fourth in his KPL Subaru.

Austin MacHale (Ford Focus) lost brakes on the opening stages and is a further 24 seconds behind Lynch.

Convoy’s, Paul Harris (Subaru WRC), on his first outing in almost a year, is sixth while Tim McNulty, who had engine problems on the opening stage has clawed his way back to sixth.