Irish Tarmac Rally championship celebrates 50th different winner

The Irish Tarmac Rally Championship celebrated its 50th different winner of a round of its series since its inception in 1978 when Darren Gass won last weekend’s Safety Direct Galway International Rally, the opening round of the 2012 campaign.

The 23-year-old Armagh driver claimed a dramatic late victory when he overhauled long-time leader, Tim McNulty (who had damaged his Subaru’s suspension) and then fended off the challenge of Eugene Donnelly in the MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

The Tarmac series enjoyed a terrific opening round in Galway where thousands of spectators watched the ten-stage encounter. However, the compact location of the loop of three stages around Headford brought its own difficulties given the large volumes of spectators and traffic.