O’Mahony moves into title top spot after Clare victory

Brian O’Mahony in his Subaru WRC S11 moved into top position in the Dunlop National Rally Championship standings today after his victory at the Clare Stages Rally.

The Cork driver finished 19 seconds ahead of Niall Maguire in second with Kevin Kelleher in third position.

Previous Championship leader Thomas Fitzmaurice was first out of the blocks today and led by 18 seconds from O’Mahony after three stages.

However Fitzmaurice suffered gearbox problems on Stage 4 which saw O’Mahony take the lead by nine seconds.

The problems continued for Kerry man Fitzmaurice on Stage 5 as transmission problems saw his Subaru S11 end up in a ditch ending his rally.

With Fitzmaurice out O’Mahony moved into first with Monaghan driver Niall Maguire into second, 22 seconds off the lead on Stage 6.

O’Mahony and co-driver John Higgins held the lead for the rest of the rally to win ahead of Maguire with Kevin Kelleher in his Subaru S9 in third place.

With one round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship left O’Mahony leads the Championship with 96 points while Thomas Fitzmaurice is second with 90 points.

The final event of the season, the Donegal Harvest Stages Rally, takes place on the 13th of October when the Championship will be decided.