Mark Donnelly claims victory in Sean Conlon Memorial Tipperary Forest Rally

Mark Donnelly took a start to finish victory in the Sean Conlon Memorial Tipperary Forest Rally to maintain his unbeaten run in the Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship

START TO FINISH: Omagh's Mark Donnelly and co-driver Stephen Ferris (Ford Fiesta R5) won the Cahir based Sean Conlon Memorial Tipperary Forest Rally, round two of the Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship. Pic: Martin Walsh.

Omagh’s Mark Donnelly (Ford Fiesta R5) took a start to finish victory in the Cahir based Sean Conlon Memorial Tipperary Forest Rally to maintain his unbeaten run in the Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship. At the conclusion of the six stage event, the second round of the series and co-driven by Stephen Ferris, he finished 19.8s ahead of the Fiesta R5 of Derry’s Jordan and Paul Hone with fellow Ulster crew Vivian Hamill/Andrew Grennan (VW Polo GTi R5) 9.3s further behind.

Although he didn’t get off to a great start after a spin on the opening stage that cost him around six seconds Donnelly was still only a fraction of a second behind early leader Cashel’s Pat O’Connell (Ford Fiesta R5) followed by Carlow’s David Condell (Ford Fiesta R5), who survived a trip into a hedge. The top two had identical times on SS2 but on SS3, O’Connell slipped off the forest track damaging the rear suspension and retiring instantly.