Jordan and Hone claim Killarney Forest Rally

The Derry crew finished 11.2s ahead of the VW Polo GTi R5 of Ballygawley’s Vivian Hamill and Wexford’s Gary Nolan

The Derry crew of Jordan and Paul Hone (Ford Fiesta R5) won the Castleisland based Killarney Forest Rally, the opening round of the Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship. Picture: Martin Walsh.

Motorsport

Leading from the start, the Derry crew of Jordan and Paul Hone (Ford Fiesta R5) won the Killarney Forest Rally, the opening round of the Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship. They finished 11.2s ahead of the VW Polo GTi R5 of Ballygawley’s Vivian Hamill and Wexford’s Gary Nolan, with the Tyrone/Fermanagh combination of Niall McGonigle/Caolan McKenna (Ford Fiesta R5) a further 22.5s. behind in third.

Hone made the best start on the opening 12.6km stage Mullaghareirk near Rockchapel where he annexed a 1.5s advantage over Hamill with Purcell a further 5.2s behind in third. Although Cavan’s Stephen McCann was fourth quickest through the stage he retired his Ford Fiesta R5 on the road section soon after the stage finish. 

There was little between the leading trio through the shortest stage (SS2-6.8km) that proved very slippery, Hone was best on SS3 and arrived at the Castleisland service with a 1.7s advantage over Hamill. Purcell hit trouble some six kilometres from the end of SS3 when a brake pipe of his VW Polo burst, costing him valuable seconds -he was 12.3s off the lead.

Tyrone’s Niall McGonigle (Ford Fiesta R5) was best of the rest despite being hampered by an issue with the pop-of valve. The similar cars of Cashel’s Pat O’Connell and Monaghan’s Derek Mackarel completed the top six, the former spun and stalled on the opening stage. Ballyvourney’s Gerard Lucey retired his Ford Fiesta when a stone pierced a hole in the radiator.

Hone netted 8.6s from SS4 to move 10.3s ahead of Hamill and was able to judge his pace to take victory even though he had a heart-stopping moment when his car cut out briefly on the final stage. Purcell slid off on SS5 leaving McCullagh, who was best on the stage to claim third from Mackarel and O’Connell. Tyrone’s Shane McGirr (Lada Riva) won the Modified section; Kyle McBride (Peugeot 208 Rally4) won Class 2 and the J1000 category was won by Cavan’s Danny Brady (VW UP).

In the World Rally Championship, the Finnish crew of Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm gave Hyundai Motorsport its second win in this season’s with victory in Rally Sweden. They had a significant advantage starting the final leg and went on to finish 29.6s ahead of the Toyota Yaris Rally1 of Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin, who reeled in the M-Sport duo of Adrien Fourmaux/Alexander Coria to claim second spot. Fourth place was enough for Thierry Neuville to retain the lead of the Drivers’ series. 

In the Junior WRC, Donegal’s Eamonn Kelly and his Monaghan co-driver Conor Mohan (Ford Fiesta Rally3) took the final spot on the podium in the Junior WRC category. Kelly moved into third on SS9 on Saturday when German Fabio Schwarz lost a minute with a spin only to regain the spot on the very next stage. However, Kelly was perfectly placed to take advantage once again when Schwarz Fiesta lost time when he had to stop on SS14 with leaking coolant.

In WRC2, the Irish crew of William Creighton/Liam Regan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) had to be content with fourteenth overall of the twenty finishers. Two punctures during Friday’s leg put an end to any meaningful challenge.

Elsewhere, in mixed conditions, Carryduff’s Jonny Greer (Citroen C3 Rally2), co-driven by Sligo’s Niall Burns made a winning start to the defence of his Northern Ireland Rally Championship with a 15.3s victory over Dromore’s Stuart Biggerstaff and his Limerick co-driver Anthony Nestor (Ford Fiesta R5) in the Echlinville Distillery Rally in Kirkistown.