Maiden victory for Boyle and McCafferty in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship

Donegal's Michael Boyle/ Dermot McCafferty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) took a dramatic late victory in the Cork '20' Rally, the final round of the NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship after their long time rivals and then leaders Desi Henry/Andy Hayes (Ford Fiesta Rally2) retired on the penultimate stage following an off road excursion. Picture: Martin Walsh.

The Donegal crew of Michael Boyle and Dermot McCafferty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) netted their maiden victory in a round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship with victory in the O'Connell Group Cork '20' Rally, the final round of the NAPA Auto Parts series that was ultimately decided on its penultimate stage. In a thrilling contest, they battled with the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Derry's Desi Henry and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes, who led by 10.2s entering the final pair of stages. 

Drama unfolded on SS14 when Henry/Hayes went off the road and into a field and although they got back on the road, they retired soon after. Slackening their pace on the final stage, Boyle/McCafferty went on to finish nine seconds ahead of the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 of Declan Boyle (Michael's father) and his co-driver Welshman Patrick Walsh. Tyrone's Ryan Loughran (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and his co-driver Dale McGettigan were 26.8s further behind in third.

Battling through the slippery conditions of the opening loop of three stages near Rathcormac, Michael Boyle and Desi Henry then battled with each other when the conditions dried out and the speeds increased. Boyle led initially, a 3s lead over Henry after SS1 remained unchanged after SS2 was negated when Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin, who spun on the first stage, clipped a rock and rolled his Citroen C3 Rally2 out of the event. On SS3, Henry clocked the best time to move into a 2.4s lead.

Donegal's Michael Boyle (right) and Dermot McCafferty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) celebrate their victory in the O'Connell Group Cork '20' Rally, the final round of the NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Picture: Martin Walsh.

However, Boyle reclaimed top spot a stage later only for Henry to make an immediate response to go back in front and then extend his lead to 5.3s after SS6 as Boyle lost time with brake troubles that stemmed from issues with a wheel hub. Declan Boyle was a constant third through the second loop, a rib injury sustained when he crashed during the Wexford Rally was of some concern as he admitted he lost far too much time on the second stage.

On the final loop of the day Henry punched in the best times on all three stages to end the day with a 16.1s advantage over Michael Boyle. "I was a bit rusty on the first few stages and had an issue with a damper. I'm not sticking my neck out anywhere, the car is working well."

Second placed Michael Boyle wasn't happy with the handling of his Skoda for the final loop. Meanwhile, his father Declan having changed some springs and made a few clicks to the suspension, was content with his progress. An untroubled Ryan Loughran (Ford Fiesta Rally2) was fourth from Matthew Boyle's similar car that was losing power due to a problem with the manifold. Clonakilty's Cal McCarthy (Citroen C3 Rally2) ended the day in sixth - his co-driver Eric Calnan felt very unwell during SS8, a stage where Casey J Coleman (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) in seventh, lost a place due to a puncture.

Tyre choice was key on Sunday's opening loop of three stages where Michael Boyle clocked the best times to cut the deficit to 5.1s. Rally leader Henry had a misfire on SS11 and lost vital seconds when he got mixed up in a fast section thinking it was another part of the stage. His rival Michael Boyle switched the tyres from front to back prior to SS12 and it paid dividends. Declan Boyle and Loughran were untroubled while Matthew Boyle continued with the manifold issue. Cal McCarthy manged to stay ahead of Casey J. Coleman in the battle for sixth and elsewhere, Owen Murphy struggled with rear differential issues and the handbrake release.

It looked promising for Henry when he extended his lead to 10.2s on SS13, ironically, he was expecting to have lost time to Boyle. Then, on the penultimate stage drama unfolded that saw Henry bow out of a great contest, allowing Michael Boyle ease off to secure a famous first ITRC event win - the 69th different driver to achieve this feat. Elsewhere, Matthew Boyle made it three of the same family in the top four followed by McCarthy, who was also in the same field as Henry, but survived to finish fifth. Casey J. Coleman retired his Skoda on the same penultimate stage.

In the European Rally Championship, Kesh native Jon Armstrong (Ford Fiesta Rally2) won the Croatia Rally but was denied the ERC crown as third place was enough for Polish ace Miko Marczyk (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) to secure the title.

O'Connell Group Cork '20' Rally (Final round: NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship) Rathcormac: 1. M. Boyle/D. McCafferty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 1h. 48m. 21.7s; 2. D. Boyle/P. Walsh (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+09.0s; 3. R. Loughran/D. McGettigan (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+35.8s; 4. M. Boyle/G. Byrne (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 32.6s; 5. C. McCarthy/E. Calnan (Citroen C3 Rally2)+3m. 07.0s; 6. M. Kelly/W. Atkins (VW Polo GTi R5)+3m. 44.3s; 7. D. McKenna/A. Grennan (Ford Escort)+4m. 29.2s; 8. O. Murphy/A. Nestor (Citroen C3 Rally2)+5m. 43.5s; 9. D. Breslin/S. Collins (Ford Escort)+6m. 34.8s; 10. C. Shanahan/B. Quinlan (Ford Escort)+6m. 39.9s.