Josh Moffett snatches maiden Ulster Rally victory after dramatic late twist

Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty began Saturday's leg of six stages with a 6.2s advantage over Moffett.

Monaghan's Josh Moffett and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) won the Modern Tyres Ulster Rally, the penultimate round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Picture: Martin Walsh.

A skitter of rain during the final loop of stages of the Ballymena based golden jubilee Modern Tyres Ulster Rally had a silver lining for Monaghan's Josh Moffett and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2), who took the lead for the first time on the penultimate stage and went on to claim their first Ulster Rally success, finishing just three seconds in front of long time leaders Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty and Limerick's Tom Murphy (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2). The Tyrone/Fermanagh duo of Cathan McCourt/Barry McNulty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) were a minute and 32.1s further behind in third.

Doherty began Saturday's leg of six stages with a 6.2s advantage over Moffett. On the morning's first stage (Tardree) Moffett cut the deficit to 2.1s. That margin remained after the completion of the loop where both beat the bogey times for the stages at Cairncastle near Larne and Broughshane close to Ballymena. It was a frustrating experience for all concerned given the level of performance where even fractions of a second were significant.