Donnelly leads Donegal International Rally
It was a day of high drama on the second leg of the Shell Donegal International Rally where Eugene Donnelly and co-driver, Paul Kiely (Toyota Corolla WRC) hold a one minute and 10.9 second advantage over the Subaru WRC of Tim NcNulty/Eugene O’Donnell (Subaru WRC) who regained second at the expense of Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan.
Andrew Nesbitt led this morning but his margin was cut to a tenth of a second by the end of S.S. 8 where the Armagh driver spun his Subaru WRC.
Donnelly’s efforts were thwarted by the “gear cut” problem.
Derek McGarrity (Subaru WRC) charged through the morning stages and moved to within eight seconds of the lead.
He moved into second by the midday service halt as Donnelly lost time with the transmission problem.
Kevin Lynch (Subaru WRC) crashed out on S.S. 10 that also claimed Paul Harris (Subaru WRC) with engine difficulties.
S.S. 11 was cancelled but drama unfolded on the stage at Knockalla, S.S. 12 where Nesbitt crashed out of the rally soon after then stage start.
McGarrity broke a driveshaft and incurred road penalties that demoted him to fifth as Donnelly led McNulty by over a minute.
By Stage 14, Donnelly had stretched his lead even though it was McGarrity that was quickest through the stage.
Donnelly led Boland by a minute and 16.5 seconds as third placed McNulty overshot a junction and dropped a tenth of a second behind Boland.
Austin MacHale adjusted the suspension settings of his Ford Focus, he held fourth – over a minute behind McNulty.
McGarrity, with the addition of road penalties, was in fifth place but dropped outside the top ten when a wheel fell off his Subaru on S.S. 15.
Elsewhere, the overnight top ten also includes Kevin Barrett, Steve Perez, Gareth Jones, Group N leader, Garry Jennings and Denis Biggerstaff.
Apart from Nesbitt, today's other retirements included Paul Harris and Kvin Lynch.
