Boland/Morrissey team win Rally of the Lakes
The team of Eamonn Boland and Damien Morrissey (Subaru WRC) have won the Ordnance Survey Rally of the Lakes in Killarney today.
At the end of the two-day event, they were three minutes in front of Derek McGarrity/Diarmuid Falvey (Subaru WRC) with Dessie Keenan/Enda Sherry, also in a Subaru WRC, finishing third.
At the start of today’s second and final leg, Boland had both Gareth MacHale and Donie O’Sullivan snapping at his heels and ready to mount a serious challenge.
Within a stage, MacHale was his only real rival as O’Sullivan crashed out on Moll’s Gap.
MacHale cut Boland’s lead to 4.7 seconds on S.S. 10, but Boland gained a few seconds on the next stage. However, by the conclusion of Stage 13, MacHale had sliced Boland’s lead to 2.5 seconds.
On S.S. 14, MacHale’s challenge ended when he crashed out – leaving Boland with a commanding lead over Derek McGarrity who had now moved into second placed. Dessie Keenan moved up to third.
That was how it stayed, as without any undue pressure, Boland went on to claim his second victory in the current Irish Tarmac series, with McGarrity and Keenan finishing second and third respectively.
Aaron MacHale brought his Ford Focus home in fourth place.
Meanwhile, Kris Meeke gave a superb display in his Renault Clio to claim fifth, with Patrick Elliott sixth.
Kevin Kelleher in a Mitsubishi won Group N where Alan Ring and John McGlaughlin were next in classification.
1. E. Boland/D. Morrissey (Subaru WRC) 2h. 14m. 14.9s.
2. D. McGarrity/D. Falvey (Subaru WRC) 2h. 17m. 14.9s.
3. D. Keenan/E. Sherry (Subaru WRC) 2h. 17m. 54.2s.
4. A. MacHale/K. Duffy (Ford Focus WRC) 2h. 19m. 38.8s.
5. K. Meeke/P. Nagle (Renault Clio S1600) 2h. 21m. 28.4s.
6. P. Elliott/J. O'Brien (Subaru WRC) 2h. 21m. 33.5s.
7. PJ McGrath/B. Collins (Subaru WRC) 2h. 23m. 11.6s.
8. K. Kelleher/M. Kelleher (Mitsubishi) 2h. 24m. 52.7s.
9. A. Ring/A. Deasy (Mitsubishi) 2h. 25m. 31.1s.
10. J. McGlaughlin/C. Henderson (Mitsubishi) 2h. 28m. 48.9s.
National Rally:
1. P. Collins/D. Brannigan (Ford Escort) 2h. 23m. 56.0s.
2. F. O'Meara/L. Brennan (Ford Escort) 2h. 26m. 42.0s.
3. M. McGee/A. Kierans (Ford Escort) 2h. 31m. 01.7s.
Junior Rally:
1. G. O'Mahony/G. McCarthy (Ford Escort) 15m. 47.5s.
2. D. McCarthy/E. Hayes (Honda Civic) 15m. 53.9s.
3. D. O'Leary/C. Lenihan (Honda Civic) 16m. 35.1s.
Historic Rally:
1. A. Tracey/A. Tracey (Austin Cooper S) 1h. 53m. 01.2s.
2. M. Johnston/W. Blackledge (Austin Cooper S) 1h. 54m. 14.6s.
3. E. Cronin/K. O'Mahony (Morris Mini) 2h. 14m. 03.5s.
Fiesta Challenge:
1. A. Fisher/B./ McNulty 1h. 12m. 17.9s.
2. E. Evans/G. Roberts 1h. 12m. 21.7s.
3. M. Evans/A. Edwards 1h. 12m. 49.9s.
