Motors: Thrilling battle between Mitchell and McCourt at Cork Forest Rally
On the opening loop of three stages (the organisers lost SS2 due to an issue outside their control) McCourt and Mitchell traded top spot with the former a second up on SS1 and the latter 2.1s quicker on SS3 to lead by 1.1s at the Kanturk service where Mitchell's service crew addressed an issue with the pop valve. McCourt, on what was his first gravel outing in some 11 months, reckoned he could have been more committed. Both and indeed all the others spoke about the foggy conditions on SS1.
Third placed Gareth Mimnagh - 10.2s off the lead - was untroubled although the loss of his mobile phone was discommoding. Another Tyrone driver Stephen Dickson (Ford Fiesta) was pleased that he was able to carry the speed particularly on SS1 while outgoing national forest champion Derek Mackarel (Ford Fiesta R5) enjoyed his run through SS3. Vivian Hamill (Ford Fiesta) admitted the foggy conditions on SS1 were trying and he wasn't committed enough on SS3.
The battle raged on over second loop of three stages and with fastest times on SS5 and SS6 McCourt reclaimed top spot, albeit by a mere 0.6s. Mimnagh was untroubled but Mackarel parked his Fiesta at the beginning of SS6 with suspected mechanical issues. Stephen Dickson lost time when he stalled and punctured on the same stage.
McCourt set a cracking pace on the penultimate stage (Bweeng2) to stretch his lead to 5.1s - the biggest margin all day.
Mitchell arrived at the finish of the final stage and seemingly had settled for second (and maximum championship points), however, McCourt had a major moment and backed off - almost too much with Mitchell posting the best stage time to leave the margin between them at 1.8s in McCourt's favour. Mimnagh was third from Hamill, Dickson and Dunphy, who punctured on the final stage.
Meanwhile and dominating from the start Moira's William Creighton (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) took an important victory in the Voly Grampian Forest Rally and the outright lead of the Probite British Rally Championship. He took five stage wins from the event's 10 very fast speed tests on what was a dry but dusty fourth round of the campaign. With co-driver Liam Regan onboard the Melvyn Evans Motorsport prepared Toyota, the former Junior WRC champions finished 32.5s ahead of the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Max McRae/Cammy Fair with Welsh driver Meirion Evans and Dale Furniss (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) 10.2s further behind, completing the podium.
Creighton set the pace and after Friday evening's two stages was 16.3s ahead of Evans with McRae just 1.5s behind.
As Creighton managed his lead to perfection, the battle for second intensified with McRae taking the spot on SS5 to claim what was an emotional maiden BRC podium.
Elsewhere, M-Sport pair Romet Jurgenson and Garry Pearson were in recovery mode when Jurgenson's Ford Fiesta Rally2 had a misfire on the Friday evening and a puncture on Saturday's opening stage and Pearson's Fiesta also had a deflation on Saturday morning. Pearson came from eighth to fourth while Jurgenson showed what could have been - with four stage wins on Saturday afternoon - from 15th to fifth.
Carryduff's Jonny Greer took seventh on what was his gravel debut with his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. The Peugeot 208 Rally4 Irish duo of Joe Kelly and Kyle McBride dominated the Junior BRC category trading top spot on a few occasions before Kelly, despite a puncture, won out by 42.7s.
J&M Distributors Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally (Round 5: Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship) Kanturk: 1. C. McCourt/B. McNulty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) 31m. 29.4s; 2. J. Mitchell/P. McCrudden (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+1.8s; 3. G. Mimnagh/B. McCarney (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+50.4s; 4. V. Hamill/A. Grennan (Ford Fiesta R5)+52.2s; 5. S. Dickson/B. Taggart (Ford Fiesta R5)+1m. 02.6s; 6. J. Dunphy/G. Shinnors (Ford Fiesta R5)+ 1m. 26.6s; 7. D. O'Brien/A. Hayes (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 43.6s; 8. D. O'Riordan/S. McCarthy (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+2m. 22.0s; 9. P. McCullagh/A. Dolan (Mitsubishi Lancer E9)+3m. 04.3s; 10. C. Kelly/M. Murphy (Ford Fiesta R5)+3m. 08.6s.
Voly Grampian Forest Rally (Round 4: Probite British Rally Championship) Banchory: 1. W. Creighton/L. Regan (Toyota Yaris GR rally2) 51m. 40.0s; 2. M. McRae/C. Fair (Citroen C3 Rally2)+32.5s; 3. M. Evans/D. Furniss (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)+42.7s; 4. G. Pearson/H. McKillop (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+54.0s; 5. C. Black/J. Morton (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 19.2s; 6. R. Jurgenson/S. Oja (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+1m. 19.2s; 7. J. Greer/N. Burns (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)+1m. 23.8s; 8. M. Hirst/D. Dear (Skoda Fabia R5)+1m. 25.7s; 9. D. Bogie/K. Riddick (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+2m. 00.4s; 10. S. Beattie/P. Davies (Ford Fiesta R5)+2m. 43.3s.
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