Callum Devine on course for Ulster Rally and Irish Tarmac Championship double
It was a somewhat bitty run over the opening loop of three special stages for Devine, who complained of boiling his brakes on the first test before clipping the right rear tyre on the next one – a mishap that would normally be punished by way of an immediate puncture – yet he returned back to service in Newry city holding a near four-second lead over Boyle.
With darkness falling and lamp pods required for the second loop of closed-road stages, Devine said getting through these and making it back to the safety of parc fermé in one piece was the immediate aim.
'I am happy to get through with no drama – we got into a bit of a rhythm as the miles went by, so I am happy,' he said, 'and when everything clicked on the night stages it delivered a special sensation.'
Boyle's pace dropped in the dark, with a few moments also making the job of hanging on to Devine's coat-tails – and keeping event returnee Osian Pryce at arm's length – harder.
And with Pryce confident the character of Saturday's roads could play into his hands, the 16 second buffer Boyle provisionally enjoys could ebb away. 'Tomorrow's stages are going to be more enjoyable,' said Hyundai i20 N Rally2 driver Pryce, 'for the simple fact there is more driving in them.'
The Ford Fiesta Rally2 duo of Matthew Boyle and Kevin Eves swapped places on the final Friday stage to occupy fourth and fifth respectively, while Aidan Bourke is the top Modified exponent aboard a Ford Esocrt Mk2.
Early Ulster Rally retirements included Boyle's other son Michael, his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 getting out of shape through a right-left section on 'Camlough' before it ended up in a hedge.
Former Irish Tarmac Rally Champion Darren Gass was another unexpected casualty, the repeated jumps and compressions cracking the windscreen on his Solo Petroleum liveried Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 and also aggravating a recent work-related injury.
'That is us finished,' said Gass as he reached the stop line of 'Slieve Roe'. 'I hurt my ribs last week and I must have broken them on the second stage. I can't sit in her any longer.'
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