Moffett takes Killarney victory and ITRC Championship Lead

A brilliant drive from Sam Moffett & Karl Atkinson in a Ford Fiesta R5 saw them move from third overnight to take victory in the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes in Killarney, and also take the lead of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship with three of the six rounds completed. Setting a string of fastest times on the second day Moffett soon overhauled his championship rival Robert Barrable in a Hyundai i20 R5  to move into second place just 20 seconds behind long time rally leader Roy White with three stages remaining. When White retired from the lead after an accident, Moffett kept his cool and held off a late charge from Barrable to win by just sixteen seconds, while Stephen Wright in another Fiesta R5 took the final podium position.

Alastair Fisher had led the championship going into this round but after leading in the early stages, he crashed out on the fourth stage. He did re-join under Rally 2 on the second day with a view to getting some points but still drops to second behind Moffett in the championship. Kevin Eves and Barry Jones won the Modified and Historic Categories respectively and both are now leading those championships while John McCabe took his second maximum score of the season in the Junior Championship after finishing second overall.

CARTELL.IE INTERNATIONAL RALLY OF THE LAKES AT KILLARNEY (ROUND 3 OF
CLONAKILTY BLACKPUDDING IRISH TARMAC CHAMPIONSHIP AND ROUND 2 OF
PLASTICBAGS.IE SOUTHERN 4 RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP):
1 Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 54m 56s,
2 Robert Barrable/Damien Connolly (Hyundai i20 R5) 1h 55m 26s,
3 Stephen Wright/Arthur Kierans (Ford Fiesta R5) 1h 58m 55s,
4 Joe McGonigle/Ciaran Geaney (Skoda Fabia R5) 1h 59m 08s,
5 Tomas Davies/Eurig Davies (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 02m 18s,
6 Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane (Skoda Fabia R5) 2h 03m 07s,
7 Aaron MacHale/Darragh Kelly (Citroen DS3 R5) 2h 04m 36s,
8 Joe Connolly/Richard Connolly (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 06m 52s,
9 Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn (Ford Fiesta R5) 2h 07m 03s,
10 Gavin Kelly/Elaine NiShe (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 09m 20s.

NATIONAL RALLY:
1 Kevin Eves/William Lynch (Toyota Corolla) 2h 01m 37s,
2 Declan Gallagher/John McCarthy (Ford Escort) 2h 02m 24s,
3 Vincent McSweeney/Michael Kearney (Honda Civic) 2h 04m 49s,
4 Eugene Meegan/Sarah Whelan (BMW M1) 2h 05m 50s,
5 Phil Collins/Ray Fitzpatrick (Ford Escort) 2h 07m 18s,
6 Vincent O’Shea/Eoin O’Donoghue (Ford Escort) 2h 07m 45s.

HISTORIC RALLY:
1 Keith McIvor/David Burns (Ford Escort) 2h 16m 57s,
2 James Hall/John Nugent (Audi Coupe) 2h 40m 49s.

JUNIOR RALLY:
1 Shane McCarthy/Trisha Greavy (Honda Civic) 1h 16m 46s,
2 John McCabe/Stephen Doogan (Honda Civic) 1h 19m 11s,
3 Jason Black/Jack McKenna (Toyota Starlet) 1h 21m 06s.