PATRICK O’Brien admits he would have preferred the outcome of Saturday’s Trailer Parts and Spares Lakeland Stages Rally to have been decided in a different manner after rival Cathan McCourt bowed out towards the finish.
After five of the event’s six stages, O’Brien and McCourt were separated by seven-tenths of a second to set up a grandstand finish with only the sixteen-mile-long ‘Ballintempo’ to navigate.
However, a front right delamination close to the start of the test forced McCourt to park up his Ford Fiesta Rally2.
That gave O’Brien – with sibling Stephen on the notes – a clear run to victory at the Enniskillen Motor Club fixture, which he went on to win in his R317 Motorsport-run Skoda Fabia R5 by a minute and 47.5 seconds.
“I was very happy to get the win in the end, especially on the sixtieth anniversary year of the motor club,” said O’Brien, who now lives in Western Australia but is currently back in the province as preparations for his grandmother’s ninetieth birthday draw closer.
“We also managed to win as the first car on the road, which is never easy, so that is nice, too. It was a little disappointing that Cathan got the puncture as we were having a great race up to that point but that is the luck of the draw.
“I am home for five weeks so the next one for us is the Bushwhacker Rally in a fortnight’s time,” added O’Brien.
“There just happened to be two rallies on while we are over here, so we thought, ‘Sure why not?’.
“Confidence is high for the Bushwhacker but I am well aware it will be a tough ask to go and win it four times in a row.”
Niall McGonigle initially led the way after two speed tests in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 but when the Pirelli tyre came off the front left rim, he left the road and got stuck, although the damage was minimal.
McCourt then inherited the lead despite reporting no fewer than five moments on the last stage of the morning loop.
However, his time at the top was short-lived as O’Brien recorded a fastest time on the first of the afternoon loop’s three speed tests to carve out a 0.8 second advantage.
The deficit was reduced to 0.7 seconds after the penultimate stage – ‘Big Dog 2′ – to leave the outcome on a knife edge only for McCourt to suffer misfortune and ensure O’Brien successfully retained his title.
FIA Junior World Rally Championship regular Eamonn Kelly steered his Ford Fiesta Rally3 to the runner-up spot, while Derek Mackarel banked maximum Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship and McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge points with third-place in his Ford Fiesta R5.
In the two-wheel-drive battle, meanwhile, gravel specialist Shane McGirr triumphed on his own doorstep by securing the spoils at the controls of his Lada Riva.
A fuel-related issue that could not be remedied at service meant that early pacesetter Paddy McToal had to withdraw his Ford Escort Mk2.
Results:
1. Patrick O’Brien/Stephen O’Brien (Skoda Fabia R5) 38m 12.5 s
2. Eamonn Kelly/Conor Mohan (Ford Fiesta Rally3) +1m 47.5s
3. Derek Mackarel/Eamonn Creedon (Ford Fiesta R5)
4. David Condell/Michael Coady (Ford Fiesta R5)
5. Martin Cairns/Peter Ward (Ford Fiesta Rally2)
6. Paul Britton/Mark McGeehan (Ford Fiesta R5)
7. Shane McGirr/Denver Rafferty (Lada Riva)
8. Ashley Dickson/Martin Brady (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5)
9. Hugh McQuaid/Declan Casey (Ford Escort Mk2)
10. Michael Conlon/James McEneaney (Ford Escort Mk2)
