This weekend’s Ordnance Survey Rally of the Lakes saw Brendan Cumiskey and co-driver Conor Foley win round three of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Ireland in spectacular style, when they stormed through the final stage of the Killarney-based classic snatching victory from the grasp Damian Tourish and Domhall McAlleny.

The two-day rally started on Saturday morning and featured nine stages south of the host town on the Bear Peninsular, followed by a further nine on Sunday east of Killarney around Macgillycuddy’s Reeks, the total of which provided competitors with 257 competitive kilometres. Of the capacity entry in the International category of 152 cars, nine were Evolution Challenge competitors, the best entry for the Irish Mitsubishi series so far this season.

The rally began with one of Ireland’s most famous stages, the twisty 19 kms of Moll’s Gap, made even more demanding by occasional showers and wet roads. Initially setting the Evo Challenge pace were the two Murphy’s: Colm stopping the clock 2.8 seconds ahead of Owen, with Tom Curley third a further 48 seconds behind.

Stage two saw the leading Evo Challenge positions consolidated and, with stage three cancelled due to an accident, the first service halt of the day showed Colm Murphy ahead by an impressive 27 seconds.

The remaining Evolution Challenge drivers admitted they were being cautious of the conditions and were therefore dialling themselves in gradually, but for Liam McFall it was a case of Deja-vu, when, as it had done in round two, he entered the service area with a blown turbo, necessitating a replacement before the next loop of three stages.

Disappointingly for Owen Murphy it was also a case of history repeating itself with another retirement, when he found he could not start his car due to a damaged ECU as he attempted to leave the service area. His exit mean that Colm Murphy now had an Evo Challenge lead of nearly two minutes, even so, that didn’t stop the 2007 Group N Tarmac Champion from extending his advantage during the rest of the day.

Behind him the battle for second place was hotting-up between Curley, Ballentine, Tourish and Cumiskey, who where all separated by just 14 seconds. Frustratingly for Curley, he soon dropped out of contention when the intermittent misfire he had suffered in round two mysteriously re-appeared.

Stepping up his pace, Tourish took second place on SS4 and held position for the day’s remaining stages. With the final stage of the day cancelled, at the overnight halt the leader-board showed Murphy in seventh place overall and a staggering five minutes ahead of the next Evo Challenger Tourish, who was now 13 seconds in front of Cumiskey.

Following overnight rain, Sunday dawned clear and bright, with the first stage of the day a second run through Moll’s Gap, this time in dry conditions. With more speed attainable, drivers started to push the limits of adhesion. Cumiskey was lucky to get away without a puncture after clipping a rock, whilst Evo Challenge series leader Alan Carmichael was more comfortable on the drier roads and took 36 seconds off his day-one time.

McFall was also gathering pace, but had opted to run without the anti-lag system switched on in order to conserve his turbo and maximise his chances of getting to the finish.

For Michael Murray, the weekend was about to get more frustrating. After a troubled first day a turbo pipe disconnected itself on Sunday morning and, although fixing the problem at the side of the road, the loss of time saw him relegated to the back of the field.

For Murphy, SS11 will be a stage to forget, when at the first corner his car slid wide when cold tyres met a damp surface. The rear of car slammed into a bank which consequently spun his Evo across the road. With too much damage sustained to continue, Murphy had no choice but to call it a day – another bitter end to a top-class performance where he had shown that he and the JFR Lancer had the pace to win Group N outright – and finish well inside the top ten overall – as well as dominate the Evo Challenge field.

This left an intriguing battle between Tourish, Cumiskey and Ballentine, Curley exiting the chase when his car’s rear suspension became deranged after a hard landing on one of the deceptive jumps in SS12.

With the fight at the front increasing ferocity as the day progressed, it all came down to the very last stage – the 15 km run through Bellaghoisin and, as cars lined up at the start line, the gap between Tourish and Cumiskey was down to just 5.7 seconds. Cumiskey threw caution to the wind and stormed through the stage, emerging with dents in the front of the car following contact with a chicane – sure evidence of a big push.

Such was his pace, Cumiskey set the fastest Group N time overall and was an impressive 13.6 seconds quicker than Tourish, his performance accrediting him with his second Evolution Challenge victory of the season by a margin of 7.9 seconds.

“That was some battle”, said a delighted Cumisky at the finish. “I decided it was win or bust on the last stage and I can’t believe we did it by such a margin. I’ve really enjoyed this weekend: the JFR prepared car has been 100%, the Pirelli tyres have worked well and the mix of competition and camaraderie in the Evo Challenge has been great.”

As this was his first event since suffering an industrial injury in January, Tourish was satisfied with second, as was Ballentine with his third place and second Evo Challenge podium finish in as many events. Carmichael ended his weekend in fourth and, in doing so, continues to lead the championship at the season’s half-way point.

Both McFall and Murray were pleased – if not relieved - to make it to the finish and scoop championship points.

The 2008 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Ireland is supported by: Sunoco Racing Fuels, Pirelli tyres, Mitsubishi Motors Ireland, Performance Friction Brakes, Speedline Corse wheels, PIAA lights, Murray Motorsport, Sparco racewear, Pacenotes and James Foley Rallysport, who are providing a Group N Lancer Evolution for the 2008 Champion to use in next year’s Rally Ireland.

Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge Ireland – Round 3
Results
1 Brendan Cumiskey (Dundalk)/Conor Foley (Ballinode) 2:29:17.5
2 Damien Tourish (Donegal)/Domhall McAllaney (Donegal) 2:29:25.4
3 Stanley Ballentine (Strabane)/Richard Hyland (Omagh) 2:30:23.1
4 Alan Carmichael (Ballymena)/Ivor Lamont (Ballymena) 2:35:20.1
5 Liam McFall (Armagh)/Chris Crow (Galway) 2:45:08.7
6 Michael Murray (Longford)/Aidan Mannion (Kilcolgan) 3:18:41.9

Retirements
SVA Owen Murphy (Cork)/Greg Shinnors (Limerick) - ECU
SS11 Colm Murphy (Dublin)/Ger Loughrey (Limerick) - Accident
SS12 Tom Curley (Oranmore)/Craig Breen (Slieveroe) - Suspension

Championship Positions after round 3
Drivers
1 Alan Carmichael 27
2 Brendan Cumiskey 24
3 Tom Curley 15
4 Owen Murphy 10
5 Stanley Ballentine 18
6 Michael Murray 11
7 Damien Tourish 10
8 Liam McFall 6

Co-drivers
1 Ivor Lamont 29
2 Richard Hyland 18
3 Aidan Marrion 13
4 Peter O’Toole 12
5 Conor Foley 12
6 Domhall McAllaney 10
7 Paul Horan 8
8 Pat Cashman 8