Day One.

Wexfordman Eamonn Boland and his Waterford co-driver Damien Morrissey lead after the opening day of the Circuit of Ireland International Rally, following four long stages outside Newry.

Their Subaru Impreza was quickest on the first stage, Slieve Gullion, but they dropped to second position when multiple British champion Mark Higgins and his Letterkenny co-driver Rory Kennedy in another Impreza went ahead with a blistering time on Anglesey Mountain.

The Manx driver increased his advantage to 25 seconds on the second run through stage one, but a broken diff put him out at the start of the day's final test, leaving Boland with a clear lead of almost a minute over a close three way battle for second place.

Three times Circuit winner Derek McGarrity held the position on Friday night, but Tim McNulty's Pierse Impreza was only a second behind, with the Meath driver picking up speed as he got used to his new car, setting best time on the last stage of the day.

Top seed Gareth MacHale was another eleven seconds down after some earlier problems, with his brother Aaron, the reigning Dunlop National champion, next up in another Focus. Roy White from Tipperary led the Group N Production class in his MG, holding sixth overall ahead of all the Mitsubishi Lancer Evos.

1 Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Subaru Impreza WRC) 57m 12s,

2 Derek McGarrity/Diarmuid Falvey (Subaru Impreza WRC) 58m 06s,

3 Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Subaru Impreza WRC) 58m 07s,

4 Gareth MacHale/Craig Parry (Ford Focus WRC) 58m 18s,

5 Aaron MacHale/Killian Duffy (Ford Focus WRC) 59m 45s,

6 Roy White/Stephen McAuley (MG S2000) 1h 01m 23s,

Day Two

Although they were best on only one of Saturday's ten tight, demanding stages in Louth, Armagh and Monaghan, Eamonn Boland and Damien Morrissey in the NVD Subaru Impreza kept their overall lead in the Circuit of Ireland International Rally. Their only problem came on the second last stage of the day near Keady when they slid into a chicane, damaging the front of the car and putting one of the cooling fans out of action.

Second place man Gareth MacHale wasn't able to take full advantage of this as his White Oak Focus punctured a tyre four miles from the finish, and he only gained eight seconds, dropping 14 to third placed Tim McNulty. With Boland tackling the last stage at a reduced pace, his lead was down to 26 seconds on Saturday night, so a tremendous duel is in prospect over the final six stages in the Newry-Banbridge-Newcastle area on Sunday.

Setting out on Saturday morning, the Wexford-Waterford pairing had 54 seconds in hand over three times Circuit winner Derek McGarrity and his co-driver Diarmuid Falvey, but the Belfastman slipped to fourth place and was later forced to retire with engine problems.

Meanwhile, MacHale was recovering from a slowish start and climbed from fourth overnight to runner up position, setting best times on six stages as he closed the gap to the leader. McNulty's Pierse Impreza was only a second behind McGarrity on Friday night, with the Meath driver picking up speed as he got used to his new car, but he had no answer to MacHale's pace, although he did manage three best times.

MacHale's elder brother Aaron, the reigning Dunlop National champion, was fourth in his older version Focus, with John McGlaughlin's Mitsubishi Lancer Evo leading the Group N Production class after the retirement of Tipperary driver Roy White's MG.

1 Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 18m 55s,

2 Gareth MacHale/Craig Parry (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 19m 21s,

3 Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Subaru Impreza WRC) 2h 20m 14s,

4 Aaron MacHale/Killian Duffy (Ford Focus WRC) 2h 23m 24s,

5 John McGlaughlin/Crawford Henderson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 29m 52s,

6 Brendan Cumiskey/Conor Foley (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 2h 33m 53s,

Day Three

Despite a last minute drama which saw the two leading cars starting the final stage separated by just four seconds, the Wexford-Waterford combination of Eamonn Boland and Damien Morrissey put on a final spurt to hold off the late challenge of Dubliner Gareth MacHale and his British co-driver Craig Parry to win the Circuit of Ireland International Rally by one of the narrowest margins ever, 4.9 seconds after more than three hours of high speed special stages spread over three days.

The pair from the south-east led for most of the rally, setting out in the NVD Subaru Impreza for Sunday's six stages in Co Down with a lead of 26 seconds over their rivals' White Oak Ford Focus. An overshoot for MacHale on the day's third stage cost him 10 seconds, leaving him a daunting 35 behind as they set off for the last loop, in a seemingly hopeless position.

However, Boland struck trouble on the second run through Knockiveagh, outside Banbridge, when his screen washers failed and he had visibility problems. MacHale was on a charge and clawed back 21 seconds, followed by another 10 on the penultimate test at Legananny, leaving everything to play for over the last nine miles of Slieve Roosley, near Rostrevor.

Boland returned to full concentration and added nine tenths of a second to his narrow lead, achieving a special ambition by winning Ireland's oldest International Rally - the first driver from the Republic to win the event since Austin MacHale, Gareth's father, ten years ago.
 

Tim McNulty from Summerhill  in the Pierse Impreza and Aaron MacHale's Maxol Focus completed a clean sweep of the top four places for southern drivers, with the elder of the two brothers struggling through the day with gearbox problems which cost him four minutes on one stage.

John McGlaughlin and Brendan Cumiskey took the top places in the Group N Production class in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evos, while Clonakilty driver Kevin Kelleher was very fortunate to limp home in third place with serious transmission problems on the final stages.

FINAL CLASSIFICATION.

1st  Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Impreza WRC) 3h 03m 21.4s

2nd  Gareth MacHale/Craig Parry (Focus WRC) 3h 03m 26.3s

3rd  Tim McNulty/Eugene O'Donnell (Impreza WRC) 3h 04m 47.2s

4th  Aaron MacHale/Killian Duffy (Focus WRC) 3h 15m 24.4s

5th  John McGlaughlin/Crawford Henderson (Lancer N) 3h 21m 09.5s

6th  Brendan Cumiskey/Conor Foley (Lancer N) 3h 23m 06.8s