Such was the level of competition in the event that the lead changed seven times over
the course of the ten stages that made up leg 2 of the classic International event. 181
year1old Jonathan Greer from Carryduff and co1driver Jonny Hart took the runner1up
spot while local driver Conor Harvey and Joe Friel claimed the final podium position.
The weather was the first obstacle for the drivers as torrential overnight rain made the
conditions treacherous for all the crews. Standing water on the stages meant tyre
choice for the drivers was a lottery with drivers choosing between BF Goodrich N
pattern dry tyres with added cuts to clear the rain or intermediate tyres to help clear the
water faster.

On the first stage, the 19km, Fanad Head test ? the best choice seemed to be cut slicks
as Jonathan Greer and co1driver, Jonny Hart set the fastest time, four seconds ahead
of Alastair Fisher and eight seconds ahead of Conor Harvey.
However, for the second stage, the classic 19km Knockalla test, it was Conor Harvey,
with new co1driver for this event, Joe Friel that took the fastest time, to move ahead of
Fisher by just 0.6s as the crews returned to the Milford Mart service area for the first
time.

One crew that would not return to service was 181year1old Kyle Orr from Dromore. The
former rallycross champion drivers year was proving to be testing as they retired from
the event after an accident on the second stage. Orr and his co1driver, Peter O?Toole
where uninjured in the crash, but the damage was enough that they could not continue
in the event.
Stage three, a repeat of SS1 saw Fisher and McNulty take their first fastest time of the
day, six seconds up on Greer and seven on Harvey to establish the pattern for the rest
of the day, with all three crews swapping times to compete for the lead.
The fourth stage, the second run through Knockalla saw Harvey and Friel once again
take the fastest time of the stage, 10:57.3 over the 18.9km to lead the crews into the
second service of the day at Milford by a margin of just 1.1 seconds over Fisher.
The first of the next group of 3 stages was the 10km Lough Keel test where Alastair
Fisher took fastest time. His stage time of 7:15.3 would have been good enough for 6th
fastest in the competitive ?National? section of the rally underlining how fast the Fiesta ST
crews were driving. His time helped him to re1gain the lead of the event as he took four
seconds out of closest challenger Conor Harvey.
Stage six was the 10.5km Carnhill test and here it was Conor Harvey who was fastest,
taking four seconds from Fisher to lead the series again by just 0.9s.
The seventh stage, Garrygort, saw Harvey take his second consecutive stage win, the
first time that any driver had done this on the event to extend his lead to 3.9s as they
came into the final service. Both Fisher and Greer tied three seconds behind over the
10.9km stage.

After a final opportunity for the service crews to check the cars over, the cars went on
to complete a repeat of the previous three stages.
Stage eight, Lough Keel saw Fisher win the stage, taking two seconds from Greer and
six from Harvey to re1gain the overall lead for the third time. Stage nine, Carnhill saw all
three drivers split by only 0.5s over 10.5km to allow Fisher to retain his lead, albeit only
by 1.4s as the crews entered the final stage.
As in the Killarney Rally, the previous round of the series, it would be down to the final
test as to who would win the event. Drama was to befall local driver, Conor Harvey on
the final stage. Just 1.4s off the lead at the start of the 10.9km test, Conor drove as hard
as possible to secure a local win, but such was his pace he made a very rare error and
skidded off the road, losing 35 seconds as he struggled to get the car back on the
stage.
With the problem for Harvey, it was Jonathan Greer and Jonny Hart that took the
fastest time, to leap1frog into second position and keep their championship hopes very
much alive, Harvey dropped to third overall and arrived back to the Letterkenny finish
ramp in a despondent mood but pleased with his performance over the course of the
day.

For Alastair Fisher, who has twice finished in second position on the UK version of the
series and taken a podium spot on all FST IE rounds so far this season, the win was
especially well deserved and demonstrated just how close the championship is.
The performance of the Fiesta drivers over the weekend drew praise from all quarters
as the times they produced would have given them an equivalent position of 25th in the
International event and 10th in the National section, an excellent performance from the
160bhp two wheel drive Gp.N vehicles.
Alastair Fisher and Barry McNulty claimed maximum points for round four and picked up
a cheque for ?750. However, it is Conor Harvey who retains his overall lead in the series
with an eight point advantage over Fisher as the championship moves onto the first
gravel event in the 2007 calendar, the Cork Forestry Rally in August.
At the finish, Fisher said: ?We didn?t have any problems at all and we were on maximum
attack. In the afternoon it was drying but still very slippery. It feels good to take my first
win and I needed it going onto the gravel events?. His co1driver Barry McNulty added, ?I
wanted this win so bad!?