Finally, he has done it! Cookstown man John McGlaughlin sealed his maiden International rally production category victory at last weekend's Circuit of Ireland, grabbing the spoils - as well as fifth overall - by an impressive two minutes at the end of the three-day Easter event!
 
"It's my first big win!" an ecstatic McGlaughlin said at the Newry finish ramp. "And it's been a long time coming! We were on the pace from the start and after Roy (White) retired, that left us with a huge lead. I'm so relieved to make it to the finish - it was mentally exhausting!"
 
Fresh from finishing sixth overall and second in Group N at round one of the Global Group Irish Tarmac Championship in Galway, John and navigator Crawford Henderson were raring to go at the start of this year's Circuit of Ireland. Their McGlaughlin's Bakery Mitsubishi Lancer was in fine fettle, but things failed to go to plan over the opening stages though, as a wrong tyre choice saw the crew lose precious seconds.
 
"We were on intermediates and totally destroyed a new set of Kumho Tyres within 10 miles," John said. "The tyres went off and the car started pushing the nose - we slid off and lost about 10 seconds!"
 
John's problems didn't stop there, and despite being sponsored by Sunoco Fuels and Hilltop Fuels, he suffered with fuel starvation during the second stage! That resulted in the Cookstown man having to turn off his anti-lag and free wheel wherever possible!
 
Luckily, he made it into service and with a new set of tyres on the car, as well as some petrol, the final loop of stages saw the Ears.ie sponsored car back on the pace. By the close of play on Friday, he was lying seventh overall and second in Group N!
 
Saturday brought new challenges and John's aim was to catch the category leader. Fastest over morning's first stage, the omens were good for the Cookstown man, as he swiped three seconds out of the leader. Unfortunately for his rival, he retired with mechanical problems during just as the battle was beginning to heat up, automatically promoting John into the top spot.
 
"I was disappointed when Roy retired on Saturday morning," John admitted, "as it was shaping up to be a good battle. That handed us a three minute lead and we managed to extend that to four minutes by the end of the second leg. Apart from a broken bolt in the gearbox mounting, as well as a brush against a hedge, we had no major dramas."
 
With such a commanding advantage, John was brimming with confidence going into the final leg. All he had to do was coast his Mitsubishi Lancer to the finish, and even a two-minute time penalty awarded on Sunday morning failed to stop his charge. A healthy helping of points were on the cards, as well as a top five placing overall.
 
"I was very cautious all day on Sunday," John admitted. "I knew I had to take it steady to get her home and get some points. We still managed to set fastest times over most stages and it was great arrive at the finish in one piece. Knowing I had such a healthy lead made it mentally exhausting. It was a very enjoyable rally and I'd like to thank my navigator, Crawford Henderson, as well as the lads at McNeill Motorsport for making this possible!"
 
With his first international rally victory behind him, John also leads the Global Group Irish Tarmac Championship Group N category. The Cookstown man is now looking forward to round three of the prestigious series, the Killarney Rally of the Lakes, which takes place during the May Day Bank Holiday weekend!