Kevin Lynch and his co driver Francis Regan in their Subaru Impreza WRC S12b put up an extremely impressive performance last Saturday on the Turkington Lurgan Park Rally to win by 11s from Mark Higgins (Mitsubishi WRC) ,with Kenny McKinstry (Subaru) 3rd a further 8s back. Those are the bald facts behind a day of drama and excitement.

For Kevin Lynch this win was a remarkable achievement of 5 back to back victories on the Lurgan Park event. When Lynch brought his Subaru to a halt after that final stage he commented, “I’m very happy. This unique rally is all about commitment. It’s very easy to make a mistake and although I had a couple of misdemeanours we got away with it.” Early morning rain made the Park slippy and difficult for the drivers, but as the day progressed blue skies and soaring temperatures transformed the setting into a high speed showpiece event.

Former British Rally Champion Mark Higgins, who had Michael Gibson return to the co driver’s seat on this occasion masked his disappointment at the end and commented. ”Fair play to Kevin Lynch, he drove brilliantly. I think if I had picked different tyres it could have been closer but I don’t think I could have beaten him”. Mark, who really committed himself to the Lancer deal in his effort to put a Lurgan Park win on his CV, seemed to suffer a lack of ‘seat time’ in the car although he did manage a couple of fastest times. However he was up against a very determined foe in Kevin Lynch.

Kenny McKinstry, who had his daughter Susan co driving for the first time in his Subaru Impreza, said. “I enjoyed the day. I made a few tyre choices which weren’t ideal, but it worked out OK.” Kenny has won the rally 10 times of course but he still gives it as much enthusiasm and commitment as he did over 20 years ago.

Darren Gass was driving an Impreza WRC for the first time in the Park and put up an impressive performance, although perhaps he was a little disappointed to finish 4th. He gave it a real good go right to the end but reckoned he lost 3s at the final chicane. Former Irish National Rally Champion Charlie Donnelly in 5th said. “It was one of those days, a few small problems. I even knocked the fuel pump switch off when adjusting the diff over the gravel section on the final stage.” NI Rally Champion Glenn Allen in his Corolla rounded off the top 6. Glenn had a great battle with Peadar Hurson throughout, just edging it at the end. Hurson, normally right on the pace, only settled down towards the end, but in reality never really got to grips with this short, sharp and furious rally.

Mark & Rory Doyle pulled out all the stops towards the end to win class 3 in their Celica and take 10th overall. Wesley Patterson was just a couple of seconds back in 11th and won class 2, best of the Mk2 Escorts. Brian Dowey was 2nd in class 3 while in class 2 Phil Collins was 2nd, Rodney White 3rd, Camillus Bradley 4th and Kris Meeke, his Escort giving niggly problems all day, was 5th.

Leading retirements included the GpN pacesetters Garry Jennings and John McGlaughlin. The Jennings’ Lancer was sidelined in stage 6 following a collision with a concrete bollard, and McGlaughlin’s Lancer stopped on the same stage with broken transmission. This allowed Gary Rodgers through to win the Production category. Sean Haveron and John McKeown retired their Escort Cosworths, the former with an accident, the latter with a broken gear change.

Turkington Lurgan Park Top Ten

1st (1) Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Impreza WRC) 14.52.4
2nd (2) Mark Higgins/Michael Gibson (Lancer WRC) 15.03.4
3rd (3) Kenny & Susan McKinstry (Impreza WRC) 15.11.1
4th (10) Darren Gass/Sam Cross (Impreza WRC) 15.14.4
5th (5) Charlie Donnelly/Noel Downey (Corolla WRC) 15.25.2
6th (7) Glenn Allen/Brian McCracken (Corolla WRC) 15.28.9
7th (4) Peadar Hurson/Damien Connelly (Impreza WRC) 15.29.3
8th (8) James Gillen/PJ Gillespie (Impreza) 15.50.8
9th (6) Denis Biggerstaff/Stuart Biggerstaff (Impreza WRC) 15.57.2
10th (18) Mark & Rory Doyle (Celica) 16.16.8

Issued by Brian and Liz Patterson: Patterson Agencies Ltd