A fatal injury to a spectator on the Carn Hill stage, near Letterkenny, brought the event to a premature end after Stage 11 on the second day of the Topaz Donegal International Rally, with five of the scheduled eight stages completed by the leaders.

The organisers, Donegal Motor Club, stated that the incident is being fully investigated and initial indications are that there was no driver error involved.

Defending Global Group Irish Tarmac champions Eugene Donnelly and Paul Kiely increased their Friday lead slightly, with their Skoda Fabia WRC nineteen seconds ahead of the Ford Focus of Kevin Lynch and Francis Regan, despite a problem with the water injection system.

Overnight second place men Gareth MacHale and Brian Murphy in their Focus dropped ten seconds with a half spin on the second run through Garrygort, and were just two down on Lynch, with championship leaders Eamonn Boland and Damien Morrissey another fifteen seconds behind in fourth position.

Retirements during the day included overnight fifth and sixth placed men P J McDermott and Kris Meeke, who both went off the road.

McDermott's Impreza crashed on the Knockalla stage, while Meeke's giant-killing drive in his Super 1600 two wheel drive Renault Clio came to an end when he slid wide on some gravel and damaged the front of the car.

Friday's leader in the Group N Production class, Donegal driver Damien Tourish, lost a minute on Garrygort, handing the class lead to former World Production Car champion Niall McShea, just eight seconds ahead of fellow Fermanagh driver Gary Jennings.

TOPAZ DONEGAL INTERNATIONAL RALLY.  RESULTS FINAL AFTER 11 STAGES:

1 Eugene Donnelly/Paul Kiely (Skoda Fabia WRC) 1h 14m 51s,

2 Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 15m 10s,

3 Gareth MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) 1h 15m 12s,

4 Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 15m 27s,

5 Daniel Doherty/Michael Doherty (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 18m 10s,

6 Niall Maguire/Enda Sherry (Subaru Impreza WRC) 1h 18m 35s,

7 Glenn Allen/Damien Connolly (Toyota Corolla WRC) 1h 18m 47s,

8 Niall McShea/Marshall Clarke (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 1h 20m 04s,

9 Gary Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 1h 20m 12s,

10 Seamus Leonard/Gerry McVeigh (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 1h 20m 44s.

Group N Production Class:

1 Niall McShea/Marshall Clarke,

2 Gary Jennings/Rory Kennedy,

3 Seamus Leonard/Gerry McVeigh.

NATIONAL EVENT:

1 Phil Collins/Derek Brannigan (Ford Escort) 1h 20m 02s,

2 Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan (Ford Escort) 1h 20m 18s,

3 Rodney Wilton/Conor McMahon (Ford Escort) 1h 20m 23s.

FIESTA SPORTING TROPHY:

1 Alastair Fisher/Barry McNulty 33m 37s,

2 Meilyr Evans/Andrew Edwards 33m 39s,

3 Elfyn Evans/Gareth Roberts 34m 55s.