10/06/06 - Kevin Lynch and Martin McNicholl took an emphatic victory at Saturday's MT Waste and id Graphics NI sponsored Mourne Rally, round four of the Pacenotes MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship.

In his first competitive outing since March's Bishopscourt Stages, the Dungiven pilot set fastest or equal fastest times on 11 of 12 stages to take victory by an impressive 47 seconds!

"It has been a year since I was last out on a tarmac road," Lynch said after the event. "Anyone can drive around race circuit but a tarmac road is a different thing altogether. I needed to get a run before Donegal and it took a while to get settled again but we got there!"

Earlier this year, Lynch cited business commitments as a reason for taking a sabbatical from the sport but this failed to stop him from winning the opening two rounds of the series. Now with a third win under his belt, rumours are rife that the Subaru pilot will keep pushing for a third N.I. championship title, although he insists he has no plans at present.

Finishing in second position, Cookstown's Glenn Allen bolstered his chances of lifting his maiden rally championship title with another healthy points haul. With Damien Connolly on the notes, the crew had a troubled rally with turbo boost problems but his solid result leaves him with a 12 point lead in the Pacenotes backed series.

"We had trouble all day with the turbo boost," Allen said after the event. "I'm mystified with the turbo boost problem but hopefully the boys will have it sorted soon. The Mourne is always one of my favourite events and it was definitely a good rally this year!"

Allen battled with Enniskillen's Raymond Johnston and Richard Bell for much of the event and at one point admitted to being 'a bit concerned' with the Subaru pilot's progress. The pressure eased on stage eight, 'Wee Gullion', when Johnston put his car off the road within sight of the finish.

"We got it wrong on the left-hander before the final corner," Johnston said. "A back wheel just caught the grass and she spun off backwards through the bushes. She was up on two wheels at one point and I was just waiting for the bang but we were lucky to get away with it! The back bumper was cracked and we lost about 50 seconds so it could have been worse!"

The incident dropped Johnston down to fourth position, behind leading Group N crew, Michael Curran and Fabian McShane. Curran, who hails from Bangor, was debuting his new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and with four stages remaining, had the production category victory in the bag. While Johnston was forced to settle for fourth after his grass cutting exercise, Curran came home in a fine third position.

"The new car is brilliant!" Curran enthused. "It was a good rally to get used to the dog box. It was very tight and twisty which really suited it and the handling was superb. I was really pleased with our times, especially over the last loop of stages!"

Antrim's Martin Elliott and Brian Crawford took second in Group N and a maximum Group N points haul for the Pacenotes backed series. Curran isn't registered for the series, allowing Elliott to move to the top of the Group N tables after early category leader Richard Hogg had other commitments and failed to make the start.

"We had a really good, steady run," Elliott said. "I really didn't want to get involved with Michael Curran because I knew he was going to be very fast! So we decided to go for points and it worked out for the best. We had a bit of a moment on one stage after a shower of rain. We came over a crest and started braking for a hairpin but the ground was still wet and we slid straight on between two trees! Luckily, we didn't hit anything!"

Superdrive sponsored two wheel drive category

The hotly contested Superdrive sponsored two wheel drive category saw Draperstown's Camillus Bradley shroud his fellow competitors in dust. The Mark 2 preparation expert is no slow coach behind the wheel and with Danny O'Neill calling the notes, he mastered the stages to take victory over his fellow two wheel drive pilots. While both Norman Armstrong and Pat Donegan were forced to the sidelines, Bradley set fastest times on almost every stage to record fifth overall and top two wheel drive award.

"Everything went well and we weren't pushing wild hard," Bradley said at the finish. "We had a couple of unexpected slides but managed to get out of them! It isn't the place where you want to go off. I thoroughly enjoyed it, it was a good test for Donegal!"

Alistair Cochrane and Pamela Norris finished eighth overall, half a minute behind Bradley while Trevor Lancashire and Gary Hall were third. Lancashire isn't registered for the Pacenotes series, and neither is Brian Armstrong, so Martin McCormack and Paddy Toner took third prize in the Superdrive sponsored category.

Round five - North West Motor Factors Dogleap Rally

Round five of the championship takes competitors to Limavady on 5 August for the Dogleap Rally. The event marks the first gravel rally of the year, based in the forests surrounding Limavady. Will Kevin Lynch make another comeback for his home event? Only time will tell!

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