09/09/06 - It looked as though a small chink in Kevin Lynch's armour was exposed at the Fisher Engineering Lakeland Stages Rally when the Dungiven driver overturned his Subaru midway through the opening stage. But in the style of a true champion, Lynch engaged first gear and bulldozed his way out of the undergrowth, rejoined the stage and went on to win the rally!

Navigated by Martin McNicholl, it was an incredible display of grit and determination from Lynch, who has now been unbeaten in the Northern Ireland rally scene for two years. The KPL pilot is simply unstoppable and if his run of form continues, a third Pacenotes Northern Ireland Rally Championship title looks likely to return to Dungiven.

"We rolled on the first stage and broke the windscreen," Lynch said. "It was all very quick, she just rolled over and came back onto her wheels again. So we didn't lose too much time but the car was pulling to the right and we were slow over the next few stages. We got the problems resolved in service and then we broke two brake discs but there's no point in making excuses. We got the job done in the end!"

Current championship leader, Glenn Allen, simply had no answer to the flying Lynch. The Cookstown driver, with Damien Connolly on the notes, had problems of his own when his Toyota Corolla WRC coasted to a halt on stage seven. It was enough to drop him to the bottom half of the top six but he recovered to take second place championship points and fourth overall.

"We had a problem with the fuel pump," Allen said. "The car came to a complete stop and we lost 40 seconds. Beating the bogie time on stage six didn't help us either but it was just one of those days. In the end, getting second place championship points was a miracle!"

Sandwiched between the two championship contenders, former World Production Champion, Niall McShea, secured second position in his hired Lancer Evo 8. The local man had been battling with early leader Sean Devine for much of the day and entered the final stage two seconds in arrears. Devine, who hails from Strabane, was pushing hard and he spun his Subaru, losing one minute and plummeting to sixth position.

"It was the same place where Kevin Lynch rolled and I just pushed into the corner too hard," Devine recalled. "I thought there was more grip than there was and when I left foot braked she just tucked in and spun backwards. I just scrubbed against some logs but the damage was superficial - then I stalled and by the time I got going again, almost one minute had passed."

Devine's excursion allowed Niall and Noreen McShea to secure the runner-up position, while Stephen Moore and Stephen Griffith completed the top three in their Ford Focus WRC. With Glenn Allen fourth, Comber's Neil McCance and Sean Ferris were fifth in their Group N Lancer.

"We just had a good clean run," McCance said. "We took first in Group N but Niall McShea forfeited his class position because he was in the top three. Although my trophy says first, as far as I'm concerned we were second because there's a Group N car in front of me!"

In the Superdrive sponsored two wheel drive category, Tyrone's Frank Kelly and Aiden Friel looked set to take two wheel drive honours until an accident at the end of stage seven put the brakes on their challenge.

"I decided to sample some 15 inch tyres on the rear," Kelly said. "Usually we run 13 inch but it was a short stage so I thought I'd give it a go. Just coming to the finish at a long left hand corner, the car was leaning on one side. And because the tyres didn't fit under the arch properly, the arch came down and locked the wheel. It was like applying the side brake in a tractor and she just spun in the opposite direction. We hit a rock which threw the car into a barrel roll and we hit a couple of trees about eight or nine feet in the air. There was absolutely nothing I could do about it but thankfully nobody was injured."

Kelly's retirement allowed Strabane's Mark Barnett and Jonathan Charlesson to take top two wheel drive honours in their Mark 2 Escort. Barnett finished 14 seconds ahead of Draperstown's Martin McCormack and Ian Kidd, with Dungannon's Adrian Hetherington and Terry Walkinshaw third, while Aidan and Damian Toner, also from Draperstown, took fourth and third placed Superdrive prize (Hetherington isn't registered for the series).

Round seven of the Pacenotes backed series takes crews to Omagh for the McGillen Bushwhacker Rally. Based at the Silverbirch Hotel, the event kicks off on Saturday 30 September with a brand new format. A number of stages will be run in reverse this year and the club have added a new stage to the itinerary.

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