20/10/07 (Photo: RallyPics.org) - Last weekend's FM Contracts Down Rally saw plenty of drama unfold in the County Down forests, as the penultimate round of the 2007 Pacenotes MSA Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship started from the King's Inn, Castlewellan.

New stages were on the agenda, including two runs through both Tullymore and Drumkeeragh forests, as well as three stages in Kilbroney. It was a format that was set to test the best of Northern Ireland's rally talent, as the main contenders for the title, Cookstown's Glenn Allen and Pomeroy's Stephen Moore, locked horns in a battle that could potentially decide the outcome of the popular series.

But for Stephen Moore, his rally was almost over before it started, when a hole in his Ford Focus WRC's petrol tank was discovered just hours before the start. It seemed as though the problem was terminal, but luckily for Moore, another competitor came to the rescue.

"Martin Cairns was also entered in the rally with his Subaru," Moore explained, "but when he heard about our problem, he offered his car to us. It was a lucky break, although the car was very different to my Focus. It was right hand drive, and I found it really difficult to get used to it."

Moore found himself struggling during the opening miles, and was outside the top ten after stage one. His chances of a maiden N.I. Championship success seemed to be slipping from his grasp, while rival Glenn Allen was in the hunt for victory near the head of the leaderboard, with a Toyota Corolla WRC hired from Denis Heaney.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Allen who was leading the event, and neither was Impreza WRC pilot Sean Devine. Taking the stages by storm was Enniskillen's Richard Cathcart, who was really on the pipe with his Subaru Impreza production car! The tight and twisty stages were suiting Cathcart and his Group N car, with Cathcart powering to the top of the standings from the opening stage.

Sean Devine and Damien Duffin were fastest through stage two, placing them three seconds ahead of third placed Glenn Allen. Cathcart and navigator Martin Brady still held the advantage at the head of the field by two seconds, but after an incident towards the end of the third test, the crew thought they had lost their advantage.

"We had a big overshoot through the tape," Cathcart recalled. "I had to drive to the next junction to turn around. I was sure we had lost a stack of time but as it turned out, we were only four seconds slower than Glenn Allen."

Somehow, Cathcart and Brady had managed to hold on to their rally lead, while Glenn Allen's fastest time saw him retake second position from Sean Devine and Damien Duffin. Now Allen was trailing the rally leader by one second, but on stage four it was Cathcart who doubled that advantage!

It was a real nip and tuck affair between Cathcart, Allen and Devine, and with three stages remaining, victory could go either way. But stage five was set to turn the rally on its head, as Devine retired with mechanical trouble while Allen spectacularly rolled out of the event!

"I don't know what happened!" Allen said afterwards. "There was a bad crest into a three right, and she just went into a shuck. Everything was OK but then she caught a big stone and over she went, end of rally. The car isn't too badly damaged but it will need a bit of work to get it sorted out. So I'll be back in my own car for the final round."

Cathcart was held back by both Allen's stricken Corolla and Devine's Subaru, which had to be pushed into a safe position. Nonetheless, he safely completed the test and held a 26 second lead over second placed Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan. Paul Britton and Martin McGarrity were holding a comfortable third position, and completed a trio of production category crews.

Meanwhile, fourth placed Stephen Moore couldn't believe his eyes when he saw Allen stranded at the side of the road. He knew that if the Cookstown man had maintained his second position, his championship hopes would have been all but over. Now he had been given a new lease of life, and although he couldn't do anything about the three men in front, he still has an opportunity to take the Pacenotes crown at the final round.

The final two stages saw little drama for the leaders, as Richard Cathcart and Martin Brady consolidated their lead. Fastest times saw the Impreza crew seal rally victory, as well as the Sunoco Fuels Group N prize, by 31 seconds from Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan, with Paul Britton and Martin McGarrity in third. The Superdrive two wheel drive category saw Paul Killen and Richard Nelson emerge victorious from James Kennedy and John Rowan.

Only on two other occasions in the history of the Northern Ireland Championship has a Group N driver emerged with outright rally victory. Michael Duke was the first, winning the 1999 Tour of the Sperrins Rally, while Niall McShea took victory at the Lakeland Stages a few years ago. Now Richard Cathcart and Martin Brady have added their names to that short, yet prestigious list.

"It was a great fight with Glenn and Sean," Cathcart said after the finish. "It's just a pity they both retired. Glenn gave us that push to go harder but when he crashed out, it left us in limbo. I didn't know if we should be going hard or easy."

"It was a very good day," Cathcart continued. "The stages were very good - they were quite tight, so it suited the Group N car as it's a bit narrower than the WRCs. I said before the start that I wanted to finish pretty well here, and everything just clicked together!"

Fourth position for Stephen Moore and Tony McHugh made little difference to their championship campaign, as it will be counted as one of their three lowest scores come the end of the year. Ironically, with dropped scores taken into account, championship standings for Moore and Allen are exactly the same as they were before the event, with both men separated by one point.

So the battle for championship laurels will go down to the final round at the Ballymena based Townparks Glens of Antrim Rally. The odds for success are in Allen's favour, as only a win for Stephen Moore will see the Ford Focus pilot lift the championship trophy. With last year's winner, Sean Devine, also thrown into the mix, the Pomeroy man has a tough job on his hands.

The Townparks Glens of Antrim Rally will take place on Saturday 3 November, and is based at the Tullyglass House Hotel. The event will feature 11 stages totalling 44 stage miles, with the first car leaving the start ramp shortly after 9.30am.

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