McGrady Insurance Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Rally Championship

SS4: Desi Henry Fights Back; Toner Leads 2WD!

Jonny Greer and Kirsty Riddick continue to lead the PRM Group/RPM Motorsport Loughgall Stages Rally but their advantage has been slashed to 0.3s after that fourth stage!

Desi and Mark Henry are the men on the move. It looked like they might have been out of the rally when their Hyundai’s fuel pump failed earlier today. Then stage three was cancelled after a spectator took ill and the crew managed to get their Hyundai back to full health in time for the fourth test.

“I think we have something like a MkII Escort fuel pump in the car now,” Henry said before the start of the stage. “Fair play to the mechanics. They worked really hard to get the car running. We’re not sure if it will work on the stage but we have to try.”

It seemed to work perfectly well as Henry powered to fastest time, 1.4s quicker than Greer who admitted to being “a bit ragged”. With two stages remaining, it looks like the fight for victory is going to the wire.

Reigning champion Stephen Wright isn’t too far adrift in third. He trails the rally leaders by 4.4s but it could have been even closer…

“We had half an overshoot which cost a few seconds,” Wright said. “That amount of time can be a lot around here.”

Aidan Wray and Kieran McGrath continue to hold fourth in their Fiesta R5. It’s Wray’s second time in the car and first time in Loughgall so he is acquitting himself really well.

Damian Toner and Denver Rafferty (pictured) remain at the top of the 2WD tables and are fifth overall, just ahead of Aaron McLaughlin’s Fiesta. McLaughlin had a jump-start penalty hanging over his head after stage three but with the cancellation of the stage, his penalty has disappeared too.

“Luck was on our side for once!” McLaughlin said. “Running the stage in reverse is like a brand new stage. I enjoyed it!”

In seventh overall, Jason Black and Karl Egan are really getting into the swing of things with their Starlet. despite thinking they were “a bit too cautious”, they were the fastest 2WD crew, almost five seconds quicker than Toner. With six seconds between the two crews, an interesting finish in the battle for 2WD honours could be on the cards!

Barry Morris and Dylan Doonan dropped behind Black by a few tenths of a second after that fourth stage to hold eighth, with Derek McGarrity and Paddy Robinson ninth in their Fiesta WRC. John Bradley and Ryan Crozier continue to hold 10th in their Escort MkII.

Outside Top 10

Outside the top 10, Peadar Hurson admitted to being a bit wide in places while Ian Millar (Fiesta) lost time with an overshoot onto some grass. The engine in Adrian Hetherington’s Escort keeps stopping but he doesn’t think it has cost him too much time and Chris McGurk (Fiesta) was another competitor that lost time with an overshoot.

In the class eight battle, Andrew Bustard (Evo) is fighting hard with Paul Britton. Bustard admitted to missing a few gears on the stage while Britton found the stage a bit slippery – then he realised he had forgotten to switch his Subaru’s differentials on!

Stage four is still live so positions are subject to change. Latest results are available from rallyscore.net.

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