SS8: Desi Henry spins, McGarrity incurs penalty?

AFTER SS8: It’s all happening at today’s MJE Wheel Repair Specialists Tyrone Stages Rally. Rally leader Desi Henry spun on stage eight and lost around 20 seconds…

That would have left Derek McGarrity in the rally lead by three seconds but he has been given a stage maximum time (for stage five) for allegedly taking the wrong route.

If the penalty stands, it means that Henry still leads the event by three seconds from Stephen Wright and Liam Moynihan.

“There was a bit of gravel in the middle of a corner,” Henry explained. “We spun and got stuck. I think we lost around 20 seconds.”

Stephen Wright is very much in the mix. He’s just three seconds adrift of Henry, leaving a big fight as we go into the final six stages.

Wright buckled a wheel when he hit something hard on stage seven but it didn’t slow him down too much.

“I’m not sure what we hit,” Wright said. “It happened when we cut one of the corners.”

Gareth Sayers lost a couple of seconds with a spin while Barry Morris arrived into service with some damage to the front of his Darrian – evidence of trying hard!

Drew Stewart managed to spin again, losing another six seconds while Drew Wylie lost some time when he stalled and had to reverse his Escort.

Paul Britton reported a few moments but nothing that cost much time. He made sure he had plenty of fuel this time!

In the two-wheel-drive battle, James Kennedy and John Devlin are still fighting tooth and nail.

Latest results are available from rallyscore.net. We think Derek McGarrity’s penalty will be appealed so we’ll have more news on that later…

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