Derek McGarrity Heads Entry List for Tyrone Stages Rally in Benone!

By NI Rally Championship
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Updated: 18 October 2018

(Image: PhilPics.net) Derek McGarrity and Paddy Robinson head the entry list for this Saturday’s MJE Wheel Repair sponsored Tyrone Stages Rally, the seventh and final round of the 2018 McGrady Insurance MSA N.I. Rally Championship!

Based from the Benone Tourist Complex on the beautiful North Coast, more than 60 crews will battle through a network of private tarmac roads. Top seed McGarrity has already put the 2018 N.I. Championship title beyond reach of his rivals but he intends to fight hard for another rally win at the venue and finish his season in style.

Aiming to stop him in his tracks are a host of competitors in a variety of high-powered machinery. They include Portglenone’s Desi Henry, who won the Tour of the Sperrins Rally earlier this year in his Skoda Fabia R5 and came within a whisker of another victory at the Lakeland Stages Rally.

Kilrea’s Connor McCloskey is a former champion and starts at number three in his Fiesta while Castlederg’s Gareth Sayers makes a return in an Impreza WRC at number four. A trio of Fiestas follow with Martin Cairns, Dominic McNeill and Marty McKenna completing the top seven seeds.

In the battle for the Group N title, James Laverty holds an 11 point advantage over Paul Britton and looks set to claim the honours but should Laverty’s Subaru falter, a strong result for Britton could see the tables turn at the last gasp.

Meanwhile, in the two-wheel drive category, James Kennedy is just four points ahead of series sponsor, Fintan McGrady, while John Devlin is one point further adrift. All three crews have entered the event in the hope of securing top 2WD honours.

Competitors will tackle a total of 14 stages with service based within the Benone Tourist Complex. The event starts at 10.30am and finishes shortly after 5.30pm when the rally winners spray the champagne at the Complex. News and results will be available throughout the day from fb.com/nirallying and rallyscore.net.

Entry List – Top 25
(Full list HERE)

1 Derek McGarrity/Paddy Robinson (Focus WRC)
2 Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Fabia R5)
3 Connor McCloskey/TBC (Fiesta)
4 Gareth Sayers/Gareth Gilchrist (Impreza WRC)
5 Martin Cairns/Peter Ward (Fiesta)
6 Dominic McNeill/Tommy Speers (Fiesta WRC)
7 Marty McKenna/Alan Redstone (Fiesta WRC)
8 Paul Britton/George Tinsley (Impreza STi N16)
9 James Laverty/Paul Hughes (Impreza N12B)
10 Jonathan Morrow/Simon Morrow (Mirage RS)
11 William Creighton/Liam Regan (DS3 R5)
12 Alan Atcheson/Martin Connolly (TBA)
14 Brendan Cumiskey/Ronan O’Kane (Fiesta R2)
15 James Kennedy/Heather Kennedy (Escort MkII)
16 John Devlin/John McCarthy (Escort MkII)
17 Alastair Cochrane/Paddy McCrudden (Escort)
18 Andrew Bustard/Stephen Griffith (Escort MkII)
19 Cathal Rogers/Stephen O’Brien (Lancer Evo 9)
20 Philip Greenlee/Domhnal Lennon (Escort MkII)
21 Fintan McGrady/Cormac McGrady (Escort MkII)
22 Barry Morris/Declan Campbell (Escort MkII)
23 Josh McErlean/Aaron Johnston (Impreza N12)
24 Raymond Doyle/David Turkington (Corolla)
25 Geoffrey Nevin/Paul Nevin (Escort MkII)