SS2: Greer Races into Rally Lead!

By NI Rally Championship
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Updated: 19 June 2021

SS2: Jonny Greer and Kirsty Riddick have raced into the lead of the McGrady Insurance Stages Rally with a stunning time through stage two that has left them 6.8 seconds in front of Derek McGarrity and Paddy Robinson. The Citroen C3 R5 crew really nailed it through the second test, leaving the rest of the field trailing in their wake.

“We’re getting back into the swing of things,” Greer said. “A bit more comfortable now.”

Early leader McGarrity is second ahead of Desi and Mark Henry in third. They were second fastest on the stage, nipping seven-tenths of a second out of McGarrity.

“It’s hard to tell how well you’re going on the stage,” Henry said.

Stephen Wright and Liam Moynihan continue to hold fourth. They changed their tyres but Wright still reckoned they were overheating.

Phillip Allen and Ian Dickson are up to fifth, with Allen commenting that he was “still trying to find his feet.”
Aaron McLaughlin and Darren Curran now know where they’re going (it’s Aaron’s first time here) and are sixth ahead of Niall Henry and Damien Duffin who said their tyres were getting tired.

In eighth, Peadar Hurson was happier with his tyre choice while ninth-placed Stuart Biggerstaff was also a lot happier after making a few changes.

“We stiffened the car up a bit,” Biggerstaff said, “so that was a lot better. We just need to get into it now!”

Kieron Graffin in 10th is another driver who is happier after changing his tyres while Sean Devine lost a bit of time after catching another competitor. Kenny McKinstry is climbing up the order after a slow start and had a better run on stage two.

In the two-wheel-drive category, Barry Morris enjoyed a “perfect” run in his Darrian. He and Dylan Doonan are 13th overall but Damian Toner and Denver Rafferty are piling on the pressure. They were nine-tenths of a second faster through the stage, leaving a gap of 3.2 seconds between the two crews.

Jamie Grant and Ben Teggart are third in the category with Jason Black and Karl Egan fourth after catching another car on their second lap. John Devlin is having some issues with the flatshift in his Escort and reckons it needs to be reprogrammed.

Meanwhile, James Kennedy is going to feel like Hulk Hogan by the end of the day. He had to weld part of his steering unit, leaving him with no power steering. “It’s been about 15 years since I last drove a car without power steering. Now I remember why I put it in the car!”

Clive Kilpatrick caught an Escort on the stage that later spun in front of him and Andrew Bustard’s Evo is overheating so he couldn’t use anti-lag but was happy with his time. Liam McFall is still full of big smiles at the finish line and Michael McGarrity was caught behind two cars on the stage.

Gary McEvoy is still struggling with his brakes, also mentioning that he was losing fluid, and Paul Britton reported an incident on the opening stage when he lost control after the jump and hit some trackside tyres. Stephen Peoples lost time with two spins in his Escort towards the end of the stage.

Crews are now back in service. Stage three will be starting soon. Latest results are available from rallyscore.net.