By 
NIALL McGonigle enjoyed a belated birthday present to remember when he sealed a start-to-finish win on the Isle of Man-based Chris Kelly Memorial Rally.
The Clady man, who had Caolan McKenna on the notes, celebrated his birthday on October 2nd and just two days later he received the gift he has coveted for around 20 years.
It was two decades ago that McGonigle, who was only 12 or 13 at the time, and his dad, Michael visited the Isle of Man to watch the Manx Rally and it was then that Niall decided he wanted to return behind the wheel of a car to compete on the famous narrow lanes of the island.
And at the weekend he not only got that wish, but he topped any pre-event dreams he had by winning the event – his first ever on tarmac – by a whopping 44 seconds and receiving his prize at the same venue his father and he had visited 20 years previously.
“It was a good birthday surely!,” he beamed. “It was brilliant. It was my first ever tarmac road rally and I really, really enjoyed that.
“It was good for me and for ourselves [the IN Sport team] with Frank [Wray] on the podium too, it was brilliant because I’ve been harping on about the Isle of Man for 20 years.
“I went out there with my father in 2005 and 2006 and I always said I’d love to do a rally on the Isle of Man, so that was a dream come true!
“And when we pulled up for the prizegiving, we pulled up outside a place and I said ‘I’ve been here before’. There was wee pedal boats on water and I said ‘I was on those pedal boats, me and my father, 20 years ago’, so it’s mad where it takes you back for the prizegiving.”
As pleased as Niall was at the end of the event, he wasn’t quite so buoyant at the beginning, having to be talked into even starting. Having only competed in two other events previously this season – crashing out in Tipperary before finishing third in Mayo – and having never rallied on tarmac before meant he was a little nervous seeing the conditions following Storm Amy’s arrival the day before.
But fellow Clady man, Frank Way, who finished third, and another Irishman, Andrew Purcell, who was second, convinced him to dip his toe in the water on Saturday.
“I wasn’t even going to start the rally because the weather was atrocious and the recce was mad! That morning, it didn’t look any better but Frank Wray and Andy Purcell talked me into it,” he explained.
“They said to go out and do the first [stage] and if you don’t enjoy it you can come back. But once we got out there it wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be, it was brilliant!
“And after the first stage we definitely weren’t for going home, we led by maybe 16 or 18 seconds and then it was about keeping a good rhythm and get to the end.”
Niall is keen to give asphalt rallying another chance at some stage, but for now, he will be busy running cars, including the victorious Rally2 Ford Fiesta from the Isle of Man, for Alan Smyth at the forthcoming Dogleap Rally, while his next outing might be the Fivemiletown Rally next month when he’ll be keen to defend his crown.
