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ONE and a half seconds was all that separated first from second place at the annual Ken Irwin Trophy Autotests.
Rearranged following the previous weekend’s snow and ice, Omagh Motor Club’s traditional year opener attracted a quality entry and that certainly showed at the top of the timesheets where British champion Peter Grimes edged out Northern Ireland title holder, Stewartstown’s Steven Ferguson.
Despite producing a blemish-free performance over the 12 tests, Ferguson just missed out on retaining the coveted Ken Irwin Trophy as Grimes pipped him at the post by a narrow margin in the end.
Newmills ace, Mark King, behind the wheel of his trusty Vauxhall Nova, was third, just over six seconds adrift of the two ‘Specials’ ahead of him, while Lisburn’s Robin Lyons, son of Castlederg’s John Lyons, took fourth in his Mini Saloon.
David Thompson and Ashley Lamont took the next two positions in the overall standings, just ahead of Castlederg brothers, Jack and Adam Lowry, who were seventh and eighth respectively, with the latter winning the Johnny McAleer Award for Best Up & Coming Autotester. Seskinore’s Alistair Barker came home ninth and Robert Robinson rounded out the top 10. In the classes, Ferguson took the class A honours from Adam Lowry and Barker in second and third respectively; Ashley Lamont won class B from Paul Lowther; Lyons claimed class C ahead of Jack Lowry and King was crowned class D champion ahead of Thompson.
In the Clubman event, Garrett Kennedy won from Castlederg’s Ian Lowry, with Ryan Catterson third and in the All Forwards category, Finn Stewart was the overall winner over Johnny McAleer, with Beragh’s Niall Donnelly third.
l Full results available via stopastride.live
