McClean produces eye-catching run at Fivemiletown

DESI Henry’s victory by almost 19 seconds may have grabbed the Saturday evening headlines following another superb Samsonas Fivemiletown Rally, but the performance of Stewart McClean got tongues wagging also.

The Dungannon man, who had Stephen Dickson on the notes, produced a sensational performance in his Vauxhall Nova to finish an impressive 22nd overall and first in class four following a day to remember behind the wheel.

Henry, meanwhile, was involved in a day-long tussle with Dromore’s Cathan McCourt during round one of the McGrady Insurance NI Forest Challenge!

The Kilrea man led from the start of the Omagh Motor Club organised event, which was based at FIntona’s Ecclesville Centre, setting a string of fastest times that saw them lead the event by 15 seconds by the mid-event service.

McCourt, who has previously finished as runner-up on the event, was a consistent second during the early stages. He was taking his time to get used to his new Rally2 Fiesta but he really started to get into the swing of things after service.

Fastest on stages six and seven, he snatched almost five seconds back from rally leader Henry. However, it was too little, too late, and with two short stages remaining, he was unable to maintain the pressure on his rival.

Henry fended off the challenge with another fastest time of his own through the penultimate stage eight, and a measured drive over the final test ensured he Kilrea sealed the Samsonas Fivemiletown Rally victory!

McCourt was gracious in defeat. He was encouraged by his pace in his new mount and will be one to watch during the course of the season.

“We had a good push on the first two stages after service,” he admitted, “but we didn’t push on the last two.”

Ballygawley’s Vivian Hamill was another driver who spent the day getting used to a new car. Navigated by Lorcan Moore, Hamill had a Mini WRC at his disposal for the first time. He initially trailed Greencastle’s Mark Donnelly after stage one but he moved in front after the second test. Hamill later had to deal with some paddleshift issues but managed to stay in third overall until the finish.

Donnelly dropped a few more places during the day as he wiped away the cobwebs after being out of action for a number of years. Instead, Dromore’s Conor McCourt and Caolan McKenna finished fourth overall with their Skoda Fabia, more than 13 seconds clear of the Fiesta piloted by Victoria Bridge’s Jason Mitchell and Paddy McCrudden who were slowed by a misfire during the latter half of the rally.

With Donnelly and Stephen O’Hanlon in sixth, Omagh’s Gareth Mimnagh and Barry McCarney claimed seventh despite losing around one minute on the opening stage which potentially cost them a couple of places.

“We stalled on stage one,” Mimnagh explained, “and then the car refused to restart. But we managed to set top three times on the last three stages, including fastest time on the final stage.”

Niall Henry and Barney Mitchell secured eighth overall after losing some time with gearchange issues in their Fiesta. They headed home the Escort MkII belonging to the two-wheel-drive winners, David Crossen and Aileen Kelly, while Derek Mackeral and Thomas Wedlock completed the top 10 in their Evo.

Event sponsor, Martynas Samsonas, ran out of luck once again at the Fivemiletown Rally. He was comfortably in the lead of the two-wheel-drive category with his stunning BMW and was as high as seventh overall. Sadly, he was forced into retirement with mechanical issues after the sixth stage, leaving the battle for the spoils between David Crossen and Shane McGirr.

Fivemiletown man McGirr and navigator Denver Rafferty were just three seconds in front of Crossen at the mid-event service but McGirr’s rally unravelled when he rolled his Starlet. He managed to get back on track and finish the event but any chance of the category win had evaporated.

“We went off the road and put the car on its roof,” McGirr explained. “Some spectators pushed us back on our wheels and we were able to keep going.”

There was no such trouble for David Crossen who pulled out all the stops over the closing miles.

With McGirr in trouble, Crossen and navigator Aileen Kelly rallied to the top of the two-wheel-drive podium and stayed in front to claim the win.

McGirr and Rafferty had to settle for second in the category and in class six behind Crossen, but finishing comfortably ahead of class seven winner, Donaghmore’s Adrian Hetherington and Ronan O’Neill, in the overall two-wheel-drive standings, while the Moy father and daughter crew of Frank and Lauren Kelly retired their Escort with mechanical trouble, and Castlederg’s Robert McKelvey exited the event with electrical gremlins.

In the class battles, Dromore’s Hugh McDaid won class one ahead of Stephen Benton with Dungannon’s Alan Jardine third.

Class two was won by the Toyota Corolla of James McGovern, with Drew Chambers second and Derek Robinson third, while class three saw Sammy Scollan pip William Graham and Mark McAleer to victory.

Class four was claimed by the impressive McClean by almost two minutes from Sam Stewart, with Strabane’s Jack Cairns third, Drumquin’s Dean Humphrey fourth and Fivemiletown’s Andrew McMahon fifth.

Dromore’s Liam McQuaid won class five, with Mark McGrath second, Peter Murphy third, Colin Currid fourth, Rodney Donaldson fifth and Aughnacloy’s Bryan Jardine sixth.

Class eight was won by Derek Mackarel with Dunamanagh duo, Paul Britton and Peter Ward second in their Subaru Imprea N16.

Bill Arbuthnot won class nine in another Impreza, while Hamill sealed the class 11 honours from Omagh’s Marty McKenna in second and Shane Murray in third. Galbally duo, Darren Hamill and Martin Harte were fourth, ahead of Joe Hegarty.

Full results available from rallyscore.net.

*Photo Philip Stewart