Jonny Greer and Kirsty Riddick claim a second Killarney Historic Rally win for their Ford Sierra Sapphire after moving ahead of Donagh Kelly and Rory Kennedy on the penultimate stage.
The BMW M3 crew of Kelly & Kennedy drew first blood at the event. A surprise rain shower tested the historic crews this morning with most of them on slick tyres. Jonny Greer and Donagh Kelly held an early advantage in first and second with everyone else around 20 seconds behind.
It had been a nightmare start for our defending champions Duncan Williams and Guy Weaver who have lost a minute thanks to an overshoot and a couple of spins.
Kelly then jumped into the lead after stage two. Alan Ring dropped out of the rally by that point with engine issues as slippery conditions continue to challenge the drivers.
Jonny Greer then Donagh Kelly’s lead to ten seconds after Killarney’s opening loop. By stage 5 Greer set the fastest time to keep him within reach of Donagh Kelly’s in-tune BMW M3.
Elsewhere Michael McDaid punched in a storming time on the historic’s final run through Caragh Lake to put his co-driver Declan Casey as ITRC’s top positioned navigator.
Neil Williams was the leading Historic ITRC driver but was in a big battle with Tom Clark and Tomas Davies.
With two stages left, Greer made his move, to set the fastest time on stage 7. He would then go on to win the event by nearly 4 seconds over Kelly.
Michael McDaid and Declan Casey complete the top three after a great performance in their Ford Escort RS1800. Casey claims top Historic ITRC co-driver points for Round One as Tom Clark seals top drivers’ points just ahead of Neil Williams.
