Niall McGonigle came out on top in the final stage to win the opening round of the McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Forest Rally Championship.
McGonigle managed to overturn a 0.2 second deficit on Crocknagrally to secure a first ever career victory by just 2.8 seconds on the Samsonas Fivemiletown Rally over.
He set the pace over the first six stages only to surrender top spot to the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 of Vivian Hamill on the third and final run over Jenkin, which was the event’s penultimate stage.
However, an all-out attack by McGonigle aboard his Ford Fiesta R5 car on an event he has helped to promote and organise on a number of occasions paid off as he moved back in front of Hamill.
As the number one seed, and therefore the person tasked with having to clear the forest tracks of loose gravel on the first pass, Hamill did well to remain in contention with co-driver Lorcan Moore.
Rounding out the podium places in his Class 10 Ford Fiesta R5, was Derek Mackarel and Darren Curran who were non-movers for the duration of the Omagh Motor Club competition.
In the two-wheel-drive battle, Hugh McQuaid and Martin Byrne secured the bragging rights from fellow Ford Escort Mk2 exponents Sam Stewart and Alan Johnston by exactly half-a-minute.
