It would be Dickson’s day on Saturday as Stephen Dickson & Ben Teggart raced to an impressive debut Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship win on the ultra-high-speed stages that the Enniskillen Motor Club’s Lakeland Stages Rally had on offer, and with it have propelled themselves to the very top of the standings with two round to go.
With six stages within the mythical Ballintempo Forest complex, renowned for its monstrous jumps and huge commitment corners, the Lakelands was always going to throw up some drama and it started right from the first stage.
Leading the series and with an opportunity to seal the 2025 title on the event, Jason Mitchell & Paddy McCrudden would be caught out on the very first stage and see their day end with a visit to the scenery.
Last year’s champions Derek Mackarel & Eamonn Creedon hit trouble aswell early on, the pair arrived at the mid-day service complaining of Clutch issues that was hampering their progress and saw them lose over 35 seconds to the leaders.
A typically all-hands on deck approach by the Monaghan men in service saw the issue rectified and a pair of fastest times in the afternoon was enough to secure second and leave the pair still in contention for a second Championship crown.
In the 2WD race for the title, it was Sam Stewart & Stephen Peoples who raced to victory with a hugely impressive display across the day, beating off a huge field of the finest talent in Irish Gravel Rallying.
By the time the crews arrived back to the Finish Ramp in Enniskillen, Stewart & Peoples had 39.3 seconds to spare over Damien Tourish & Kevin Duggan, with Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey in third in an all-Ford Escort MK2 podium.
John Ward & Tommy Hayes performed strongly to take the Class 2 win and put themselves right in contention for a battle with Cian Caldwell, while Oran Nulty & Hugh O’Donnell opened a large gap in Class 2A with a brilliant result in their Citroen C2R2.
