Rally Page

After 3 tough days in the picturesque North West of the Country, Gareth MacHale and Brian Murphy emerged as winners of the Donegal International Rally 2009, with a very convincing start to finish win.

The opening day saw the Ford Focus WRC06 crew take fastest time on the opening stage outside Carndonagh. Loosing time on the second stage was the only blip on the days performance as he took fastest times on the next 4 stages to take a slender overnight lead.

Saturday saw a tactical start with a tyre choice to suit the second stage, Fanad, but that stage was cancelled and the lead was cut to 9 seconds. A string of fastest times followed and a lead of over 40 seconds was build up by the time they had completed runs over the famous Knockalla and Fanad tests.

Sunday was about keeping it steady and setting a comfortable pace with no mistakes. Gareth put a number of recent accidents behind him to hold his nerve and take his first International win.