Easter has never Breen so hot!
Craig Breen and Paul Nagle were on superb form as they charged to victory in the Wastewater Solutions UAC Easter Stages Rally. This fantastic performance maintains their unbeaten record of three wins out of three giving him a great lead in the 2019 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
Breen and Nagle in their Ford Fiesta R5 led the event from stage 2, and set 8 of the fastest times from the 15 stages over the two day rally, which centred around the Ulster Grand Prix pits in Dundrod, Co. Antrim.
The pair finished 18 seconds ahead of Desi Henry and Liam Moynihan in their Skoda Fabia R5, who was hotly pursued by the Ford Fiesta R5 of Jonny Greer and Kirsty Riddick to complete the top three places.
Callum Devine, former Motorsport Ireland Young Rally Driver of the Year, had his best result yet in another Ford Fiesta R5 finishing just 10 seconds after Greer. Greer, Henry and Devine had a great battle for second place on and off over the two days, but it was to be Henry’s fastest times on 3 of the last 4 stages that gave him second place. Greer was never out of the top 5 fastest times on all 15 stages. Fifth place in another Fiesta R5, went to Alastair Fisher and Gordon Noble just over 14 seconds behind young Devine and Sam Moffett, former Tarmac Champion, landed in sixth place.
The Hyundai i20 R5 of Welsh driver Meirion Evans and co-driver Jonathan Jackson was seventh, some 50 seconds behind Sam. Josh Moffett who won the UAC Easter Stages Rally last year, started with the fastest time on the first stage. However, he suffered an electrical fault on his second run over the Tardree stage which saw him take 90 seconds more than his first run. He dropped to 19th on the road, but battled his way back to finish a credible eighth.
Manus Kelly and Rory Kennedy steered another Hyundai i20 R5 into ninth slot and Alan Carmichael and Arthur Kierans, also in a Hyundai i20 R5, rounded off the top ten and also took the overall Modified title.
The overall Historic title was taken by Craig MacWilliam and Trevor Hamilton in their beautiful Ford Escort RS1600. William Mavitty and Andrew Browne piloted their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX to win the WJ (Bill) Kinnear Trophy for Group N cars.
There were actually three rallies incorporated into one over the Easter weekend. The two day National ‘B’ competitors battled for the honour of the BIF trophy which was awarded to Alan Smyth and Mac Kierans in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X in first place. The Hall Brothers trophy for second place was won by Camillus Bradley and Crawford Henderson in their Ford Escort. Completing the
trio for the Joe Pat O’Kane was Sean Devine and Elaine Ni She in a Ford Fiesta R5.
The second day of the event saw additional competitors challenge for the Rothman’s Salver on the UAC Easter Stages Saturday Rally which was won by Kenny McKinstry and Kenny Hull.
The organisers would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who supported the event, marshals, officials, volunteers, sponsors, residents, businesses, competitors and their crews, emergency services and many others, you all made it safe, successful, enjoyable and great craic!
A full set of results can be found on the event website: https://uaceasterstages.com
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