Clonakilty driver Darragh O’Donovan wins Irish Tarmac Junior Rally Championship

IN a year where elation and disappointment were separated by an extremely thin line, Clonakilty’s Darragh O’Donovan (Honda Civic) finally achieved a long-held ambition when he clinched the Irish Tarmac Junior Rally Championship with a facile victory in last weekend’s Newry-based Modern Tyres Ulster Rally.

From South Ring, Darragh and his Lisavaird co-driver Michael White were a class apart in the event where they ran out winners by over four minutes.

The permutations ahead of the title decider were relatively straightforward given the series is based on the best five scores from seven rounds. They trailed leaders Rylane’s Robbie O’Hanlon (Honda Civic) and his Donegal co-driver Oisin Joyce by a mere two points. Whichever crew finished highest in the Ulster Rally would claim the title.

The remnants of Storm Betty made sections of some stages quite tricky to negotiate. Indeed, the Junior crews were unable to tackle their first stage (SS5) due to a stage blockage from the main event. Out on SS6, Tyrone’s Ditches, O’Donovan set a good pace but his championship rival O’Hanlon retired with driveshaft failure. Within an instant, the landscape changed with O’Donovan needing to finish to become champion. He entered SS7 with a lead of two minutes from Portadown’s Joshua Baird (Vauxhall Corsa). The West Cork crew were quickest on all the stages and ran out comfortable winners by four minutes and 21.4 seconds.

‘It still hasn’t sunk in, but I’m absolutely over the moon. I have wanted this (championship win) for so long,’ O’Donovan told The Southern Star at the finish ramp at the Modern Tyres complex (a superb service park facility).

‘On the first stage we were trying to go as hard as we could, but still being clean and tidy. Unfortunately for Robbie (Hanlon) he broke a driveshaft and he was out. At that point we had a lead of two minutes and it was a case of minding it and bringing it home.’

On the conditions, he added, ‘They were very slippy and changeable, you would go through a section that was dry and abrasive and then all of a sudden you would encounter a wet and muddy section. It was the same on the repeat of the stages in the afternoon. It was a case of setting a pace and maintaining concentration.’

As he headed for the 400+ kilometre journey home, O’Donovan concluded, ‘We knew we had the right car and if we drove to our strengths and abilities we might be able to do it. The reliability was there today and the luck as well. It's a lifelong dream achieved. It wouldn’t have been possible without our sponsors.’

Meanwhile, Barryroe co-driver Dylan Doonan, who was competing in the main event with Letterkenny’s Justin McCauley (Ford Escort) finished third in Class N6 and secured enough points to win the co-driver’s title within the McEvoy Motorsport sponsored modified category of the ITRC.

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Ballylickey’s Robert Cronin returns to the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB series this weekend for Rounds 10, 11 and 12 at Donington Park. This will be his fourth series of races and having finished fourth in the ninth round in Croft a few weeks ago, he will be eager to bring a similar pace to Donington.

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In karting, Ballymakeery’s Keith Grant won the Junior X-30 category at the Irish Kart Grand Prix at Nutts Corner near Lisburn last weekend. He netted two second places and a third place in the three heats and was second in the Pre-Final. It was his first-ever win in the category.