CLONAKILTY’S Cal McCarthy, co-driven by Ballincollig’s Brian Duggan, took his Carbery Plastics/Clonakilty Park Hotel Citroen C3 Rally2 to second overall in Sunday’s Clonmel-based Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally, the final round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.

For a time, Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) and his Ladysbridge co-driver Padraig O'Donovan were on course for a podium place but a puncture on SS7 dropped them well down the order.

Donegal’s Eamonn Kelly (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) and his Sligo co-driver Niall Burns took victory, their first national rally success. They finished a minute and seven seconds ahead of McCarthy/Duggan with Clare's Padraig Egan/Tomas Ryan (Ford Escort) 8.3 seconds further behind in third.

There were a number of West Cork competitors among the class winners. Ballylickey’s Robert Cronin and his Tipperary co-driver Paddy Heffernan made a successful debut with a Ford Fiesta Rally3, winning the category and finishing 15th overall.

Class 11F had a very strong local theme as Macroom’s Barry O'Brien (Honda Civic) and his Rossmore co-driver Declan Buttimer took a 4.2-second victory over Clonakilty’s Eamonn and Lisa McCarthy (Honda Civic). McCarthy led through the opening loop with O’Brien in fourth, although they only got one competitive stage due to blockages. On the repeat loop, with McCarthy still on a wet tyre, O’Brien moved into second after SS4, 6.5 seconds behind. The deficit came down to 1.5 seconds on SS5. Neither had a competitive run on SS6. In a competitive battle, O’Brien continued to take time and went ahead by 1.6 seconds on the penultimate stage before taking a 4.2-second victory on the final stage.

Elsewhere, Skibbereen’s Pat Calnan (Honda Civic) and Leap’s Amy Gallwey came out best in Class 3. Ballylickey’s Cyril Casey (Ford Fiesta R2) and Clondrohid's Eoghan McCarthy finished fifth in Class 2A to secure (provisionally) a respective fifth and third in the national campaign and second in the Top Part West Coast series. Bandon co-driver Daniel Seaman partnered Kilkenny's David Travers (Ford Fiesta) to second in Class 2A.

Daniel Cronin used the nine-stage re-arranged Clonmel event as an opportunity to test an IN Sport-prepared Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.

Conditions on the morning loop of three stages were wet and slippery. Not surprisingly, most drivers took a cautious approach. On SS1, Donegal’s Kevin Eves (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) punched in the fastest time, 3.1 seconds ahead of Cronin. Kelly was two seconds further behind. Tyrone’s Darragh Cairns (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) was next with McCarthy (fifth) the only other driver to complete the stage that was neutralised after Meath’s Tom Holton slid his Ford Fiesta Rally2 off the road.

Rally leader Eves had a moment on the second stage where Cronin had a slight overshoot and Kelly reckoned his Toyota GR Yaris was moving about on the stage.  In terms of stage times, all three were within 0.3 seconds of each other.

Cronin dropped time and a place on SS3 where Eves set a strong time to move 10.9 seconds ahead of his fellow Donegal driver Kelly, with Cronin another 1.6 seconds behind. Cairns and Egan followed as McCarthy lost fifth to the latter, albeit by a single second.

Although the roads began to dry for the repeat loop, it remained slippy in places. Out on SS4, Cronin lost time and admitted he should have been quicker while McCarthy was all of 13.9 seconds faster than the previous occasion (SS1). Kelly took stage wins on SS4 and SS5 to move within 7.9 seconds of rally leader Eves, Cronin lost vital seconds when he went wide on a square left, which left him trailing Kelly by 14.2 seconds. McCarthy, who began to feel more comfortable with the Citroen, picked up two places to move into fourth.

There was drama on SS6 when rally leader Eves slid off and retired instantly with a broken rear wheel. The stage was neutralised and no stage times were applied. Kelly arrived at the final service as rally leader from the West Cork duo of Cronin and McCarthy.

The drama continued on the first stage (SS7) of the final loop where rally leader Kelly clipped the front right wheel of his Toyota. Luckily, it didn't deflate. Cronin was less fortunate when he stopped and changed a punctured wheel, dropping to 62nd. McCarthy moved into second with Egan 2.5 seconds behind in third.

Cronin posted a stage win on the penultimate stage, moving up to 46th, while Kelly and Egan had the exact same time (3m. 55.6s) with McCarthy stopping the clock on 3m. 55.8s on the short but fast open stage.

On the final stage and in dry conditions, Kelly went on to secure his first national event victory. McCarthy ensured he finished second with a strong performance and a stage victory. Cronin eventually finished 35th.

'Within the first two miles (of SS1), I hit a rock and thought the wheel had gone down. I was cautious for a good part of the stage, but it was fine. It explained why I lost the time,’ McCarthy said.

‘I chipped away over the next few stages. Everyone in the top seven or eight seemed to have drama at one point or another, it was that kind of a day given the conditions.

‘I was pleased with the way I finished because in previous events I tended to slip back as the day went on, I knew I had to go hard on the final stage and everything worked out fine. That’s it for the season now.’