Local driver Alan Ring and co-driver Adrian Deasy scored a popular home win on Sunday’s Fels Point Hotel Circuit of Kerry Rally. The Subaru Impreza driver’s eventual winning margin on the six stage event was 12.6 seconds over Belfast driver Derek McGarrity.

Ring took an early lead which he held all the way to the end however it was anything other than a routine victory with only 5.5 seconds covering the top three cars entering the final stage. Ring pulled out all the stops on the final stage securing his win in emphatic style with a fastest time. Second placed McGarrity, a former Circuit of Kerry winner, was embroiled in a day long battle with UK driver Steve Wood, finally overhauling him on the last stage of the rally. Wood’s third place completed a Subaru lockout on the podium, in fact the top six places were all filled by the Japanese manufacturer. Daniel Cronin had a stunning drive in his ageing Subaru to take fourth overall with Shane Buckley on the notes while Kevin Barrett and Paddy McVeigh completed the top six.

Top two wheel drive team were the Ford Escort crew of Paul Purtill and Paul Kelly who finished in seventh place, 11.7 seconds ahead of the Limerick/Monaghan pairing of Barry Ryan and Emmet Sherry. Eoin Doyle and Ed Synan rounded off the top ten. In the Group N category, Paul Barrett took the honours and finished fifteenth overall in his Subaru Impreza. Philip McKibbin won the historic section in his immaculate Mark 1 Ford Escort while Sean McGrath and Billy Shealy won the junior section in their Honda Civic.

In the British Touring Car Championship, Dublin driver Aron Smith had a dramatic weekend in his Volkswagen Passat. A brake issue prevented him making the start of race one of the Donnington Park meeting but Smith battled back to finish twelfth in race two and sixth in the day’s final race to leave himself ninth in the championship standings, twenty five points off leader Matt Neale. In the Micksgarage.com Irish Touring Car Championship, Rod McGovern had an impressive weekend winning race one and finishing second in race two in his Seat Leon. Niall Quinn won the second race of the meeting, also in a Seat Leon.