Leitrim driver David Thompson scored a rare overall victory for a large saloon when his Nova headed all the favourites to win the TDC Howard Wilde Memorial Autotest at Mondello Park, his second outright win in just over a year.

Thompson was involved in a split second duel with defending Hewison champion and current points leader Ian White for the early part of the day, with just one tenth of a second separating them after the first four tests.

However, the Kilkenny man’s Mini Special then broke a driveshaft, costing him a 20 second penalty and leaving Thompson with a clear lead, which he held to the finish. Guy Foster and Daniel Byrne had a close battle for second place, with Foster taking the position by less than a second, while White had to be content with fourth place.