A brilliant drive from Sam Moffett & Karl Atkinson in a Ford Fiesta R5 saw them move from third overnight to take victory in the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes in Killarney, and also take the lead of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship with three of the six rounds completed. Setting a string of fastest times on the second day Moffett soon overhauled his championship rival Robert Barrable in a Hyundai i20 R5 to move into second place just 20 seconds behind long time rally leader Roy White with three stages remaining. When White retired from the lead after an accident Moffett kept his cool and held off a late charge from Barrable to win by sixteen seconds, while Stephen Wright in another Fiesta R5 took the final podium position.
Alastair Fisher had led the championship going into this round but after leading in the early stages, he crashed out on the fourth stage. He did re-join under Rally 2 on the second day with a view to getting some points but still drops to second behind Moffett in the championship. Kevin Eves and Barry Jones won the Modified and Historic Categories respectively and both are now leading those championships while John McCabe took his second maximum score of the season in the Junior Championship after finishing second overall. A full report will appear on this site in the coming days.