Rally : Easter treat for Evans - FORD WRC

Crews headed to service at Newry, and with no major problems to report, a general check- over of the cars was all that was required. Competitors then headed back out for the afternoon stages, a repeat of the morning loop.

Stage 4, a repeat of SS1 would be another win for Fisher again followed by Evans. McBride, Quinn and Wright would trail with Barry Greer (20) and John Lemon from Carryduff rounding off the Fiesta crews. Quinn's fourth-fastest time meant he would leapfrog Greer to take fifth place overall.

Stage 5, the penultimate stage of the rally, a repeat of SS2 Legananny, would again cause drama for the top crews. Fisher reported a problem with his fuel tank, a loose connection meaning reduced fuel pressure, dropping over 30 seconds to Evans and with it the rally lead. Fisher would clear the stage and end up with a 17.2 second deficit to Evans going into the final stage – a tall order with only 8.8 competitive km remaining.

Quinn would be second-fastest on the stage only six seconds behind Evans. McBride was third-fastest and Greer continued his improvement in times, finishing fourth quickest.

SS6, the final stage, was a repeat of SS3, the 8.8km of Slieve Rosley. Fisher would start the stage but an effect of the technical gremlin on the previous stage would mean a retirement for Fisher, a cruel blow for the crew that had led for most of the day.

However a consistent fast pace from Evans meant he had been in touch with Fisher all day and after the problems for Fisher, Evans held his nerve and took the win. Paul Quinn again showed his potential pace with a second-quickest time, and without the early off, he could have challenged for a podium position. However, rounding off the top three were both championship newcomers for 2008, McBride and Wright. Both crews were ecstatic with podium positions on only their second event in the cars.

The continued use of Maxol E85 bio-ethanol fuel and the Pirelli tyres meant that the stage times set by the Fiesta crews were again the talk of the rally, with the on-stage performance of Elfyn Evans and Alastair Fisher, enough to put them 5th overall in the International Rally, ahead of the 4WD Gp.N cars: a remarkable achievement in the 2WD, non-turbo-charged Fiestas.

The most improved driver of the day was Adrian McBride, who climbed eight places in the day.

The next round of the series will be the Killarney Rally of the Lakes on 4 May 2008.

Elfyn Evans:
"We are over the moon with back-to-back wins in the Irish Series. There was a lot of hard work before the event preparing the new car but all the effort by the GEMsport team paid off with a maiden victory for the brand new car. The rally was a difficult one with some big crests and tough roads but to come away with the victory made the Easter vacation for the team a great experience. Our next aim in Ireland is to make it three out of three!"

FINAL RESULTS

Pos  Driver/Co-Driver     Overall time     Diff.  Points
1    E. Evans/G. Roberts       49.28.7                30
2    A. McBride/R. Hicks       51.16.4  +1.47.7s      25
3    S. Wright/A. McAdoo       51.34.5    +18.1s      22 
4    P. Quinn/G. McRam         51.57.7    +23.2s      20
5    B. Greer/J. Lemon         52.03.6    +05.9s      18

CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR

Date           Event                          Location
3 February     Galway Rally                   Galway City
23 March       UAC Easter Rally               Newcastle
4 May          Killarney Rally of the Lakes   Killarney
14 June        Donegal Rally                  Letterkenny
23 August      Ulster Rally                   Armagh
28 September   Cork '20' Rally                Cork City