RARELY HAS THE finish of the Donegal International Rally been so emotionally charged, as was evident on Sunday night at the prizegiving.
Manus Kelly and Donall Barrett were given a standing ovation after their epic winning of the event, becoming only the third ever all-Donegal crew to score an outright win across the tough terrain.
They did it by the very skin of their teeth, too, having just 0.5 of a second to spare on Keith Cronin.
The Glenswilly-Milford crew came off Atlantic Drive with 9.4 seconds to make up, but they did just that on Fanad Head.
Only Vincent Bonner and Seamus McGettigan in 1983 and Declan Boyle and Brian Boyle in 2014 have won it with an all-Donegal partnership and the weekend’s win certainly slots Kelly and Barrett into the annals.
[adrotate group=”70″]It was the tightest rally in history and the most memorable, particularly for the manner of the finish.
Kelly made up 12 seconds on the first running of High Glen on Sunday morning, but when the second loop of Glen was cancelled due to live electricity wires being on the road it looked as if he was running out of road.
It had been a weekend of intense drama. Garry Jennings and Rory Kennedy, the defending champions, bowed out after just one stage on Friday, the Impreza’s engine giving up.
Donagh Kelly, the Irish Tarmac champion, was gone on Saturday afternoon when the turbo gave way, giving the Boyles what seemed an unassailable advantage of almost two minutes.
But when the cars came off the final stage on Saturday, Gartan, there was no sign of Boyle’s Fiesta. Parked up at the Glebe Gallery, Boyle’s rally was over after the latest bout of mechanical difficulties that have beset him in the car.
Seamus Leonard held the lead at that point, but there was another twist overnight. Sam Moffett had been impeded on SS11, Carnhill, when he stopped with Alastair Fisher and Moffett appealed his time. Donegal Motor Club officials convened late in the night and Moffett’s adjusted time meant that he was the new leader when the crews snaked out of Parc Ferme on Sunday morning.
And yet the tale was only just beginning.
Kelly and Barrett lost a minute and a half on Saturday when the WRC Impreza ended up in a field near Barrett’s house on Garrygort, but they roared back into contention again.
Twelve months ago, they won the national rally in a MK 2 Escort and they’ve now become the first men to win a national-international back-to-back in Donegal.
The scenes at the end of Fanad Head stage at Portsalon were unprecedented, as were those at the Mount Errigal, where a huge crowd of family and supporters turned out to greet the new kings of Donegal.
Geraldine Diver was on hand at the Mount Errigal and took these cracking pictures. Click below to view the gallery.
