Lurgan Park Rally 2008, Kevin Lynch wins five in a row, Mark Higgins second and Kenny McKinstry third
In a repeat of last year's top three result Dungiven's Kevin Lynch, in his Subaru S12b, dominated the 2008 Turkington Lurgan Park Rally to record fastest time on all but one of the stages. Mark Higgins, in the ex-Panizzi/Galli MMSP Lancer WRC, claimed second again but this was no repeat of last year's rally where Higgins lead until he slid off the road. The conditions were much more favourable this time and after a damp start the day became drier with sunshine by the afternoon.
Lynch unstoppable again for the fifth time in a row
Lynch commented to RallyNews.net on his victory:
I'm very happy. It was a good result on a unique event. The rally is all about commitment, it's easy to make a mistake and although I had a couple of misdemeanours we got away with it."
Kenny McKinstry (Subaru S8) finished third but felt he was out of contention from the start due to not running intermediate tyres on the first couple of stages. Fourth was Darren Gass (S11) who had one of the drives of the day in only his second appearance in a WRCar. Fifth was Charlie Donnelly who decided to use the Corolla as opposed to the Fabia and Glenn Allen was sixth after a day long battle with Peadar Hurson (S10).
Higgins with the very professional MMSP outfit
He had to be content with 2nd again
Group N saw a very close battle between John McGlaughlin and Garry Jennings and it was linning up to be the battle of the day until both retired on SS6 . Jennings hitting a concrete bollard and McClaughlin retiring with transmission problems. Group N ended up being won by Gary Rodgers in his Evo 9.
Hurson was only warming up by the end and finished 7th
The MK2 Challenge was won, for third year in a row, by Wesley Patterson who finished ahead of Phil Collins with Camillus Bradley third. Kris Meeke suffered from sticking brakes to finish fourth MK2.
Thrills and spills in "The Park" 08
Top Six Results
1. Kevin Lynch/Francis Regan (Subaru WRC) 14m. 52.4s.
2. Mark Higgins/Michael Gibson (Mitsubishi WRC) 15m. 03.4s.
3. Kenny McKinstry/Susan McKinstry (Subaru WRC) 15m. 11.1s.
4. Darren Gass/Sam Cross (Subaru WRC) 15m. 14.4s.
5. Charlie Donnelly/Noel Downey (Toyota Corolla WRC) 15m. 25.2s.
6. Glenn Allen/Brian McCracken (Toyota Corolla WRC) 15m. 28.9s.
Full results: http://www.lurganparkrally.com/results/index.htm
Special mention goes to entertainer of the day Trevor Harding, in a Group A Impreza, who was sideways at every possible opportunity and performed a number of donuts on the final stage.
Images RallyBuzz
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