Greer survives wicked Kirkistown conditions to win NI Rally opener
Jonny Greer and Niall Burns proved too hard to catch on the Northern Ireland Rally Championship’s Echlinville Distillery Stage Rally opener.
The reigning champions clinched a 15.3-second win over Stuart Biggerstaff and Anthony Nestor in desperately difficult weather on the Ards Peninsula race circuit.
Greer’s Citroen C3 Rally2 made a perfect getaway, winning Kirkistown’s first two greasy stages. The Carryduff driver was unsure if he was being too cautious in mixed-grip conditions but his approach gave him a 7.9-second lead over Derek McGarrity after stage two.
Greer and McGarrity both had to make evasive action on stage one when they found a tyre pulled out by another car lying the middle of the track.
Philip Allen was third after the opening two stages but was less than impressed with his driving on stage two. The Volkswagen Polo R5 driver rued trying to brake too deep into corners as it resulted in a scrappy performance on the slippery stage.
Jason Dickson had a nightmare start to his rally, spinning on the first corner, sending his Ford Fiesta Rally2 into the grass. He made amends on the next test though to climb five places to seventh.
Emma McKinstry was an impressive fifth overall after stage one just over five seconds off Greer’s early benchmark. The NI Rally regular slipped up on stage two, though. McKinstry misjudged Kirkistown’s bottom hairpin, pulling the handbrake, spinning, and getting stuck in a set of tyres.
Stage two was Aaron McLaughlin’s time to shine as he recovered from a disappointing stage one. McLaughlin went second fastest, 12.7 seconds quicker than his previous effort.
The Donegal driver lay fifth overall but his round one positivity wouldn’t last much longer. McLaughlin overshot on stage three and went off the road three more times. Chances of a stage four comeback dimensioned when his windscreen fogged up in the heavy rain. Allen was another to struggle on stage three. His slick tyre choice didn’t suit the incoming burst of rain and had no grip to offer as the front-right of his Polo struck a bale.
Biggerstaff was the man on form as Kirkistown’s conditions worsened. The Kinallen man set the fastest time on stage three as “everything started to click.” The smile across his face told the story and an equally impressive time on stage four had him up to second, within 5.3 seconds of leader Greer.
Greer, meanwhile, had his rally lead flash across his eyes on an incredibly wet fourth stage. After a cloud-burst rain-shower, his Citroen was the first to sample the flooded circuit stage. Greer was grateful to make the end of the stage after surviving several aquaplane moments, getting caught behind Allen’s Polo, and sliding off the road at the flying finish.
Allen and Greer got a bit too close for comfort again on the penultimate Echlinville Distillery stage. Allen was confused by a marshal location on one of Kirkistown’s hairpins. The Polo driver had stopped to figure out what to do and in turn caught Greer by surprise when his Citroen arrived.
While Greer posted his third stage win of the day to extend his lead over Biggerstaff to 8.4 seconds, Allen plummeted down the standings from third to eighth.
McLaughlin had found his happy place on stage five, finding more grip and being able to see through his windscreen helped him climb up to fourth, 14.7 seconds behind McGarrity.
The top five positions stayed as they were on the final stage. Greer kept it tidy to secure his first win of the year, Biggerstaff had to settle for second as the conditions dried, McGarrity was frustrated to have caught cars during the day and finished on the final podium position. McLaughlin and Dickson completed the top five with Peadar Hurson slipping into sixth ahead of an impressive Marty Toner who was driving his Proton S2500 for the first time.
Colin Price and Bill Regan were the pacesetters in two-wheel-drive. Price taking a 16.5-second victory on his first event since last year’s Killarney Rally of the Lakes.
The two-wheel-drive race was initially led by Barry Morris and Ronan Comerford who pipped Price by 2.2 seconds on Kirkistown’s opener. Morris had a new Darrian T90 on show at the championship opener and looked a likely winner until gear shift failure put him out of the rally the second test.
Jaye Nevin, Jonny Cargo, and James Kennedy traded places in the fight for second over the succeeding stages.
Kennedy clipped a bale in Kirkistown’s gravel section on stage two but lived to tell the tale. He fought back with a series of rapid times to climb up to second in two-wheel-drive with two stages to go.
Nevin gradually fell away from the fight with Kennedy, getting stuck behind a car on stage five didn’t help his cause. Still, he managed to seal a two-wheel-drive podium aboard his Peugeot 205.
Jamie Grant fought back from stage three misdemeanour. His Toyota Starlet slid backwards into a bale and ended up in a field. Grant punched in some top three times to move ahead of Cargo in fourth.
It was an eventful day for Adrian Grant, meanwhile. His Ford Escort jump-started stage one, had an open throttle scare on stage three, and jammed windscreen wipers on a washed-out stage four. He stayed in good humour to finish 12th in two-wheel-drive. Final Note: Car 12 (Michael McGarrity) has asked if anyone has spotted his Skoda Fabia R5’s rear bumper to please get in touch!
Photos by Neillpics – William Neill
