McKinstry wins Winter Stages Rally at Kirkistown
Veteran rally driver Kenny McKinstry took his Triton Subaru WRC to victory at a cold but snow free Winter Stages Rally at Kirkistown; the Banbridge ace finished some 7 seconds clear of the Mini WRC driven by Derek McGarrity while Jonny Greer completed the top three in his Citroen DS3 R5.
McKinstry won four of the six special stages (all within the confines of the race circuit) and the other two, stages one and three went the way of McGarrity.
Amongst the leading retirements was last year’s winner Kieran Graffin, he was out after three stages as a result of a gearbox problem with his Mitsubishi.
The event also featured the opening round of the Junior Rally Championship with Josh McErlean the top points scorer with his Peugeot 107.
Round two of this series will be back at the County Down venue next month.
1. Kenny McKinstry/Noel Orr (Subaru WRC) 27m 52.2s
2. Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Mini WRC) 27m 59.9s
3. Jonny Greer/Barry Greer (Citroen DS3 R5) 28m 46.7s
4. Emma McKinstry/Ian Hull (Subaru Impreza) 29m 03.5s
5 Drew Stewart/Steven Park (Ford Escort) 29m 35.2s
6. Dominic McNeill/Tommy Speers (Mitsusbishi EVO) 29m 51.1s
Class winners: Ashley Dickson/Jackie Elliott (Mitsubishi EVO) 30m 09.5s; Colin Price/James Stevenson (Opel Corsa GSi) 31m 40.4s; Kyle White/Wendy Blackledge (Citroen C2) 30m 32.7s; David Strain/Rudy Tate (Peugeot 205) 31m 38.5s; Drew Stewart/Steven Park; Dessie McCartney/Maurice Jellie (Darrian T90) no time given; Kenny McKinstry/Noel Orr; Derek McGarrity/James McKee.
Junior Rally Championship
1. Josh McErlean/Thomas McErlean (Peugeot 107) 33m 25.9s
2. Daniel Harper/Andrew Bushe (Peugeot 107) 33m 31.2s
3. Peter Bennett/Arthur Kierans (Citroen C1) 33m55.1s.
