Desi Henry wins as Lakelands Rally concludes the 2019 Forestry Championship
With Cathan McCourt having secured the Valvoline Motorsport Ireland Forestry Championship for 2019 on the previous round in Cork, much of the interest on the final round was in the battle for the remaining class places.
The Trailer Parts & Spares Lakelands Rally is one of the most popular in the calendar and just under 100 crews started. At the end of the six challenging stages Desi Henry took the overall win, but second place for Sam Moffett was enough to see the Monaghan driver who was champion in 2017 finish third overall in the championship on a tie break. Moffett had challenged for the lead for much of the event but mechanical problems forced him to conserve the car to get to the finish. Cathan McCourt put in a late charge to catch Moffett but fell short by just 11 seconds on his way to third place.
Tenth overall was enough to secure Michael Carbins position as runner up in the championship while Niall McCullagh and Conor McCourt finished level on points with Sam Moffett but finished fourth and fifth respectively when tie break conditions were worked out. Class 13 was decided on the Lakelands with Shane McGirr and David Crossen both retiring leaving John Gordon as the class winner while David Condell wrapped up Class 14 after a successful trip to Fermanagh. Shane Kenneally is the winner of Class 16 (juniors) while Class 4 went the way of Niall McCullagh after a very consistent season. The championship prize giving will take place in Portlaoise on the 23rd November and more details will be provided shortly on what promises to be a great night.
Photos attached are courtesy of Kevin Glendinning
