'If I was told last week I'd be on the podium, I wouldn't have believed it' - Kelly

It was a case of never giving in for David Kelly and Dean O'Sullivan as they reached the podium on Sunday evening in Letterkenny to finish in a remarkable third position at the Donegal International Rally.

After a day of high drama, the all-Donegal crew, in their VW Polo, finished 26.4 seconds off the leaders and eventual winners, Callum Devine and Noel O'Sullivan, and nine seconds behind Meirion Evans in second, but the overall time didn't matter in the end for the Donegal Town driver, as he marched to the podium spot after what was a superb weekend for him overall.

"If somebody told me last week that I'd be on the podium, I don't know if I would've believed them to be honest, but we worked hard, and I had it in the back of my head from Saturday evening that it was achievable, but I didn't know how achievable it was, but hard work has now paid off for myself and Dean," Kelly said following his 2024 Donegal Rally finish. 

"We have a great team behind us and we're really thankful to them. It worked out for us, we pushed hard and we knew the pace we had to get to, and thankfully we're here now."

The pressure was on to keep his place as Kelly eventually found a podium spot as he entered the final stage of the rally in Fanad after he produced the fastest time in Gartan with a time of 6.59.03, which was one of several stages where the Donegal Town man topped the board with the fastest time.

Despite a few nervous turns, Kelly was able to hold his composure on the final stage of the day as he romped home in third place overall.

"There were a couple of moments for us where it could've been all over, we were actually off the road in Fanad at one point early on, but we kept going, we're delighted with the result and we're happy for Callum (Devine) and Noel (O'Sullivan) too for putting in a serious run throughout," Kelly said.