Donegal success in thrilling Mayo Stages Rally after incident filled event

Donegal's Donagh Kelly has won the Mayo Stages Rally.

Driving a VW Polo R5, he finished 30.8 seconds ahead of Roy White and James O'Brien in a Ford Fiesta WRC, with Gary Kiernan and Ray Moore third in a Ford Escort, a further 38.3 seconds behind.

There was a titanic battle between Kelly and his co-driver Conor Foley and Josh Moffett and his co-driver Andy Hayes in a Hyundai R5 for most of the afternoon.

Moffett has fuel pressure problems and did not start stage nine, which left Kelly in a very strong position as he drove to victory.

This was the first round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship for 2020.

Moffett was fastest over the first stage and set the pace over the following stages.

At the end of special stage four Moffett was 17 seconds ahead of Peadar Hurson and Damien Connolly in a VW Polo R5 as Kelly dropped down to third.

But Kelly was back into second spot after the sixth stage and the gap was 21.6 seconds.

Moffet lost a lot of time on stage eight and Kelly was just 8.5 seconds adrift going into the ninth and final stage, with Roy White and James O'Brien a distant third in a Ford Fiesta WRC.

 For the full results, see  https://results.shannonsportsit.ie/results.php