Delight for Gary McElhinney at experience - and result - in Rally de España

Laghy’s Gary McElhinney finished 26th at Rally de España at the weekend.

In the FIA World Rally Championship event, McElhinney was co-driving for British driver Seb Perez in an R5 Fiesta, prepped by M-Sport.

McElhinney linked up with Perez five years ago and is now his regular co-driver. The pair are competing in the British Rally Championship this year and at the end of November will tackle the five-day Roger Albert Clark Rally in a custom built Mk2 Escort.

“The weekend went very well,” McElhinney told Donegal Live.

“That was Seb’s first time making notes from scratch. We did a three-day event, the  550 Mallorca Challenge the week before and won it outright.

“M-Sport made it all so easy and so professional. It was absolutely perfect. We faced a different opposition and were in with the best in the world. To finish 25th overall against some very heavy competition was unbelievable.”

A three-car team that comprised Perez, British driver Gus Greensmith and Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux took part.

For McElhinney, being part of an official works team for a WRC event was a huge moment.

He said: “I would have been at WRC events, leaning over the fence and asking these boys for pictures. Suddenly I was eating dinner with them in the evening and had them asking how my day was going.

“It was mega for me. I’ve always wanted to have a go at it. To be there and getting the same treatment as the Priority One crews was just a brilliant experience.”

Perez and McElhinney competed mainly in the Porsche Carrera Cup before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic slowed that competition down.