1^st (7) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Impreza WRC) 2.49.35

2^nd (3) Derek McGarrity/Chris Patterson (Impreza WRC) 2.52.40

3^rd (5) Eamonn Boland/Anthony Nestor (Impreza WRC) 2.52.54

4^th (2) Austin McHale/Brian Murphy (Corolla WRc) 2.55.49

5^th (9) Niall Maguire/Paul McLaughlin (Impreza WRC) 2.56.16

6^th (6) David Greer/Michael Reid (Corolla WRC) 2.57.02

7^th (19) Trevor Cathers/Gordon Noble (Lancer N) 2.58.34

8^th (10) Brendan Kelly/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 3.01.18

9^th (26) Dickie Curran/Gary Lyons (Lancer N) 3.01.59

10^th (14) Maurice Gass/Geoffrey Orr (Impreza WRC) 3.03.54

Just outside leaderboard – David Armstrong 3.04.06: Patrick Elliott 3.05.04: Philip Shaw 3.05.33: Donie O’Sullivan 3.05.35: Adrian McElvaney 3.07.02: Just outside that we have Aaron McHale closed to within 8s of Martin Doherty in the fight for 16^th and 5^th in gpN, then its Norman Armstrong and Gene Meegan.

Out at the front of the rally Andrew Nesbitt continues to set fastest times – through Fall Brae Andrew was on 8.12 as against Boland 8.15, McHale and Maguire on 8.16 and McGarrity on 8.20. On the second visit to Knockmanny Nesbitt recorded 8.27, Boland 8.31, McHale 8.40, Maguire and McGarrity 8.43. Nesbitt commented "Taking it very steady now, the stages are a bit drier although the Easter Stages people have pulled out a lot of mud." A big focus of attention must be the battle for 2^nd place, Eamonn Boland had been off the road briefly on stage 24 and this seems to have given McGarrity what could be construed as a false sense of security because he has eased back considerably through stages 25 and 26. There is just one 8 mile stage remaining and Boland is 14s back. McGarrity seems fairly confident and not at all flustered, remarking "Yes, I’ve eased way back, I’m afraid of bursting the car, the rear end. 14s should be more than enough". Eamonn Boland said "Yes, we were off the road, but it was into soft mud, the car feels good, no suspension damage".

Behind the top 3, Austin McHale tells us that he is now just driving to the finish, but still doing more than enough to keep Maguire at bay. David Greer in 6^th place reports his Corolla misfire to have disappeared and that he really enjoyed the last couple of stages.

Group N leader Trevor Cathers is way out on his own now, still going hard but struggling a bit with power steering that has lost it’s power. Brendan Kelly is rueful about that trip into a field, but there is little damage and Brendan is enjoying himself. Patrick Elliott continues to sit just outside the leaderboard, an overshoot in stage 26 not helping his cause.

EAST STAGES RECAP – Eugene Donnelly leading after 3 stages from Trevor Moore, James Gillen 3^rd, Glenn Allen 4^th and Kieran Shaw 5^th. In NI championship terms McGarrity is going faster than any of the Easter Stages people, and if he finishes the last stage OK should score maximum NI points. More later.BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON