This was one of the closest finishes on the International Circuit of Ireland for years with the honours going to Waterford man Craig Breen, co driven by Scott Martin in his Peugeot 208 T16. Craig did not make it easy for himself as he put his Peugeot off the road on the penultimate stage to allow Kajetanowicz to close to within 5s before the tough final stage. Craig admitted he made a real mess of the final stage over the first few kilometres, but his co driver Scott Martin settled him down and he drove really well towards the end to win by 6.4s. He was emotional when he climbed out of his Peugeot, in fact he was in tears, he said. `I am practically speechless. I do not believe it. I had an overshoot and a stall in that last stage. All my life it has been my dream to win the Circuit of Ireland and now I have emulated my hero, Frank Meagher, who won it 20 years ago`. Craig now provisionally leads the European Championship.
Polish rally champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz was gracious in defeat and he said. `I did my best. This was an amazing rally. I congratulate Craig and I like to thank my own team`. Third placed Josh Moffett commented. `We thought before Easter that to be in the top 10 in a European Championship Rally would be good, and for me now to be on the podium is amazing`. Josh`s brother Sam who finished 4th now moves into the lead of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Tarmac Championship, with 40 points. Donagh Kelly is 2nd on 32 and Josh Moffett 3rd on 31. Charles Martin drove a solid rally to finish 5th. Jonny Greer is 6th on stage times but his Citroen went on fire at the finish of the last stage. He got the fire out but the wiring is damaged and he is struggling to make the finish in Belfast., Emil Bergkvist won the Junior category by just a few seconds from Gribel Marijan, both in Opel Adams. Jonny Greer completed the final stage in his R5 DS3 but an engine fire prevented him making the Titanic finish.
We will have a more complete report on both the National and International rallies in our weekly Irish Notes.
BRIAN & LIZ PATERSON & MICHAEL & ZOE PATTERSON www.rallynews.net *Follow RallyNews on Twitter @Pacenotes or @Real_RallyNews
