DERRY RALLY DRIVER CALLUM DEVINE, a member of the Donegal Motor Club and a regular competitor in these parts, had a superb run at the weekend in Killarney.Devine was the top two-wheel drive car at the Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally of the Lakes.
It was a significant result to repay the faith shown in Callum by the Billy Coleman award panel for the nomination for the start of the year.
The finish was important to get Callum and Keith Moriarty’s Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac challenge back on track after a troubled run on the Circuit of Ireland Rally.
Driving their Opel Adam R2, Callum and Keith got off to a strong start on the opening Gortnagane stage taking 24 seconds out of their nearest class rival and by first service they had extended their lead to 44 seconds.
Indeed, the changeable weather continued throughout the day with scattered showers rolling over Co. Kerry. Despite this, Devine went on to take fastest times on the rest of the days tests to lead the R2 category by well over two and half minutes at the end of day one. For the Derry/ Limerick pairing it was a perfect day.
Devine took another fastest R2 time to stretch his lead to just over three minutes on the opening stage on Sunday and they took the decision to reduce their pace slightly to preserve the car and safeguard a strong points haul in the Irish Tarmac Championship, the FIA Celtic Cup and the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship.
Despite slowing his pace slightly in the closing stages, Devine finished the event with 14 fastest times from a possible 16 taking the R2 win by almost six minutes.
[adrotate group=”46″]Speaking at the finish ramp back at the Gleneagle Hotel Devine said: “It’s a dream result after the disappointment at the Circuit.
“It was a fantastic Rally of the Lakes for us. Keith has done another brilliant job on the notes, the guys in service have ran the car faultlessly for me all weekend. This result has helped us with a good points haul in the Tarmac Championship and leaves us in a great place going to Donegal in June.”
The next round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship and FIA Celtic Cup is the Joule Donegal International Rally on June 17th – 19th, based in Letterkenny.
[adrotate group=”43″]Keep up to date on Callum Devine’s build up to Donegal on Twitter (@CallumDevine27) and Facebook (callum devine rallying) or at wwwcallumdevine.com. Callum is competing this season with the support of Fyth.co.uk, Premier Car Parts, Springhill Springs and A. Daly Groundworks.
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