Enniskillen navigator Marshall Clarke sealed second overall in the WRC2 Championship after a fourth place finish on last weekend’s Wales Rally GB. Sitting alongside Quatari driver Adbulaziz Al Kuwari the pair braved difficult conditions in the Welsh forests to bring their Fiesta home in fourth position and leapfrog from fifth to second in the final championship standings.

In conditions that were alien to the Qatari driver who was more used to the dry dusty roads of his home continent, they fought their way through the wind and driving rain of the opening day to lie in sixth spot at the end of day one. They were producing a consistent run that was reflective of their season, and climbed another position to fifth after the opening three stages. With fellow country man Nasser Al Attiyah having already sealed the championship title, it looked as though Ukrainian Yuri Protasov was on course for the runners up position, but he hit problems on day two of the event sending him out of the rally and promoting Marshall and Al Kuwari to the runners up position.

With a comfortable gap both ahead and behind them on the leader board their task on the final day of the gruelling event was to get to the finish in their fourth position. Another steady final day performance ensured they did what was required, securing enough championship points to snatch second spot, one point ahead of Protasov.

The pair’s final rally of the season sees them return to the desert for Rally Dubai and the final round of the Middle east Rally Championship.

Martin McGarrity also made the trip from Fermanagh to take part in the final round of the World Rally Championship. Navigating for English driver Charlie Jenkins, the pair retired from the National Rally section after a promising start to their event.

“It was going really well,” said Martin. “The conditions were very tricky. There was so much surface water on one stage the screen misted up and our visibility was virtually zero. He was peering out of two binocular holes and I had to loosen the belts and look out where the tax disc was! We had got up to 12th overall in the national rally but the engine decided to let go on stage 10 on the second day when we only had two stages to go that day and 16 miles the next day.”