Alastair Fisher got his Irish Tarmac Rally Championship challenge back on track as he took maximum points on last weekend’s Circuit of Ireland Rally.
 The Trillick driver survived changeable conditions to finish third overall on the latest round of the championship, and with the early retirement of Keith Cronin he is now back in contention for the title after a non-finish on the previous event in West Cork. 
It was a successful event for other local competitors with Enniskillen navigator Barry McNulty partnering Derek McGarrity to victory in the National Rally, and Leroy Mills and Simon John Rogers winning class nine.
Fisher and co-driver Gordon Noble were up against a very strong field, with the Circuit benefitting from its inclusion in both the European and British Rally Championships. 
In addition to the top British and European drivers, WRC regulars Craig Breen and Elfin Evans were also back to battle for the rally win.
Alastair made a good start to his rally and looked set to resume his season long battle with early Irish Championship front runner Cronin, but his rival’s early demise opened the door for him. 
“We needed to back into contention in the championship and that was what we did,” he said. 
“We were fastest on the shakedown and third quickest in the qualifying, and that gave us a good boost at the start of the event. 
"We felt confident going into the stages and on the first stage we were third quickest, just a second behind Craig (Breen) which was good. 
"Then we heard Keith (Cronin) had gone off and from there on that shaped our event and we were able to go at a pace we were comfortable with. 
"It took the pressure off.
" As much as we wanted to try to fight near the front we had to make the most of this round and get the points on the board,” added Fisher.
With Breen pulling away at the head of the field and Evans another early retirement, Alastair swapping seconds with the similar Ford Fiesta R5 of Polish driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz. 
At the end of the opening day’s stages the pair were only separated by two and a half seconds, but with Irish Tarmac points at stake Alastair decided not to take any risks in the chase for second. 
“Come the Saturday we held him in the first couple of stages but he was very keen to start racing Craig,” he said.
 “We just decided to consolidate where we were and get the top points.”
The remainder of the event was trouble free for Alastair as his Modern Tyre Service backed Fiesta gave no problems for the remaining stages. 
His steady run secured him third overall, 44 seconds ahead of Josh Moffett in fourth.
Barry McNulty was navigating for former Circuit of Ireland winner Derek McGarrity. 
The pair were contesting the National section of the event in their Ford Fiesta WRC, and moved immediately to the top of the leader board with the quickest time on the opening stage. 
They extended their lead even further on the longest stage of the rally, the spectacular Glens stage, and from then on were never challenged for the lead, cruising home with over a minute to spare over the second placed car.
In class nine Leroy Mills secured victory in his Vauxhall Corsa. 
The Trillick driver had to give second best to Gavin Devlin over the opening stages.
However, following his demise at the halfway point, Leroy eased to the class win. 
In class thirteen, Martin McGarrity navigated Davy Armstrong to fifth in class and seventeenth overall in their Ford Escort.