Impressive third overall for Fisher

Editorial Department • Published 1 Oct 2009 12:33 0 Comments

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Alastair Fisher secured an impressive third overall in the British Rally Championship at the weekend following the final round of the series in Yorkshire.

Needing a finish to ensure he maintained his podium position behind Keith Cronin and Mark Higgins, the Trillick driver drove sensibly to take sixth overall and ensure he finished every round of the series.

"All we needed was a finish on this rally, so that was the plan from the word go," revealed Alastair. "Our aim this season was to finish all the rallies and get as much experience as possible, so I'm very happy with third considering it was the first year in a group N car."

The season started with seventh place finish on the Bulldog Rally, but as Alastair adjusted to the car his times improved throughout the season. The second round yielded a fourth place finish, which was followed by fifth on the Jim Clarke Rally. Two third places on the Isle of Man and Ulster Rallies were his best results of the season, before he rounded off the series with a podium clinching sixth on last weekend's Trackrod Rally.

"There was a couple of stages where we were only a few seconds off Dave Weston and Adam Gould, but we decided not to push it as if we hadn't finished we could have lost third," he explained. "We had no problems apart from a couple of overshoots, probably caused by not pushing at our normal pace. We had no problems with the car and everything went very well. The car hasn't broken down in any of the rounds this year, and I have to thank Gerry McGarrity and all of McGarrity Motorsport for their hard work all year, as well as my family for their continued support."

At the head of the field Keith Cronin became the first Irish driver since Billy Coleman in 1974 to win the British Championship, and Alastair is hoping he can replicate the Dubliner's success this weekend by claiming the Group N Irish Tarmac title. The Cork International is the last round of the series, and Alastair holds a handsome lead going into round seven. Any points scoring finish would make him the third local driver to claim the title in recent times, following in the footsteps of Garry Jennings and the late Mark Fisher.

In a busy close to the season Alastair also has the Pirelli Shootout the following weekend in which the winner will receive a fully funded drive in next season British Championship, before he travels to Scotland in November to take part in the final round of the Intercontinental Rally Championship, a series won by Dungannon's Kris Meeke last weekend.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 01 Oct 09

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