Published: Thursday, 8th October, 2009 1:59pm

Neil and Patrick enjoy debut class win

by Editorial Department

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Neil Harron and Patrick Malanaphy who made a brilliant debut in the Clubman Stages Rally at the weekend.

Saturday's Clubman Stages could well be the beginning of a very bright future for one young Fermanagh crew.

17-year-olds, Neil Harron, from Florencecourt and his navigator Patrick Malanaphy, from Kinawley, were taking to the stages for the first time and what a result they produced as they raced to class one honours.

Indeed, Neil was the youngest member of a third generation of the family taking part in the rally as his uncle Uel Montgomery and his father Darrell were also competing.

Neil and Patick hired a 1300 MKII Escort for the event and had no previous experience in the car.

Seeded at 32 Neil and Patrick were out to improve their position, and so they did, right from the start as they were to go straight to the top of their class and remain there all day setting the fastest times for all the stages throughout the day. As a result, they finished a massive five minutes and 48 seconds ahead of the second crew in their class, also beating many of the more powerful cars to finish a very respectable 10th overall. Declan McGarrity and Anne McGuigan took second with Martin Toner and Anthony Harte in third.

Needless to say they came home proud winners of the trophy for beating the two older generations of the family.