Group N title eludes Fisher's grasp

Editorial Department • Published 8 Oct 2009 15:24 0 Comments

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Alastair Fisher finished third overall in the Irish Tarmac Championship, but Group N victory was snatched from his grasp after he hit mechanical trouble on last weekend's Cork International Rally.

Having already finished third in the British Rally Championship the young Trillick driver was aiming for more success on his home series, and with a commanding lead in Group N and a gap behind him to fourth it looked as though his season would be completed in prize winning fashion.

As in the championship Donnelly and Gareth MacHale immediately headed the stage times, but Alastair settled into third spot over the opening loop of stages.

Although Denis Cronin edged ahead of his Mitsubishi as day one progressed, Alastair was comfortable in fourth overall and dominating Group N, setting fastest time on every one of the day's nine stages.

As the cars headed to the opening Sunday stage, Alastair had a huge lead of over three minutes on his nearest Group N rival and championship success looked assured, but it only took one stage for his hopes to fall apart.

"The car lost power on the first loop of stages and we lost about 14 minutes," he revealed. "It was a seal in the fuel pump, and there was no pressure. The car would only do about 20 miles an hour and we came to a hill just after a hairpin left and the car wouldn't go up it. About 15 spectators had to push us up it."

By the time Alastair and co-driver Barry McNulty reached service they had plummeted to fourteenth overall and sixth in Group N. Once the mechanics had fixed the problem the local pair once again retuned to the top of the Group N times, setting fastest time on each of the rally's three remaining stages and climbing to tenth overall.

With the last round of the series counting for one and a half times the normal points score, the Cork results always had the potential to be crucial to the outcome of the title.

As Alastair crossed the finish ramp he was under the impression that his result had given him enough points to pip Cork Group N winner Ger O'Donovan to the title, but he was to belatedly hear of an unexpected twist that was to relegate him to second.

"With a few stages left we were under the assumption that as long as we got to the finish we would get the points needed," he said. "Then we got a phone call at 10 o'clock that night to say we hadn't won Group N. Eugene Meehan had switched his Group A Honda Civic for a Group N Civic and he took points for Group N, leaving us half a point behind Ger O'Donovan."

Despite the disappointment of missing out on the Group N title, his third overall in the series is the best result for a local driver since Alastair's uncle, the late Bertie Fisher, regularly topped the time sheets. Alastair was also able to celebrate victory in class four in his debut season in a four wheel drive car.

The Trillick driver now heads to the Pirelli Shoot Out, where he will go head to head against some of the best drivers in the UK and Ireland in a bid to win a fully supported year's rallying in the 2010 British Rally Championship.

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 08 Oct 09

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