Published: Thursday, 29th October, 2009 9:00am

Victory not enough to take top spot for Jennings

by Editorial Department

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Rallying

Garry Jennings who dominated Group N in Skibbereen.

Garry Jennings dominated Group N on the final round of the Irish National Rally Championship, but his victory was not enough to take top spot in the championship.

The Ballinamallard driver posted fastest time on the first test and got the better of rival Kevin Kelleher on all but one of the stages, but Kelleher's second place finish was enough for him to edge the battle, which has raged all season.

After a year fraught with problems Garry was hoping the luck would go his way on the Skibbereen based event, but even before the start of the first stage it looked as though his jinx had struck again. "She stopped on the road section going to the first stage," explained Garry. "It was a real dilemma. I took the brain out of her and put it back in and left her for a couple of minutes, and thankfully it started okay."

With his dramas out of the way early Garry proceeded to set the quickest Group N time by three seconds on the opening stage, and although Kevin Kelleher edged ahead on stage two, Garry immediately overhauled him on the following stage and pulled away over the remaining stages. He eventually brought his Mitsubishi home in sixth overall, 33 seconds ahead of Kelleher's similar car.

"The stages were so slippery and so treacherous," said a relived Garry after the finish. "It looked like it was very grippy tar but it wasn't, and it was all new to me because I had never been down there before."

Having failed to add the National title to his Tarmac Championship title, Garry is considering returning to the sealed surface series for 2010. "A group N car could even win the Tarmac Championship next year," he said. "It will be interesting to see how many Group N guys are doing the Tarmac, because there might not be that many World Rally Cars there."