Fisher gets year off to a flyer at Galway Rally

Editorial Department • Published 11 Feb 2010 09:47 0 Comments

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Alastair Fisher on his way to fourth spot overall at the Galway International Rally. Photos: kgrallysmugmug.com

The Group N battle on the Galway International Rally failed to live up to expectations with several of the front runners retiring early, but there was no such disappointment for Alastair Fisher, who continued his impressive form of 2009 by claiming fourth overall on the opening event of the 2010 Irish Tarmac Championship.

Garry Jennings, Richard Cathcart and Keith Cronin were among those expected to challenge for outright honours, but all three failed to survive beyond the opening day. Garry Jennings was debuting his new Mitsubishi while Richard Cathcart was behind the wheel of his more familiar Subaru, but despite both being inside the top ten on the opening stage, neither made the overnight halt.

Jennings was the first to retire, his car stopping 100 metres into the second stage with gearbox problems. Although he managed to get the car running, the time loss put him out of the event. Richard Cathcart lasted until the fourth stage until similar problems forced his retirement. The Enniskillen driver had been struggling with the set up of his car, complaining that his Impreza was under geared and the suspension set up was not to his liking, and on stage four he retired from seventh place when the gearbox failed towards the end of the stage.

Another Fermanagh competitior hoping to mount the podium was Keith Cronin's new co-driver Barry McNulty, but their rally came to premature end when the British Rally Champion left his braking too late in the fog and slid off the road at the finish of stage two.

In contrast to the drama unfolding around them Alastair Fisher and Rory Kennedy were having a relatively trouble free run. Fourth overnight, the Trillick driver suffered two spins on the opening stage of day two, but remained ahead of the more powerful Ford Focus WRC of Aaron MacHale. The retirement of Tim McNulty elevated him to third overall, and he entered the final stage with a nine second advantage over MacHale in the battle for a podium position.

"After studying the times all day we thought that if we went at the same pace on the last stage we would have been alright, so we didn't push really hard," explained Alastair. "Unfortunately it had dried out a bit and there were a lot of junctions so it was hard to stay with him."

A the end of the final test the Dubliner recorded a time almost 16 seconds faster, but despite dropping a position Alastair was happy with his opening event of 2010. "It was a tricky rally," he said. "There was a lot of gravel and it was very slippery and greasy but we set a good pace on Saturday and stayed out of trouble. We had a good clean run with no real problems."

This article appeared in Impartial Reporter 11 Feb 10

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