1^st (2) Derek McGarrity/Chris Patterson (Impreza WRC) 1.51.42.8

2^nd (7) Andrew Nesbitt/James O'Brien (Impreza WRC) 1.52.30.5

3^rd (1) Austin MacHale/Brian Murphy (Impreza WRC) 1.54.00.8

4^th (3) Eamonn Boland/Damien Morrissey (Impreza WRC) 1.54.01.5

5^th (9) Maurice Gass/Geoffrey Orr (Impreza WRC) 1.55.20.5

6^th (11) Roy White/Greg Shinnors (Lancer N) 1.59.05.0

7^th (17) Shaun Gallagher/Rory Kennedy (Lancer N) 1.59.52.1

8^th (12) Dickie Curran/Anthony Donnelly (Lancer N) 2.00.38.4

9^th (18) Raymond Johnston/Richard Bell (Lancer N) 2.02.29.7

10^th (16) Aaron MacHale/Damien Connolly (Lancer N) 2.03.05.0

Just seconds separated Derek McGarrity and Andrew Nesbitt through stages 16 and 17, Day 3 of this Circuit of Ireland. Eamonn Boland clawed a few seconds off Austin MacHale in the race for 3^rd. While in Group N Roy White is holding Shaun Gallagher at bay. Derek McGarrity recorded 6.40.5 for stage 16, Dudgeon Bridge. Andrew Nesbitt was 6.42.1. On stage 17, Ross Hill, it was Nesbitt’s turn to be fastest with 6.33.4, McGarrity 6.34.1. The latter commented here at service "We went hard through the first one, there was a delay at the start of stage 2, the tyres got cold, there were a few spits of rain and the road was pretty greasy, so there were no heroics." Andrew echoed McGarrity’s thoughts on the conditions "The car’s perfect, yes, that delay did cause problems, but it’s the same for everybody." When Austin MacHale arrived he was slightly grim faced and said "Half spin at the hairpin, brakes slightly glazed".

In Group N Roy White was just a fraction of a second faster than Shaun Gallagher through stage 16, but then over 7s quicker on stage 17, where Shaun had a spin at the first junction on cold tyres.

Maurice Gass in 5^th has throttled his Pedro Pet Supplies Impreza WRC back, in somewhat of a time envelope of his own. Aaron MacHale made no impression on Raymond Johnston in 9^th, Aaron’s Lancer somewhat down on turbo boost and now being caught rapidly by Glyn Jones in his Impreza WRC. Glyn’s 22 year old son Gareth withdrew from the rally this morning, team manager John Weatherley saying "This was basically a pace note learning exercise for Gareth, he’s done enough for now. That accident knocked back on the leaderboard and he is going to concentrate on getting ready for the Pirelli next weekend".

Just some of the overnight class positions include – Cathal Rogers leading cl.13 in the Escort G3. Paul Barrett leads cl.11 in his G3. Martin Brown is flying in his Civic, leads cl.2 and 25^th overall. James Cullen 2^nd in that class in an older Civic, 32^nd overall. Harold Brown leads cl.7 in his Astra. Alan McMahon as usual going well in his Integra and leading cl.3. Eddie Power holds the advantage in cl.1. James Brown in cl.10. Brian Black cl.9. Andrew Hegarty in his Puma cl.5. Lucy Ford-Hutchinson is 2^nd in cl.5 and leading lady. Aisling Dooris rolled her Suzuki out of the event late on Saturday. More later. BRIAN AND LIZ PATTERSON