Fisher lands the Lakeland
Local driver and Fiesta SportingTrophy (FST) Ireland championship leader Alastair Fisher, 19 from Enniskillen, took the sixth and penultimate round of the FST Ireland, the Lakeland Rally.
Fisher, with co-driver Barry McNulty, took victory after a day-long battle with 18 year-old Jonathan Greer, from Carryduff, over the nine gravel stages in the spectacular scenery of County Fermanagh.
With the day dawning overcast but dry, drivers in the BF Goodrich supported FST Ireland series started the event from the grounds of event sponsors Fisher Engineering in Ballinamallard in confident mood. The sixth round of the FST Ireland series was the second event in the championship on a gravel surface helping the drivers with more experience on this type of condition.
In comparison with the previous round of the championship, this event was an out and out sprint with just 43 miles of stages available – an early advantage would prove invaluable.
With the first special stage cancelled after an accident, crews where left to commence battle on the nine mile ‘Carrigans’ stage. Fisher opened his account on this event with fastest time, 3s up on second placed driver Greer, who was once again co-driven by Jonny Hart.
In trouble on the first stages was 18 year-old Dromore man Kyle Orr and co-driver Peter O’Toole. After a promising run to third on the previous round of the championship Orr, former junior rallycross champion, was hopeful of a good result. However, this was not to be as the crew were caught out early into the stage, leaving the road and becoming beached on a log pile, with no damage to the car but forced to retire on the spot.
The third stage, ‘Big Dog’, saw drama for Greer. A puncture close to the start of the 2.3 mile stage meant that Fisher was able to extend his lead by another 16s. Second on the stage for 22 year-old Letterkenny man Conor Harvey emphasised how he has improved his gravel pace since the Cork Forestry event. Harvey, with new co-driver Kenny Bustard, was able to hold third position overall and keep his championship challenge very much alive. In trouble on this stage was FST IE round one winner Tadhg Buckley, 25 from Ballyhaunis Co. Mayo, with younger brother and co-driver Shane. The pair suffered a front puncture and dropped 48s to their rivals to plummet them to last in the FST rankings.
Stage four, the 2.3 miles of Connagher, saw Greer take his first fastest time of the day and claw back 3s of Fisher's advantage to enter service in the town of Garrison, on the banks of the beautiful Lough Melvin, 16s down on his rival with Harvey in third. Jonathan Greer’s older brother Barry Greer, 20 from Carryduff, and co-driver John Lemon held fourth. Series returnee Paul Quinn was competing from the first time since Killarney and his first time on gravel since the Pirelli Rally in May. Quinn, from Dungannon, was able to use some of his local knowledge to maintain fifth position.
The second loop of stages were a repeat of the morning’s schedule. The fifth stage, Ballintempo, fell to Greer who completed the 4.6 mile test 2s faster than his brother Barry, who scored an excellent second fastest time. Series leader, Fisher, punctured a wheel close to the end of the stage and lost 4s to Jonathan Greer.
Stage six, the nine mile ‘Carrigan’ test saw Jonathan Greer repeat his stage win, this time taking another 5s from Fisher to reduce the time gap to just 7s.
Stage seven saw both Fisher and Jonathan Greer share fastest time, both drivers 3s faster than Barry Greer and Buckley, who shared equal third fastest time.
Stage eight saw a big effort from Jonathan Greer to take another 2s from Fisher to enter the second and final service area of the day just 5s in arrears. However, evidence of how hard they had been trying was clear as the team took the decision to replace the rear beam that had become bent.
With only the 3.4 miles of the final stage to go, the service crews jumped to action to check and double check the cars to make sure there would be no problems.
With only 5s between the leading crews, they both threw caution to the wind and pushed with a maximum attack. Victorious on the stage, with a time that put them fifth fastest overall in the rally and crucially 2s faster than their nearest rivals, were Fisher and McNulty. This was their second win of the year and it confirms Fisher's position at the top of the championship table with just one round to go.
Despite a huge effort, the time lost with a puncture earlier in the event meant that Greer and Hart had to settle for second place on the event and second in the championship.
A last minute push from Barry Greer to finish third on the special stage was in vain as he lost out on the final podium position of the event by just 1s to Harvey and Bustard.
After their earlier puncture the Buckley brothers managed to claim fifth place championship points leaving Quinn and co-driver Jason Gillespie to collect the €150 EUR and 16 points for finishing sixth.
In the Castrol Hard Charger award, the competition was once again very tight with Fisher scoring four fastest times but Greer claimed five to take the prize.
At the finish, 18 year-old Alastair Fisher from Enniskillen said: “I am delighted to win on home soil. Jonathan pushed me hard all day and we had a good battle. It leaves things very close going into the final round.”
Final Classifications*
1 Alastair Fisher/Barry McNulty 43:06
2 Jonathan Greer/Jonny Hart 43:13
3 Connor Harvey/Kenny Bustard 43:58
4 Barry Greer/John Lemon 43:59
5 Tadhg Buckley / Shane Buckley 44:45
6 Paul Quinn / Jason Gillespie 45:55
Championship Points Table after Round 6 of 7 – Lakeland Stages*
1 Alastair Fisher 154pts
2 Jonathan Greer 147pts
3 Conor Harvey 129pts
4 Tadhg Buckley 102pts
5 Barry Greer 58pts
6 Kyle Orr 58pts
7 William Mavitty 52pts
8 Colin Flanagan 18pts
9 Paul Quinn 32pts