Jonathan Greer made it a hat-trick of victories around Bishopscourt

By Jason Craig Sunday Life

Jonathan Greer made it a hat-trick of victories around Bishopscourt yesterday and, in the process, extended his advantage in the McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Rally Championship standings.
Relying once again on Citroen Racing machinery, it was the Carryduff man’s third straight success at the County Down venue which played host to the second event of the five-round Championship.

Co-driven by Niall Burns, the 34-year-old barely put a wheel wrong at the Ballynahinch and District Motor Club meeting and completed the six special stages 22 seconds up on his nearest challenger.

The only setback that Greer encountered on a day where sunshine eventually made way for rain occurred on the third stage as a backmarker failed to pull over and momentarily blocked his path.

Organisers had incorporated passing places into the 6.6-mile test but Greer estimated he lost five or so seconds before he could safely steer his C3 Rally2 supermini around them and into clear air.

While the race to first was a formality, there was high drama in the battle for the runner-up spot. A quickest time by Gareth Sayers — combined with Derek McGarrity hitting the rear of Desi Henry’s stricken Citroen C3 and nudging it over the finish line — elevated him two places to second overall.

One of the most successful people to compete at Bishopscourt with more than a dozen first-place finishes to his name, McGarrity started the rally in search of a win knowing that it would put him right back in the title fight mix. As it was, the Glengormley-based driver had to settle for third spot.

With the costly misfire that denied him a podium result at the opening round at Kirkistown three weeks earlier cured, he and Graham Henderson trailed Greer by 3.7 seconds at the halfway point.

However, he had no answer for the pace being set by the pre-event favourite and soon lost touch with him in the afternoon before the incident with Henry’s newly-acquired car proved decisive.

Making his first appearance in the new Northern Ireland Championship season, the parts failure that stuck Henry’s French mount took some of the shine off an otherwise impressive debut.

Ex-Northern Ireland champion Stuart Biggerstaff signed off in fifth; a gutsy fightback considering he had to limp through most of SS2 with a suspected broken differential on his Ford Fiesta R5.

In the two-wheel-drive battle, the extra punch of the engine in Adrian Grant’s Ford Escort Mk2 proved the difference. It was a close battle all day with the lesser powered Escort Mk2 of runner-up James Kennedy, however, with the pair separated by a mere 3.6 seconds after 35.8 miles.