Alastair Fisher crashed out of the lead of the Killarney Rally of the Lakes on the final stage of the event, handing victory to Callum Devine on the fourth round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

Fisher and co-driver Gordon Noble came into the event as the in-form crew following their victory on the Circuit of Ireland last month, where they had blitzed the opposition with a remarkable final day drive, and they were quickly back into their stride in Killarney.

Devine set the fastest time on the opening stage but Fisher overhauled him on stage two to take the lead.

He increased his advantage to 7.7 seconds after six stages, but Devine was always within touching distance through the two-day rally as the pair both set an impressive pace in a bid for victory.

Current championship leader Josh Moffett was left in their wake as they swapped fastest times through day one, and then repeated the feat on day two. By the final stage, Fisher’s advantage was down to 3.1 seconds, but with all to play for on the final test, Alastair put his R5 Polo off the road two kilometres from the start and Devine took full advantage to claim his first Irish Tarmac Championship rally win.

“It was one of the best weekend’s rallying I have ever had up to that point,” said Alastair.

“Obviously we were disappointed, but we were proud of our performance as well. The car was great and everything was really perfect up until the last stage.

“We had a good feeling and had a great flow, and literally every corner was maximum attack. That is the pace Callum was on, and we had to do the same. It was next level, and it was very rewarding when we were getting the stage times, but it bites hard whenever it goes wrong.”

Fisher had no regrets about his final stage attack, despite the frustrating end to his attempt to win back-to-back rounds of the series.

“There was only three seconds between us, and 14 kilometres to go, and there was time to be had on the stage, so there was no option but to go for it,” he said.

“We were just marginally late on the brakes on a medium left and got half way around it and overshot and slid down a small bank.

“Thankfully there was no damage, but we just got stuck.”

His retirement is a blow to his Irish Tarmac Championship challenge, with Josh Moffett capitalising on his demise to claim points for a second-place finish and extend his series lead.

With double points on offer on the final round of the series, there are still four rounds of points up for grabs, but Fisher knows he cannot afford any mistakes or misfortune if he is to claim his first ever tarmac title.

“It doesn’t leave it favourable,” he conceded. “There are still four points-scoring opportunities and four perfect scores would still do it, but a lot of things have to go right to achieve that.”

The next round of the Tarmac Championship is the Donegal International Rally in June, but Alastair may consider competing in a round of the national championship in preparation for the Letterkenny-based event next month.