Stephen Wright won the Jennings Fuels May Day Rally at St. Angelo airport, bringing his Ford Fiesta R5 home almost eight seconds clear of his nearest challenger.

Derek McGarrity claimed second spot ahead of Martin Toner, with Jonny Leonard in fourth place taking the honours as top Fermanagh finisher.

The Enniskillen Motor Club-run event attracted a large crowd on the Bank holiday Monday, and last year’s winner, Cathan McCourt, set the early pace on the first stage, with Enniskillen co-driver Dessie Dolan.

His commanding lead after stage one was short lived, however, as he struck trouble on the second test and dropped out of contention, handing the lead to Wright.

The Monaghan man had been back in fifth after the first test, but a time four and a half seconds faster than his closest challenger elevated him to the top spot, and he was never to lose it throughout the day.

Derek McGarrity is currently lying second in the Northern Ireland Rally Championship, and he matched that position at St. Angelo, claiming the runners-up spot in his R5 Polo.

Aaron McLaughlin had edged ahead of McGarrity midway through the event, but his retirement with one stage remaining handed the position back to him and promoted Damien Toner to the final podium position.

Toner had been as far back as eleventh after stage two, but mounted a great fightback drive to snatch third.

Jonny Leonard was making a rare outing with Ryan Leonard alongside him, and on their first ever outing in an R5 car they were sixth-fastest overall on the first stage.

A broken driveshaft on the final stage hampered their charge for a podium, but they brough the Fiesta home in fourth to finish as the best-placed local driver.

Enniskillen’s Brian Hoy switched from navigating in the Junior World Rally Championship with Jon Armstrong to navigating for Niall McGonigle, and the pair were lying in fifth overall after three stages before retiring.

Throughout the field there were local crews battling for class honours.

Ronan Campbell recovered from problems on the second stage to claim third in class one in his Escort, and class two saw a trio of Fermanagh drivers filling the positions behind winner Martin Collins.

Gerard Farmer and Craig Scollan moved into second in class after stage three and held on to the runners-up position, ahead of Alan McMahon and Benny Grainger, with Darren McGrath and Karl Fallis back in fourth.

Declan and Martin McGarrity took fourth in class three in their Vauxhall Nova, with William Armstrong and William Black third in class five.

Damian McGauran was locked in a tight battle for third in class six in his distinctive BMW, but he finished just over a second adrift of the podium after failing to overhaul Shane Murray on the final stage.