Shane McGirr brought his Lada home first in the two-wheel drive section of the Killarney Forestry Rally, claiming ninth overall on the first round of the Irish Forest Rally Championship.

The Fivemiletown driver set the fastest time on five of the six stages to win his class in emphatic fashion, finishing over 10 seconds clear of nearest challenger Michael Conlon.

It was McGirr’s first outing in six months after a mechanical failure on his Lada had brought a premature end to his 2023 season, and he was delighted with the new upgrades to his distinctive car.

“It was nice to get back out again in the car,” he acknowledged. “We blew the engine in that car in August and that was the first time back out again.

"It was a big engine change. We were two-litre, and now we have gone 2.4 Honda. I was very impressed with the engine, but it is a different driving style.

"It took a stage to get onto it, and when I got onto it I was really liking it. There is good grunt off it.”

Despite McGirr’s unfamiliarity with the new engine he was quickest of the two-wheel driven cars by two seconds on the first stage of the rally, and he increased that lead on stage two.

Tyre issues cost him time on stage three and dropped him behind Conlon, but he immediately restored his advantage on the following test and held on to take the win.

“On stage three our tyres were knackered,” he explained. “We just drove through it to try to get through without a puncture, so it was a case of surviving it.

"We dropped a good bit of time on the stage, but it was one of those scenarios where there wasn’t a lot we could do about it. We put on a bit of a push for the next stage or two and got enough time back to have a gap going into the last stage.”

McGirr was co-driven by Denver Rafferty, who was making his first appearance since sustaining injuries in an accident in May, and the pair are back in action this weekend at Shane’s home rally, the Samsonas Rally, Fivemiletown.

After his season-opening win, McGirr admits he is considering a Championship challenge.

“We will take it one rally at a time, but we may consider doing that Southern Forestry Championship,” he admitted.

“We normally end up doing three or four rounds of the championships anyway, because there are a few good rallies in it later in the year, and then we are always on the back foot because you have missed a rally or two.

"We thought this year we would go and do the first one and see what happens from there.”