Shane McGirr claimed the two-wheel drive Irish Forest Rally Championship title for the fifth time with a convincing class win on last weekend’s Bushwacker Rally, but there was last-stage heartbreak for local navigator Brian Hoy as he missed out on overall victory by less than one second. 

McGirr produced a dominant display in his Lada to lead class seven from start to finish and clinch the title, but for Hoy, the rally slipped away on the final stage as they lost their slender lead to winner Patrick O’Brien. 

McCourt and Hoy set the fastest time on the opening stage but by stage three O’Brien had reeled them in to take a 3.5 second lead into the midpoint service.  

McCourt snatched back the lead with his second-fastest time of the day on the fourth stage and maintained his slender advantage on stage five to take a 1.4 second lead into the final test.

It was O’Brien that was to emerge victorious however as he covered the final stage 2.1 seconds faster than McCourt and Hoy to win the event by just 0.7 seconds.

 There was no such drama for McGirr in the two-wheel drive section of the rally.  An early clutch problem hindered him throughout the event, but he claimed the lead on stage three and extended his advantage over the second loop of three stages to take the category win by 22 seconds.

 Despite the convincing winning margin, it was not all straightforward for the Fivemiletown driver.  

“When we were queuing up at the first stage we lost our clutch,” he revealed.  “Two minutes before we were due to start we went to put her into gear and no clutch.

"We got it up and running and nursed her to service. We had an hour service, but we would never have had the clutch and gearbox replaced in that time because it is hard to get the box out, so we nursed her on the whole event.  

"We just had to be careful with her off the line. We just drove off the line and didn’t abuse it. We were very cautious about stalling it at a chicane or somewhere.

"It probably helped me wise up and pull the horns in a wee bit!  It worked out in our favour in the end.” 

The win gives McGirr yet another two-wheel drive Irish Forestry title, taking the crown this time with one event still to run.  

“We have five top scores out of five which is all we need,” he revealed.  

“We have won it four times before.  The last time we won it was in 2018 I think, but it was nice to win it in the Lada this time.

"I won it three years in the Starlet and the fourth year it was a variety of cars, but I wanted to do it in the Lada.  

"The car has been really good to us this season, bar the odd driver error. I have been doing it more harm than it has done to me thankfully.  

"I am loving the craic with her and we have her well sorted” 

Other local finishers in the Omagh Motor Club organised event included Mervyn Wilson and Ricky Gamble who claimed third in class 8 in their Mitsubishi Evo.

Marc Johnston and Jody McManus took second in class in their Micra, with Sammy Scollan and Dominic McGurran finishing fifth in the same class.

James McGovern and Louise Boyle took seventh in class 2, just ahead of local rivals Drew Chambers and Wendy Blackledge.