James Stafford and Jeff Case cruised to a clear victory in the Wexford Motor Club Volkswagen Stages Rally.

Bringing their Darrian home almost two minutes ahead of the Fiesta R5 of Stephen McCann and Damien Fleming after 15 stages spread over the two days, the Wexford-Laois combination held runner up position for most of the nine stage run on Saturday, before taking the overnight lead on the day’s final test, four seconds ahead of early leaders Andrew Purcell and Liam Brennan.

Purcell’s Fiesta briefly went ahead again on Sunday’s opener, but was forced to retire immediately afterwards, leaving Stafford and Case in command as they pulled away from the opposition. Third place went to the Escort of Wesley Patterson and Johnny Baird, with local pairing Thomas O’Rourke andTomas Scallan fourth in a Hyundai i20.