Keith Cronin won the John Mulholland Motors Ulster Rally in trying conditions in the Derry countryside.

However, Sam Moffett and Karl Atkinson have one hand on the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship trophy after finishing 6th overall after his closest rival Alastair Fisher retired with engine failure on just the second stage. From there on it was a matter of Moffett playing things safe and keeping his concentration to bring the car home. By his own admission Moffett found it  difficult to find a pace that suited and with heavy rain and bright sunshine alternating over the weekend, discretion was the order of the day.

The Group N battle will go to the final round in Cork as William Mavitty edged out Gavin Kelly by just three seconds to go into category lead after a ding dong battle over both days. The 2WD International Category saw William Creighton finish an excellent 11th overall in his Peugeot 208 R2 and move into the championship lead with James Wilson who finished 15th overall in a similar car very much in the hunt going into the final round in Cork. Marty Gallagher’s run ended with gearbox problems early on the second day.

The Modified championship sees Kevin Eves still leading the way as he recovered from his Donegal accident to take another set of maximum points. Heading to the Ulster Rally his closest rival was Eugene Meegan but his rally ended in a field on Stage 10 as did another championship contender Art McCarrick who went off on the same stage. This left John Devlin to take second placed points and move him into second overall in the Modified Championship.

Barry Jones extended his lead in the Historic Championship with Keith McIvor moving up to second place with Ernie Graham non starting and Shawn Rayner retiring. There are still two more rounds to go in the championship with the Manx Rally the next on the agenda for the historic crews.

The Junior Championship will go right down to the wire in Cork as Justin Ryan edged past Jenna McCann to take maximum points and Justin now has only a three point deficit going into the final round. The championship is now between these two but there are a couple of registered crews that may in Cork that could still decide the destination of the title.