Greer hauls points with Bishopscourt win

Rally favourite, with now three Bishopscourt wins in a row, Greer went from finishing marginally behind the unregistered Stephen Wright at round one to winning on Saturday by 22 seconds, with the well experienced Niall Burns on the notes this time around.

Derek McGarrity, in a Volkswagen Polo, admitted a strong finish was needed after he was down in fifth at Kirkistown and there was much hope when the multiple champion was fastest on stage three to bring Greer’s advantage down to 3.7 seconds by halftime.

Greer had been stuck behind a competitor on the third stage and lost time so was still very much on the pace and proved it with the eventual win following a reverse loop of the course.

Gareth Sayers won the last stage to jump from fourth on the leader board to runner up spot in a Rally2-spec Ford Fiesta despite some minor damage from a spin earlier in the day. The place had looked like it would go to either McGarrity or Desi Henry, with 4.5 seconds splitting the pair with six- mile to go.

A broken shaft for Henry, McGarrity caught his rival and – with nowhere to go – hit the rear of the Citroen while crossing the finish. A podium was the consolation.

Just 1.3 seconds behind Henry and going from an early suspected broken diff alongside a stage four overshoot, Stuart Biggerstaff finished fifth – the Dromore man’s best result so far this season.

Greer and co will be in West Cork this weekend for the Clonakilty Classic in the second instalment of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

In other news, Kyle White says he experienced “every kind of emotion” at the Malcolm Wilson Rally in the Cumbrian forests.

Describing the event as one of the trickiest of his career, White had early tyre delamination issues and a broken shock absorber in the closing stages but went on to win the Junior British Rally Championship counter by almost a minute from Casey Jay Coleman.