Ulster Rally: Breen and McErlean win Irish Tarmac and BRC titles
- Published
The Ulster Rally seen entries from both the Irish Tarmac and British Rally championships
World Rally driver Craig Breen dominated the Ulster Rally to win the Irish Tarmac Championship.
Breen headed into the event knowing victory would hand him the title, and duly delivered by 20.5 seconds.
Matt Edwards finished second, a result which puts him in control of the British Rally Championship with one round to go, with Callum Devine third.
Northern Ireland's Josh McErlean secured the Junior BRC title after winning the class in Newry.
Waterford driver Breen, who finished seventh on his WRC return in Finland for Hyundai, won five out of the nine stages with co-driver Paul Nagle to take his fifth round of the season.
Edwards now holds a healthy advantage at the top of the BRC standings after title rival and fellow Welshman Tom Cave clipped a wall and lost a wheel on the penultimate stage.
The pair were tied at the top of the standings heading into the Ulster, with Cave's retirement meaning Edwards holds a 25-point lead over the Hyundai driver.
Local drivers Alastair Fisher, Desi Henry and Josh Moffett all hit trouble on the rally, with the latter temporarily halting stage three after crashing and blocking the route.
Fisher, whose late uncle Bertie won the Ulster rally three times, ran wide on stage two before misfire issues and a puncture dropped the Fermanagh driver down the order, with Henry retiring his Fiesta with a broken propshaft on stage four.
Josh McErlean (right) and co-driver Keaton Williams won the Junior BRC title despite a late gearbox change after Friday's shakedown
Draperstown's Marty McCormack retired on the final stage with Carryduff's Jonny Greer and Armagh's James Wilson also failing to finish the event.
Kilrea driver McErlean claimed his maiden British title after a composed drive, winning the junior class by over 30 seconds from James Williams and Jordan Hone.
His title rival William Creighton damaged a radiator on stage two after a trip into a field and rejoined 14 minutes down, allowing McErlean to win the title with a round to go.
Stanley Orr and Graham Henderson took top honours in the British Historic Rally Championship in their Ford Escort RS MKI.