DUNMANWAY’S Jason McSweeney (Ford Escort WRC) has regained the lead of the Irish Tarmac Historic Rally Championship courtesy of his second-place finish in the Killarney Rally of the Lakes.

Reigning champions Donegal's John O'Donnell/Paddy Robinson (BMW M3 E30) won the event, finishing 40.3 seconds ahead of McSweeney and his Blackpool co-driver Liam Brennan. Killarney's Fergus O'Meara (BMW M3 E30) and his Ballincollig co-driver Brian Duggan were a further 27 seconds behind in third.

On the first stage O'Donnell was the only one of the trio to traverse the stage uninterrupted as McSweeney and O'Meara were credited with O'Donnell's time as they were shown the yellow flag when another competitor had temporarily blocked the stage.

At the Green Glens Arena service park, McSweeney told The Southern Star: ‘There's an issue with the fuel pressure, the car cut out for a split second and the steering feels very heavy.'

O'Donnell won the stage at Gortnagane to move 8.3 seconds clear of McSweeney. Positions remained the same due to the cancellation of SS4. O'Donnell won SS5, albeit by 0.5 of a second from McSweeney. The former also topped the stage times on SS6 before McSweeney won the day's penultimate stage to cut the deficit to eight seconds. Overnight, McSweeney was 16.6 seconds behind O'Donnell.

The issue with the steering continued through Sunday's stages as McSweeney was conscious that third-placed O'Meara was closing the margin between them. However, McSweeney stemmed the tide and by the end had 27 seconds to spare over O'Meara. In terms of the championship, McSweeney tops the standings (62pts) followed by Ronan Campbell (51pts), Adrian Evans (50pts), O'Donnell (43pts) Ray Breen (42pts) and O'Meara (37pts).

Elsewhere in the Historic category, Clondrohid's Eoghan McCarthy and his English driver Alan Watkins (Ford Escort RS1800) finished tenth overall and fifth in Class 18. An engine change along with other parts since the West Cork Rally was somewhat of a race against the clock. Unfortunately, an electrical problem on the road section between the Gortnagane and Caherbarnagh stages led them to re-join the event under Super Rally where they went on to collect some valuable championship points.

Meanwhile, another member of the McCarthy family, Iarla, who was co-driving for Englishman Duncan Williams, retired their Ford Escort with electrical issues that led to a broken differential on the start line on the first run of Ballaghbeama. They were lying second in Class 18 at the time.

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Derry's Callum Devine and Killarney's Noel O'Sullivan secured a record-equalling five in a row at last weekend's Assess Ireland Rally of the Lakes in Killarney.

Ironically, Devine was born the year that the late Bertie Fisher and his Letterkenny co-driver Rory Kennedy achieved their five in a row in 1994.

Whilst the lead changed on four occasions – all during Saturday’s leg – they went on to finish 13.2 seconds ahead of the Kilkenny/Limerick combination of Eddie Doherty/Tom Murphy.

Donegal's David Kelly and Killarney's Shane Buckley were just over a minute further behind; all three in Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars.

Although Daniel Cronin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) made a good start, issues with the handbrake saw him slip to 14th. Clearly frustrated, he opted not to start Sunday's leg.

Championship positions after Round 4: 1. Callum Devine 70pts; 2. Josh Moffett 63pts; 3. Eddie Doherty 60pts; 4. David Kelly 57 pts.

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One of the performances of the rally was that of Banteer's Barry Meade and his Bandon co-driver Colin Fitzgerald, who won Class 13. Their John Moynihan Motorsport run Ford Escort never skipped a beat on the way to 15th overall and second in the Modified category.

Skibbereen's Frank Hurley and Bandon's Adrian Phelan took their Ford Escort to a start-to-finish victory in Class 10. Macroom's Barry O'Brien (Honda Civic) and his Rossmore co-driver Declan Buttimer had an untroubled outing to finish fourth in Class 11F where the father and son duo of Dunmanway's Fearghal and Calvin O'Donoghue, also in a Honda Civic, finished sixth.

Barryroe co-driver Dylan Doonan and his Ladysbridge driver Cian Walsh (Ford Escort) finished third in Class 14 and 19th overall.

Local crews took two of the top three positions in Class 22 with the Glandore/Leap crew of Pat Calnan/Ray Shanahan (Ford Fiesta), who led the class up until the final loop of three stages, taking second place (5.4 seconds behind the eventual winners). The Skibbereen/Leap duo of Patrick Calnan/Amy Gallwey (Honda Civic) finished third in class. Ardfield co-driver Gary Lombard partnered Ladysbridge driver Darragh Walsh (Honda Civic) to a comprehensive victory in the Junior category.