Draperstown's Joe Hegarty is Two-Wheel-Drive Brown & Brown Champion!

Draperstown’s Joe Hegarty, co-driven by David Turkington, is the two-wheel-drive category champion in the Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Rally Championship following a second-place points finish from Camillus Bradley at the Down final.

The result, combined with maximum points at the Tour of the Sperrins and solid top-five finishes at the Bishopscourt and Maiden City rallies, was enough to edge ahead of close rivals Jaye Nevin and Adrian Grant.

Elsewhere, Cathan McCourt stole the show with a second victory in Down.

Fastest on six of the eight stages to lead from start-to-finish, Cathan McCourt won the R Kings Down Rally for the second time and has vowed to return for a hat-trick, writes William Neill.

The winning Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 driver, with Barry McNulty on the notes, was fastest on the opening Thornhill test despite the tyre choice leaving the Omagh man feeling they were too soft for the conditions.

The gap was 2.9 seconds heading to the legendary Hamilton’s Folly stage where the leading margin was increased to an impressive 14.9 seconds and, with almost half a minute to spare by the repeat of Thornhill, the drive was already looking dominant.

Beechgrove, the shortest stage of the day, was added to the second loop and an opportunity for eventual runner-up Jonathan Greer to set a fastest time, by 1.9 seconds, in his Toyota Yaris Rally2. McCourt though was not to be caught over the remainder of the rally despite the Beechgrove repeat not to his taste with Greer faster again on the final visit however not the fastest - that went to Jersey’s Sam Touzel.

By the Banbridge finish Touzel rounded out the podium, 17.1 seconds behind Greer and Niall Burns. The Ford Fiesta Rally2 driver noted the organisers provided a challenging set of stages and, along with co-driver Max Freeman, would like to compete more often in Northern Ireland following the Asphalt championship win.

Another pair of visitors, Mark Kelly and Will Atkins were fourth, 8.1 seconds from matching Touzel - a vast improvement from a sole Down visit in 2022 that ended in a retirement.

R Kings Down Rally winners by almost a minute, Cathan McCourt and Barry McNulty.

Brown & Brown champion, Aaron McLaughlin was fifth on what was a victory lap following the series win already in the bag at Loughgall earlier in the month. And it was an opportunity for Kevin McLaughlin to co-drive over regular Darren Curran.

Neil Roskell and Rob Fagg were fifth while on the charge for more Asphalt points and splitting McLaughlin and Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Rally Championship runners up Conor Wilson and Kyle McDaid, with nine points the gap at the end for the Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew.

MAIDEN CITY WIN BROWN & BROWN ANICC CLUB TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP

The Brown & Brown ANICC Motor Club Team Championship was won by Maiden City Motor Club from Ballynahinch and District Motor Club.

All eyes are now on Brown & Brown Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge with the Trailer Parts Lakeland Stages kicking off proceedings on Saturday September 6. Driver and co-driver registration is open at www.rallyscore.net.

Historic champions Jimmy Mills and Ashley Trimble won the category with a Ford Escort RS1800.

Results (Full results via www.rallyscore.net)

1 Cathan McCourt/Barry McNulty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)

2 Jonathan Greer/Niall Burns (Toyota Yaris Rally2)

3 Sam Touzel/Max Freeman (Ford Fiesta Rally2)

4 Mark Kelly/Will Atkins (Volkswagen Polo R5)

5 Aaron McLaughlin/Kevin McLaughlin (Volkswagen Polo R5)

6 Neil Roskell/Rob Fagg (Ford Fiesta Rally2)

7 Conor Wilson/Kyle McDaid (Hyundai i20 R5)

8 Brad Cole/Daniel Petrie (Ford Fiesta Rally2)

9 Marty Toner/Adrian Rankin (Proton Satria)

10 Lee Edwards/Sam Spencer (Ford Escort G3)

Conor Wilson and Kyle McDaid sealed second in the Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Rally Championship at the final.