AN “ecstatic” Ben McFall made it five maximum scores from five starts in his maiden Northern Ireland Rally Championship campaign to claim the Junior Drivers’ title at the final round on Saturday.
McFall saved his best to last in the sealed surface competition by finishing the Tyrone Stages Rally at Benone in County Derry fourth overall in his family-run Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9.
The result ensured the talented 19-year-old preserved his 100 per cent win record in the category from the Peugeot 208 R2 of title rival Darragh Kelly and the Peugeot 208 Rally4 of Se Og Martin.
After spells in karting and the Ginetta Junior Series, McFall decided to switch his focus to rallying this year and follow in the wheel tracks of his father Gerard.
“As this was my first year in the Championship, I was only focussed on learning the ropes, so to be crowned the Junior Champion, I am absolutely ecstatic,” said McFall, who intends to compete in the Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge, which reconvenes in early September in Enniskillen.
“We had a fantastic final round – it is amazing to think just how far I have come. Starting from scratch to winning the Junior Championship in the same season is a feeling I cannot explain.
“After the first round I realised that I had chance and luckily, I took it, but I was not aiming to be a championship contender – I just wanted to get to the end of each rally. Finishing felt like a win for me,” he added.
Northern Ireland Rally Championship co-ordinator Gavin Campbell said it was pleasing to see new talent emerging and praised McFall for “having a big impact”, adding: “After taking the plunge in one of the Championship’s top classes it is going to be fascinating to see how he keeps developing.”
Derek McGarrity and Graham Henderson won Saturday’s Tyrone Stages Rally by only 5.3 seconds in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo from the Darrian T90 GTR+ pair of Barry Morris and Martin Harte.
Morris capitalised on steadily drying conditions, and Aaron McLaughlin’s Ford Fiesta R5 developing driveshaft issues on stage 11 of 14, to move up to third place before gaining a further spot on the penultimate speed test – ‘Wilson’s Farm 3′ – as he leapfrogged Gareth Sayer’s Ford Fiesta Rally2.
“Overall, it was an excellent event – we had good craic,” said McGarrity, who took his win count at the Cookstown Motor Club event to three. The changeable weather made it a real challenge and the slippy conditions made it hard to get the tyres right – but it was the same for everybody.”