Murphy and O’Brien drove a sensible rally in their Hankook Mitsubishi Evo 9 to finish 4th of the Valvoline contenders in the 11 stages in Co.Tyrone. A pragmatic approach was essential particularly after their main opponent for the series Liam Ryan rolled out of the event on stage5. Murphy is a former national karting champion and he won Gp N in the forest championship in 2004.
In the 2011 Valvoline series, Murphy won the first two events in Mitchelstown and Carrick. He retired with overheating issues in round three in the Moonraker and he drove with his head in Cork to finish second but he grabbed the maximum points on offer. Today’s rally was perfectly judged, his points total is now 79, and none of the pursuing pack can accumulate more than 78. A worthy champion, he used speed in the early season and intelligence in the later races to secure his first national rally title.
The Bushwhacker was won by Conor Mc Clusky ahead of Donagh Kelly and Ken Mc Kinstry. The Valvoline finishers are as follows: Enda Mc Nulty, Vincent Mc Aree, Frank Kelly, Owen Murphy, Ger Lucey, Aidan Caldwell, Mark Murphy and Derek Butler.
The Valvoline retirements included Liam Ryan, Shane Mc Girr, Jer Connors, Liam Kelleher, Douglas Stewart, Ian Cochrane, Stephen Wright, Patsy Keenan, Ed Colton and Colin Britton. For further details check www.rallyscore.net.
The sixth and final round of the 2011 Valvoline Forest Rally Championship is the Down rally on Saturday October 22nd.
