Dara Leonard took the Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland honours on the C Bradley Motorsport Tour of the Sperrins after a titanic battle with his brother Declan.

Changeable weather conditions were forecast for the 70 mile closed road event as the 95 crews lined up for the Maghera town start on Saturday 7^thMay. The five FST Ireland crews which started round 1, the Circuit of Ireland, were joined on the Sperrins by Michael McCarroll and Connor O’Loan, the Co Antrim crew starting their first NIRC event in the ex Desi Henry class 1 Fiesta ST.

Stephen Baxter’s Fiesta R2 led the FST procession out to the first stage, ahead of the ST’s of the Leonard brothers, Dara and Declan, Philip Ewart, Michael McCarroll and Jonny Leonard. The formidable 15.2 mile Slieve Gallion test formed the bulk of the competitive mileage, with three runs planned during the day and at the end of the slippery first stage the Leonard name filled the top three FST times.

Declan Leonard stopped the clocks on 14:04.9, a time which propelled him into 15^th overall, with Jonny Leonard on 14:15.7 and Declan Leonard on 14:19.5. Next up was new comer Michael McCarroll on a 14:28.3 with Philip Ewart on 14:44.1. FST Ireland leader Stephen Baxter had a horrendous start to the event, dropping a chunk of time after being forced to drive the final five miles of stage one with a puncture.

Having changed the flat wheel on the road section, Stephen Baxter punched in the fastest FST time on stage 2, Lisnamuck, 5.5 seconds faster than Declan Leonard with Dara Leonard a further 4.1 behind over 8.1 miles. Jonny Leonard suffered from a loss of power on stage two, cruising through to drop over 40 seconds to the leading pack and to add to the misery one more stage lay between him and service before the source of the fault could be found. Stage three saw Baxter take another fastest FST time, this time ahead of Dara Leonard who pipped his brother by just 0.9 seconds.

So as the crews arrived at first service it was Declan Leonard who held the early advantage by just under 20 seconds from Dara Leonard. Jonny Leonard held on to third FST position, hoping to get to the bottom of the power loss suffered on stage two.  New comer to the series Michael McCarroll was up next, reporting that everything was going ok and that he was enjoying learning the car over the opening stages. Philip Ewart was not far behind, glad to get a few stages under his belt after his first stage retirement on round 1. Languishing at the back of the FST leader board was Stephen Baxter after that time loss on stage one.

The action resumed after service with a repeat of the trio of stages used in the morning and with the expected rain so far staying away from the Sperrins region, the crews were now able to drive with more confidence. Baxter continued his recovery drive, posting fastest time again over the repeated Slieve Gallion test to jump up to third overall in the FST standings. Jonny Leonard was next up, climbing to second FST after setting the fastest time of the ST drivers on stage 4 and 5 now that the earlier lack of power had been cured. Dara Leonard slotted into third fastest and he also inherited the FST lead after disaster stuck on stage four for Declan Leonard; a front left puncture costing the FST leader approximately 5 minutes. Next up was Philip Ewart who was just over 6 seconds faster than McCarroll who luckily decided to change his tyres from intermediates to slicks just before leaving service.

Stage six, Fallagloon 2, was to claim the first FST retirements of the event with both Jonny Leonard and Philip Ewart failing to make the end of the test.  Baxter again claimed fastest time in the Fiesta R2 before the forecasted bad weather suddenly appeared, with torrential rain on the final run over stage six, Slieve Gallion making the final 15.2 miles of the event a real test of survival.  Declan Leonard posted a blistering time over the final stage to take fastest FST time by an astonishing 54 seconds from Stephen Baxter and in the process taking over a minute back from his earlier delay from with the rest of the Fiesta pilots electing to take no chances to get to the end of the rally.

At the end of the Tour of the Sperrins, it was Dara Leonard and Matthew McKenna who emerged as the winners of the second round of the Fiesta Sport Trophy Ireland ahead of a recovering Stephen Baxter /Darragh Mullan with newcomers Michael McCarroll/Connor O’Loan a creditable third. Declan Leonard/Dermott McCaffery recovered from their puncture to finish fourth.

Tour of the Sperrins Results – Fiesta Sporting Trophy Ireland Round 2:

Dara Leonard/Matthew McKenna – Fiesta ST – 1:09:34.5

Stephen Baxter/Daragh Mullan – Fiesta R2 – 1:12:09.5

Michael McCarroll/Connor O’Loan – Fiesta ST – 1:13:03.2

Declan Leonard/Dermot McCafferty – Fiesta ST – 1:13:51.0

Jonny Leonard/Jackie Elliot – Fiesta ST – Retired SS6

Philip Ewart/Scott McMahon – Fiesta ST – Retired SS6