STEPHEN FINLAY led the Circuit of Ireland after a chaotic first day's rallying yesterday. On a day when the lead exchanged hands on a number of occasions, the Sally Gap stage in the Wicklow mountains had to be cancelled on safety grounds while a second stage, the Wolfhill stage in Laois, had to be abandoned after the rally ran out of closed road time.
Finlay, in a Ford Escort RS Cosworth, made the day's decisive move on the fifth stage. Bertie Fisher led having earlier won back his first stage lead from Andrew Nesbitt going into the Devil's Elbow stage, out of Dundalk. However, disaster struck the former champion when he went into a corner too fast, and got a puncture in a rear wheel. His Subaru Impreza subsequently dropped to fourth. Finlay was the main beneficiary.
The provisional overnight standings show Finlay to have a 31 seconds lead over Nesbitt, in a Toyota Celica GT 4. Liam O'Callaghan, in another Toyota, trails Finlay by one minute and nine seconds, with Fisher a further 10 seconds in arrears.
The cancellation of the Sally Gap stage was a serious disappointment to the thousands of spectators who had lined the Wicklow mountains from early yesterday to get the best view of the rally. The, vintage rally did, however, manage to get through. The organisational problems' centred on stages four and five when the rally cars and their service crews were delayed by some hours en route from Newry to Dublin.
As a result the rally checked into the RDS service almost two hours behind schedule.
Fisher had led after stage one, Nesbitt took over after stage two, and Finlay went to the front after stage three. Behind the three Ulstermen, Liam O'Callaghan was playing a waiting game. "We are not pushing it," said the relaxed Kanturk driver. "We are lifting off over crests and not flying on the bumps, it's a long rally and we aim to be there at the finish."
Fisher said "We are taking it steady, not sticking our necks out." That theory came unstuck on the fifth stage, however.
Nesbitt was also lucky to get away with a big spin on stage five, but was in confident mood as the rally left Dublin.
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