Donegan first by a second

Navan driver Pat Donegan won the Hellfire Rally on Sunday in a Ford Escort. Donegan and co-driver Sean Hayde took the honours in a thrilling finish with just one second to spare over Trevor Mulligan and Lisa Roe, also in an Escort. The rally bug hit the Oldcastle area on Sunday for the annual Castle Hellfire Rally The action will started from the Oldcastle House Hotel on Sunday morning, 10.0. Meath driver Pat Donegan repeated his winning ways from 2003 with a superb drive over the challenging stages. The top six at the Meath rally were 1 Pat Donegan/Sean Hayde (Escort) 29m 13s, 2 Trevor Mulligan/Lisa Roe (Escort) 29m 14s, 3 Rodney Wilton/Conor McMahon (Escort) 29m 14s, 4 Russell Woods/Martin Byrne (Escort) 29m 31s, 5 Alan Sheridan/Alan Tuite (Escort) 29m 31s, 6 Michael Curran/Mark McNally (Escort) 29m 36s The rally is part of the Midlands East Championship sponsored this year by Jap Cars, Dublin.