Ireland's Gareth MacHale bounced back to finish eighth on his home event at the weekend and secure his first point of the season.

MacHale, who has done selected rounds in the WRC this year, using a privately entered Ford Focus RS WRC car, had a nightmare start and was only 47th fastest overall through the first 'proper' stage.

Gareth though stuck with it and gradually hauled himself back up the leader-board finishing the first day in tenth place. He then climbed up to eighth on the first stage on day 2, a position he held right the way to the end.

In total he set ten top-ten stage times, his best effort, a sixth fastest time on Saturday, in the first run through the 13.46 kilometre Tempo 1 test.

"I am delighted after the time loss [on day 1] - getting from so far back to the top eight is unbelievable,” he reflected at the finish.

“It was such a great rally, so well-run and the volume of spectators at each stage was out of this world. Friday was the most difficult day, with the muck on the roads being a real hindrance.

“I enjoyed the Saturday stages the most. To get a WRC point at home though is just brilliant. Ireland has really proved that it can stage an event such as this,” he concluded.