Connor McCloskey and Crawford Henderson piloted their new Mitsubishi Evo 9 to a fine eleventh place overall on this weekend's Circuit of Ireland Rally, round two of the Irish Tarmac Championship.
A long break followed the first round in Galway, giving the pair time to post a top ten finish on Rally Ireland in March and time for Davy Greer Motorsport to build the new car ready for McCloskey's 'home' event. The rally began in Derry/Londonderry, just forty miles from the 20 year-old's home in Kilrea but the stages were unfamiliar to them and many other crews.
New organisation meant a new layout with stages over three days but McCloskey made an impressive start. They were third in Group N and tenth overall at the first service despite knowing immediately that the suspension needed work. "I could tell straight away that we would have to make some changes," he said, "so I was pleased to be on the pace on the first stage particularly as I thought we were too cautious."
By the end of stage three, the crew had moved to ninth place overall but the youngster admitted that he had not overcome his initial feeling. "I'm sure we'll go better when we fine tune the suspension. It is definitely a better car than the old one but there's a lot more to come," he added. Stage four was inconsistent and McCloskey admitted he struggled with the stage, dropping to twelfth. By close of play on Saturday, they had climbed back to tenth overall, settling a little with the car and pleased with their overnight position.
Barnes Gap was the first stage on Sunday and the car emerged sporting a minor battle scar, "We spun and clipped a gate post in there," explained McCloskey, "but we didn't drop too much time and the car's OK." The day progressed well and aside from a poor tyre choice, the crew maintained their overall and class position after day two's six stages. "There were two 16.5 mile stages today," remarked Crawford, "They were a rally all by themselves, definitely a test for both of us."
![Connor McCloskey / Crawford Henderson - Mitsubishi Evo 9 [pic credit: Seamus Counihan - www.crspics.com]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/209063.jpg)
