First of the Mitsubishi crews to hit problems due to the ice and snow was Owen Murphy, who slid off the road on stage one and bent a steering arm, making their car even harder to control in the tricky conditions. Stanley Ballentine had their morning's performance hampered when their car's turbo expired, although the problem was rectified at the service halt.
The next loop of three stages saw Colm Murphy extend his lead to over a minute to Cumiskey, both drivers now settling into a rhythm, even though the conditions were still giving them a few heart-stopping moments. Caldwell hung to third place, although he had bent a track control arm when he clipped a bank on SS6.
However, that was to be the least of his worries, as on SS8, just before the finish of the day's competition, his Evo left the road, went through a wall and came abruptly to rest against a tree. Thankfully, there were no injuries, but the same could not be said for his car and he had no choice but to retire on the spot.
Caldwell's demise elevated Owen Murphy to third before the overnight halt, the 21-year old rapidly making up for lost time - even with a broken rear shock absorber. Ballentine held fourth, whilst Alan Carmichael/Ivor Lamont were pleased with their fifth position, albeit frustrated to be catching slower cars in the stages. Tom Curley and Michael Murray in sixth and seventh respectively reported a fairly clean run, which was no mean feat considering the road conditions.
With the onset of heavy rain, just as cars headed to the first of Sunday's stages, the going was to be no easier for competitors for the second day of competition. Following timing problems on SS9, organisers accredited crews with notional times. Then, just when Colm Murphy looked as though he was safe, a shaft in his car's transmission sheared as he went to leave the start line on SS10 and he retired on the spot.
Ballentine also suffered terminal transmission problems in the stage, but in contrast Owen Murphy was flying and had overhauled Cumiskey to take the lead - by just 0.8 of a second.
