Mayo rally duo John Warren and co-driver Ruthann O’Connor secured third place in Class 13 at the Donegal Harvest Rally at the weekend.

The Donegal Town based rally was the pair’s first return to the Harvest Rally since 2014, in which a nasty accident resulted in a long sabbatical from the sport.

John Warren, a design engineer with McHale Engineering was aware that he would be up against some tough opposition, as many of the leading modified drivers from Ireland had entered.

Slippery conditions on Sunday made it a true test throughout the six stages, with a number of crews succumbing to the treacherous conditions and ending their day prematurely.

The reward for the husband and wife team was a hard fought third place result in Class 13 just behind local Donegal driver Rory Thomas.

“We struggled with suspension as it was difficult to find a set up to cope with the hilly nature of the Donegal terrain, and trying to predict what the car would do over the bumps was a challenge, the stages were tight with very little room for error and it was a very challenging day for Ruthann as there was a considerable amount of notes to relay in short timeframes, but as always she was top class” said John after the rally.

“In hindsight it was a very good result” said Ruthann, “Conditions were very tough and the quality of the entry list was the highest in a long time, even before Covid times! We’re delighted to leave Donegal with crystal and it wouldn’t have been possible without John keeping his concentration behind the wheel and with the help of the crew behind us, the lads in C-Sport who again did a great job”.