Mark Donnelly and Martin Brady gave their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 the best possible competitive debut by winning the 2026 Lakeland Stages Rally in County Fermanagh. The Greencastle driver was fastest on five of the six gravel stages and finished 12.4 seconds clear of Patrick and Stephen O'Brien after a day built around Lough Navar, Big Dog and Ballintempo.
The Enniskillen Motor Club event on 5 September formed round five of the Irish Forest Rally Championship and round two of the Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge. It also marked the start of an intense autumn run of Northern Irish gravel events, with the Bushwhacker and Dogleap following soon afterwards.
Five stage wins from six
Donnelly's new Skoda was immediately competitive. He and Brady set the pace on the opening Lough Navar stage despite approaching the rally with the understandable aim of learning the car and bringing it home. Instead, they controlled the event, recording five stage victories from the six tests.
The Lakeland route was compact but demanding. The three forest stages were each used twice, giving competitors 56.968 kilometres of competitive running. The loose surface was slippery during the opening loop, while the high-speed sections and jumps characteristic of the Fermanagh forests rewarded crews who could commit without overworking the tyres or damaging the car.
O'Brien second, Greer storms to third
Patrick and Stephen O'Brien finished second, 12.4 seconds behind the winners. Their result maintained the brothers' reputation as major players on Irish gravel, even though championship registration rules meant the points picture was not identical to the overall result.
Jonny Greer and Niall Burns produced one of the drives of the rally to secure third in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2. Greer attacked the final stage and climbed several places, edging Ryan Caldwell and Dean O'Sullivan by only four tenths of a second for the final podium position. It was a valuable gravel result for the newly crowned Northern Ireland Rally Champion.
Strong two-wheel-drive performance
Paddy McToal and Connor O'Loan led the two-wheel-drive category from start to finish in their Ford Escort Mk2. Their winning margin was 28.4 seconds, and they collected maximum Northern Ireland category points. Hugh McQuaid and Declan Casey were second in the 2WD battle, with Shane McGirr and Denver Rafferty taking third.
The 90-car field underlined the strength of the event. Rally.ie listed more than 30 R5 or Rally2 cars among the entry, with a mix of Skoda, Hyundai, Volkswagen, Ford and Toyota machinery at the front. That level of depth meant a small mistake could cost several positions.
Why the result mattered
The win moved Donnelly and Brady into the lead of the Irish Forest Rally Championship at that point in the season. More importantly for Northern Ireland, it established them as a major threat in the Forest Rally Challenge heading into the Bushwhacker and Dogleap rounds.
The Lakeland Stages has long been one of the key gravel fixtures in Northern Ireland. Its 2026 running combined a classic three-stage format, a large entry and a close fight for the podium. Donnelly's maiden victory added another layer because it came on the first competitive outing for his latest-specification Skoda.