1985 Donegal Rally

It's been a while since I have posted a Classic piece of Rally Footage on here so here goes with another Classic from the 1985 Donegal Rally and what a ding dong affair this Event turned out to be between the 2 great Rivals of Irish Rallying Billy Coleman in the Rothmans Porsche 911 and Austin McHale in the DOTI Manta 400,the Event marked the debut of the Metro 6R4 on Irish Soil with Tony Pond at the wheel and the Car set a blistering pace with it being up to 2 sec a mile faster than any other Car competing but a blown Engine early in the Event ended its challenge,Bertie Fisher was another early retirement following back axle failure and Billy Coleman trailed Austin McHale who was in great form by over 40 sec,Coleman had some Mechanical issues and was off the road as well giving McHale a comfortable lead but Billy really turned on the pressure over the second half of the Event in particular to close down the gap down to just under 40 sec going into the last day,in the end Coleman drove like a man possessed on he final day to clinch a Famous Victory by just 1 sec helped by an overshoot for McHale towards the end of the Rally,Opels made up the remaining positions in the Top 5 with Cyril Bolton 3rd overall in his Manta followed by Phil Colliins in a similar Car with Vincent Bonner making up the Top 5 in his Opel Ascona 400,the RTE/UTV Production captured great action on an action packed Event and we thank Pat Sullivan Carrignavar for the use of this grea Footage,Enjoy.