Determined Doherty savours maiden Circuit of Kerry win 

Stage blockages on the first and third stage led to a truncated opening loop along the Dingle Peninsula where the stages were described as tricky and greasy. On the opener, Camp Mountain, Doherty (Skoda Fabia R5) was best as he eked out a 1.9s lead over the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Derry Desi Henry with Josh Moffett's similar version just 1.3s further behind and followed by his brother Sam's Hyundai i20 Rally2. 

Tyrone's Jason Dickson made a great start and occupied fifth in his Ford Fiesta Rally2. The in-form Doherty punched in the best time on SS2, Minard Castle to extend his lead to 6s with Josh Moffett edging out Henry by a mere 0.5s. Second-placed Moffett was the only driver to complete SS3 as Henry rolled his Citroen C3 Rally2, the Derry ace and his Donegal co-driver Shane Byrne hospitalised as a precaution but were discharged a few hours later.

At the MTU service park, rally leader Doherty commented that it was difficult to have confidence given the copious amounts of gravel strewn on the stages. Josh Moffett's response about the stages was of a similar vein while he also commented that his Citroen was performing differently at high speed in comparison to lower speed.

Although Dubliner Robert Barrable had no intercom on the opening stage, he was able to sort the issue prior to the second stage where he went on to be third quickest and move into third. Declan Boyle, Sam Moffett and Jason Dickson (Ford Fiesta Rally2) rounded out the top six.

Doherty continued to dominate and topped the time sheet on SS4 to extend his lead over Josh Moffett to 10.6s with Barrable a further 11.9s behind in third. Dickson was second quickest on the stage but unfortunately, he clipped something and punctured the front right tyre on SS5 and drove some five kilometres as it deflated. A composed Doherty was best on SS5 and SS6 and arrived at the final service halt with a 16.2s lead over Josh Moffett. 

Doherty admitted to getting a scare on SS4 when his Skoda landed awkwardly over a jump he had taken at top speed. "We tried a softer tyre for that loop and it worked well, there's still a lot of gravel on the roads," he said. 

Moffett reckoned that his time didn't reflect his efforts. Barrable remained in third as he concentrated on his own driving:" "There's great grip on the first pair of stages but not the same level on the third stage."

Fourth -placed Boyle was content with the handling of his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 while Sam Moffett was at a loss to explain his performance on all three stages of the loop. Having stiffened the suspension of his Ford Fiesta Rally2 Monaghan's Gary Kiernan was pleased with the response. Elsewhere, and having finished the opening stage in a lowly 23rd place, Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin made rapid progress through the pack and arrived at the final service in seventh place.

Josh Moffett retired on the way to SS7 with fuel pump issues, his demise immediately gave Doherty a 28.7s lead Barrable. The posting of times for SS7 were delayed due to a transmission issue. Sam Moffett was best on SS7 and SS8 - performances that saw him move ahead of Boyle while Barrable punched in the best time on the final stage to claim the "Power Stage" bonus point, Boyle, Kiernan and Cronin rounded out the top six. Dickson's rally ended on the penultimate stage when he hit a chicane and damaged the power steering.

Not surprisingly, Doherty admitted to driving in "cruise mode" through the final stage to claim the spoils and ended the day as leader of the national series.