Gronholm warms up for Sweden with Galway triumph.

BP Ford team leader Marcus Gronholm won the Galway International Rally on Sunday, having opted to take in the event as part of his preparations for the inaugural Rally Ireland, which runs from November 16-18.

Gronholm took the lead from the off on Saturday in his 2006-spec Focus, and won the first six stages, before multiple Irish tarmac champion Eugene Donnelly went in front after the Finn lost time with a puncture in SS7. The Subaru driver then held the top spot until an error in the penultimate stage, SS16, when he went off the road and got stuck in a ditch. Prior to his error Donnelly had been in front by just 1.1 seconds, after Marcus put in a storming time in SS14.

"It was a difficult rally but we learned a lot, it was good to have Donnelly to push me," Groholm told RallyNews.net. "It was sad for him to go off, he was driving really well."

Ford privateer, Gareth MacHale, who is due to do eleven WRC events this season, meanwhile took the runners-up spot in his 'new' Focus, albeit nearly 3 minutes drift.

"I'm happy enough, we were getting quicker throughout the rally as I got used to the left hand drive. I didn't think I'd be that on the pace with the new car," he added.

Three-time British Rally champion Mark Higgins was third, after a late push. Higgins ended the event a further 50 seconds or so off Gronholm, but still took the maximum points in the Irish Tarmac Championship, as neither Gronholm or MacHale are registered for the ITC.

"I was a bit happier towards the end but there is still a bit to do. It was a pretty dreadful rally for me, I hope we get more grip in Sweden," said Higgins, who will begin his FIA Production WRC campaign next weekend on the winter classic.

"Still it was a great opportunity for me to drive the Pirelli car - we had a few worries on the last stage as it is showing low oil pressure but we got here," he added.

Of the rest, Eamonn Boland and Kevin Lynch were fourth and fifth respectively, both in Ford Focus WRC cars, while Subaru privateer, Stephen Murphy was sixth, 11 seconds further back. Patrick Elliott, Michael Barrable, Austin Machale and Ray Breen completed the top ten, all in Focus', with the exception of Elliott, who drove an Subaru Impreza S11 WRC.

In Group N category James Foley took the victory - and eleventh place overall - in his Mitsubishi Evo 9, while fellow Evo user, Kevin O'Donoghue was second, over 1.5 minutes further back.