The final day of the Rallye Monte Carlo has been all about tyres. Barry Motorsport driver, Daniel Barry and his co-driver Martin Brady ultimately opted for the safer option to get them to the end of what can only be described and as an epic adventure for the Irish pairing. 'The Monte' is known as a specialist event and has been a massive undertaking for the home run team, who were rewarded in the early hours of Saturday morning when the crew returned to Monte Carlo in 21st position.

The final leg of the day started in the Valance service park, with a 122km drive to the 30.42km stand alone stage of Montauban/Eygalayes. Here Daniel again had to endure catching slower cars, as he made his way back up the field, and in the process lost time when they caught a snow-bank and filled the front grill with snow, slowing the car considerably.

After this stage the crews crossed the Colls on a 240km run into the new service park at Monaco. After a 3 hour regroup the crews embarked on the last 4 stages of the event including 2 runs over the infamous Coll Du Turini in the dark. The roads were basically dry, with icy patches and snow kicked on the road by the spectators, making conditions yet more treacherous. But Barry held it together for the last 4 stages to finish this epic event on his first attempt.

Daniel said on his return to the Monaco service park "That was the hardest thing I have ever done, but the best thing I have ever done!" Co-driver Martin Brady commented at the Ceremonial Finish "that we didn't think we were going to finish the first day, let alone the event - we have lost about 10minutes in total over the weekend with mechanical problems, so would have been higher yet if it hadn't been for that".

The event was won by Fords Mikko Hirvonen, who was 1minute and 51.4 seconds ahead of Skoda's Juho Hanninen. Sebastian Ogier was fighting for the lead when his Peugeot 207's engine expired on the road section to the last two stages.

Daniel and Martin are planning future events from the IRC calendar, starting with the Ypres Rally in June.

Regular updates and photos will be available on the team website www.barrymotorsport.com and Facebook users can keep up-to-date throughout the days of the event on the "Barry Motorsport" page. We are also Twitter-ing via Rally.ie for the latest information if you are not registered…

For further information on the IRC - www.ircseries.com
For Further information on the Rallye Monte Carlo - www.acm.mc
Listen on World Rally Radio - www.wrc.com

For further information please contact Donna Harper on +44 7711 094 309 or donna@teamcoordin8.com