There’s a certain kind of poetry in the way a rally car smashes through a corner, tires clawing at gravel only to throw it back in a spray, and yawing sideways. And if you’re lucky enough to witness ...

O'Connell and co-driver Mark Wiley finished just three seconds in front of the VW Polo GTi R5 of Tyrone's Niall McCullagh/Ryan McCloskey.

Using the 2.0 TSI engine and six-speed manual ‘box from the GTI, but not the four-wheel-drive as in the WRC, the only true R-badged Polo produced 162 kW and got from 0-100 km/h in 6.5 seconds.