International Rally of the Lakes hat-trick a milestone moment for Callum Devine

The outcome had added significance for Devine, from Park in Co Londonderry, as he joins Billy Coleman and the late Bertie Fisher in triumphing at the competition three years running.

He gained control of the rally on Saturday’s penultimate test when Keith Cronin picked up a rear-left puncture, and instead of stopping and changing the tyre, he crawled to the end of ‘Ardgroom’.

With clear air in front of him, Devine – at the controls of his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 – ended the day with a 14.4-second lead and carried that momentum into Sunday's first two speed tests to put a further 1.1 seconds between him and the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of event debutant Matt Edwards.

Despite managing to chip away at Devine’s buffer, Edwards’ inexperience of the closed-road event and 36 miles left to play out meant that the top two crews ended up being separated by 7.9 seconds.

“It is absolutely fantastic to win it three times running,” said Devine.

“I wasn’t actually aware of it until the week of the rally, and it is crazy to think I am emulating the people I grew up watching as a kid.

“You think these people are untouchable, so to have won it for a third time, I am delighted.

“We knew we needed a win coming here, we definitely did, and it wasn’t easy as we decided to sample different tyres over the weekend.

“It is also the first win of the year for Michelin in the Irish Tarmac Championship as well, so it is nice to finally get that on the board for them.

“Going to the next round in Donegal, I know Keith is going to make things very difficult for us. He was unfortunate to get a puncture here, but look, we have all been there. I got one in West Cork, and it meant a DNF for us. That’s the way your luck goes sometimes in this sport.”t

Rounding out the podium places in third to record the best international result of his career so far was Skoda Fabia Rally2-mounted Eddie Doherty.

With the turbo boost issue on his Czech-built car fixed for Sunday, he had enough in reserve to keep a hard-charging Cronin at bay to cement third.

A puncture for Jonathan Greer on Stage 10 of 14 put the brakes on his pursuit of Cronin who, at the time, was only 6.6 seconds clear of the multiple Northern Ireland Rally champion. However, a cheque for €5,000 (£4,286) softened the blow for Greer as the top-ranked Citroen C3 Rally2 Trophy-registered driver.

Meanwhile, at Rally Islas Canarias – Round Two of the FIA European Rally Championship – Kesh’s Jon Armstrong secured seventh place in his Motorsport Ireland-backed M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2.