Ginley jubilant following eighth place finish.

Yorkshire's Alistair Ginley and his Irish co-driver Rory Kennedy achieved a well-deserved World Rally Championship career highlight this afternoon, finishing the gruelling Cyprus Rally in eighth position and earning Ginley his first ever WRC drivers point.

"I just can't believe it - both Rory and I are simply delighted! I have competed here once before in 2001 in a Group N Mitsubishi, but to achieve this much in a World Rally Car is like a dream come true! said the 24-year old.

Ginley, who has competed mainly in British Championship events since he started rallying in 1999, hopes to compete in nine World Rally Championship events this season, and has already successfully finished in the top 15 in both the Rally of Turkey and the Acropolis Rally this season.

Ginley, a private entrant in an M-Sport Ford Focus WRC01, gave the performance of a lifetime during the incredibly dramatic three-day event. The intense heat and some of the roughest road conditions encountered in the world rally calendar, saw a high rate of attrition in the manufacturer entered teams, with Saturday alone accounted for nine of the top manufacturers drivers - the highest rate of attrition witnessed on a single day in a championship round for many years.

Patience and consistency paid off, with Ginley's ADR Motorsport prepared Ford Focus thrived in the tough conditions, despite many heat related problems during the first two legs.

"I was honestly surprised to get through the first leg, let alone get to the finish and it's indeed a credit to the whole team that we have made it this far," commented Ginley, "During the first leg our brake fluid boiled, leaving us with no brakes through the longest stage of the day and then our car over-heated, making the trying conditions even worse! But the Focus is incredible - I honestly don't know how the car keeps going through this type of terrain but it does and that gives us an incredible confidence boost."

The remainder of the first day was virtually trouble free, however the duo caught the crippled car of fellow privateer, Finland's Juuso Pykalisto towards the end of the second run through the longest stage of the rally, SS4.

"There was so much dust that he didn't see us behind him and I had no choice but to nudge him to let him know we were there so we could pass, and unfortunately took off our front bumper in the process! The only good luck we had during the first day was that our Pirelli XR tyre's worked very well for us and we were one of the few not to have any punctures," he said.

Ginley was again plagued by overheating during the start of Leg Two, however the levelheaded young man was able to cool the car during the stages by turning off the ALS [Anti-Lag System].

"While this reduces the response of the engine, therefore slowing us down, it did help to bring the temperature down and we still managed enough speed to post top ten stage times against some of the top manufacturers entries," he said.

The Focus' turbo blew on the following road section back to service and the team was able to replace it, however as Ginley and Kennedy left to return to the next set of competitive stages they noticed the oil pressure dropping before their eyes.

"It was just awful. As we were driving to the stage the gauge just didn't stop falling. We were faced with having to stop and retire, which we really didn't want to do! With a new engine you just wouldn't risk it, but ours had done three events this year so far and was due for a re-build, so we decided to try and nurse the car through - although with over 100km's including three competitive stages ahead we were not confident of making it back to service," said Kennedy.

Incredibly, the duo did an impressive job, and as many of the manufacturers entrants continued to retire around them they made it back to the following service where their team found that swarf from the blown turbo had blocked the oil filter and once changed the car immediately went back to full oil pressure.

During the third and final leg, the duo settled into a rhythm, intent only on taking one stage at a time and trying not to let the pressure of finishing the event get to them.

"It was almost an enjoyable morning! The roads were again quite rough and we suffered a couple of punctures, along with a slight problem with steering when our tracking was knocked out. The most heart-stopping moment of the weekend was when we lost power steering at the start of the penultimate stage of the rally," concluded Ginley, "The power steering belt had come off and we had to complete the final two stages with no power steering. The temperatures inside the car were over 45?C - I have never felt so exhausted in all my life!

"I have felt a bit like a cat with nine lives during this rally - and I think I must have used almost all of them! We have been incredibly lucky to finish as there have been so many retirements - including the leading championship drivers. The old adage to finish first, first you have to finish really means something on this event and we are just delighted to have made it through."