The event goes ahead after financial support was received privately and from the sport’s governing body Motorsport Ireland as the Galway club faced significant financial losses due to the lack of entries.

Martin Walsh Motorsport

Success in the Donegal International Rally, which begins in Letterkenny today, is closer to an obsession than an aspiration for a select group of drivers.

The Tillotson T4 Series will be showcased at the Motorsport Ireland National Karting Championships in Whiteriver Karting Complex in Louth on Sunday.

Tyrone’s Cathan McCourt (Ford Fiesta R5) netted his maiden rally victory on the Abbey Hotel Munster Moonraker Rally, round three of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship.

In front of one of the biggest crowds of spectators in recent times, Waterford’s Craig Breen and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle took their Ford Fiesta R5 to victory in the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally, the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

For the third successive year, the Donegal crew of Manus Kelly/Donall Barrett in their Applegreen backed Subaru WRC took victory in the Letterkenny based Joule Donegal International Rally. 

The desire to win the Joule Donegal International Rally is the ambition of most drivers and even an obsession for some.

Monaghan’s Josh Moffett and his Limerick co-driver Keith Moriarty (Ford Fiesta WRC) claimed the Hotel Kilmore Cavan Rally yesterday.

Irish rallying hope the profits generated from this weekend’s IMSF Mondello 50 will help defray the rising costs of insurance and offset financial risks facing the sport.

One of the most scenic locations in the country, Achill Island, provides the backdrop for the opening round of the Triton Showers Rally Championship on Sunday.

After overcoming the loss of the Galway International Rally, organisers of the Irish Tarmac Championship (the TROA) have now been forced to terminate their contract with its title sponsor Dance To Tipperary.

Clare’s Pádraig Egan (Subaru) won the head-to-head in the four-wheel drive category of the Herospec Rallysprint in Mondello Park yesterday, while Wexford’s Jason O’Keeffe (Peugeot 205) netted the two-wheel drive class and Cavan’s Russell Woods claimed victory in the Buggy class.

The departure of Citroen Racing World Rally Championship team principal Yves Matton has increased speculation as to the future of the French outfit in the WRC. 

Defending champions Donegal’s Manus Kelly (Subaru WRC) co-driven by Donall Barrett took back-to-back wins on an exciting Joule Donegal International Rally. 

The first day of the Joule Donegal International Rally in Letterkenny was a battle of the Kellys — Frosses driver Donagh Kelly and Letterkenny’s Manus Kelly — while Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings remains very much in touch.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly has won numerous Irish rallies some of which culminated in National and Tarmac Championship titles — one of three drivers to win both in the same season. Yet, the one rally that has eluded him is, ironically, the Joule Donegal International Rally.

Taking the lead on the third stage, Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) won the Hotel Kilmore Cavan Rally finishing 32.1 seconds ahead of the Subaru WRC of Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings and his Letterkenny co-driver Rory Kennedy. 

Motorsport Ireland (MI) chief executive Alex Sinclair has described this week’s meeting with rally competitors in Athlone as “something positive” as officials seek solutions to a number of problems facing the sport.

Cork racing driver Matt Griffin and his Clearwater Racing team-mates Mok Weng Sun and Keita Sawa claimed victory in the LMGTE Am category of ‘The 6 Hours of Silverstone’, the opening round of the World Endurance Championship at Silverstone yesterday.

Following a winter of uncertainty, Irish rallying springs into action tomorrow with the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally, the opening round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship.

Martin Walsh tells you all you need to know about the upcoming Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship.

Donegal cousins Declan Boyle and Brian Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) blitzed the opposition in the Martin Howley Donegal Harvest Rally in Killybegs, the final round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.

The GAA stadia are not the only places where Tipperary are illustrating their sporting prowess this season. Success for the Premier county natives has also transcended the highways and byways of Ireland and one is on the cusp on landing Irish rallying’s National title.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) would happily trade all his rally wins and even his Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship and the Triton Showers National Rally Championship titles for success in the Joule Donegal International Rally that gets underway today.

In his first full season on-board the FESP liveried Ford Fiesta WRC, Clonmel’s Roy White, the current leader of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship knows there are difficult times ahead as his rivals begin to apply the pressure.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly made history in the Quality Hotel West Cork Rally by becoming the first driver to win the event three years in succession.

Coping admirably with challenging conditions, the Fermanagh/Letterkenny partnership of Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Subaru WRC) were too good for the opposition as they netted a convincing victory in the Hotel Ballina/Kennedy Motors Mayo Rally, the first round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.

A new dawn breaks for the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship on its opening round, the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally, which gets under way tomorrow.

Banbridge driver Kenny McKinstry (Subaru WRC) with Kenny Hull calling the pacenotes won the Carey Cleaning Machines Icebreaker Rally in the forests of north Antrim.

McNulty, the first driver to win both National and Irish Tarmac titles in the same season, will make a competitive return to rallying on next month’s Corrib Oil Galway International Rally.

There was double delight for Donegal’s Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) as he clinched the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship with victory in the Todd’s Leap Ulster Rally in Enniskillen. 

Local hero Garry Jennings (Subaru EWRC) heads up the entry for the Todd’s Leap Ulster Rally that begins this afternoon in Enniskillen.

In a week where the FIA announced changes to the World Rally Championship for 2017, the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship Organisers (TROA) were hit with a backlash to their proposed rule changes for 2016 — a ban on the current World Rally Cars from winning the series — with the announcement that the Donegal International Rally was withdrawing from the series.

All season long Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) has been a consistent barometer of pace in the Triton Showers National Rally Championship. 

Motorsport

Despite having rolled their Citroen DS3 WRC seven times in yesterday’s shakedown stage, Tyrone’s Kris Meeke and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3R3) made it to the start of last evening’s Super Special in the Lotos 72nd Rally Poland, round seven of the World Rally Championship.

With a commanding performance delivered with total commitment, Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings and his Letterkenny co-driver Rory Kennedy brought their Kumho backed S12B Subaru WRC to a strong victory in the Joule Donegal International Rally, round five of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship.

The battle for supremacy in the Joule Donegal International Rally in Letterkenny is finely poised with just 3.2 seconds separating overnight leaders Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings (S12B Subaru WRC) and co-driver Rory Kennedy from the Ford Focus WRC of the Donegal/Derry partnership of Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan. 

The Joule Donegal International Rally that begins this afternoon is the best-supported event within the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship and also the only three-day event in Irish rallying.

A broken anti-roll bar on the penultimate stage denied the Irish pair of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle a possible podium position on the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, where the Volkswagen Polo WRC team claimed the top three places.

Further to their maiden WRC win, the Irish duo of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) tackle this weekend’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round five of the World Rally Championship, in confident mood. They are also expected to benefit from redefined aerodynamics on the front end and a new bumper and redesigned wings.

The in-form Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) can take a major step towards annexing the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship on this weekend’s Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes in Killarney.