Up until yesterday the S14 Subaru WRC didn’t perform well on Irish tarmac roads, but that has changed with Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings guiding the car into the lead after yesterday’s opening leg of the Topaz Donegal International Rally.

Having punched in the third fastest time on yesterday’s opening stage of the Tour de Corse, round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, Craig Breen suffered disappointment when his Sainteloc-run Peugeot 207 S2000 broke a driveshaft on the second stage as he lost touch with the leaders.

Whatever their individual qualities, the combination of stages in the Killarney area and those within the Beara Peninsula are probably unequalled within Europe.

Local hero and six-time winner Niall Maguire heads a capacity entry for Sunday’s Monaghan Rally that includes a 30k stage as part of a three-stage loop.

Entering the final stage of the opening leg of the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally, the third round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, Finnish driver, Juho Hanninen (Skoda Fabia S2000) led Norwegian, Andreas Mikkelsen, also in a Skoda, by just six 10ths of a second behind.

Elevation to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) series has raised the profile of the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally.

Dubliner Robert Barrable is aiming for glory in this year's Circuit of Ireland rally which is set to begin this weekend.

Knowing that every second counts, Midleton’s Daragh O’Riordan is favourite to win the Quality Hotels West Cork Rally this weekend.

Already shaping up to be a good contest between the Subaru S11 quartet of Dunlop regulars Kevin Barrett and Niall Maguire and newcomers, Thomas Fitzmaurice and Brian O’Mahony, the Dunlop National Rally Championship continues on Sunday with the Claremorris based McWilliam Park Hotel/Fleet Transport Magazine Mayo Rally.

THE performance of reigning World Rally Academy champion, Craig Breen, will be monitored closely on the Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of the World Rally Championship that begins today.

THIS year’s World Rally Academy Champion, Craig Breen has unveiled his plans for next season that will see the Waterford ace campaign his Kel-Tech Engineering Ford Fiesta S2000 in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC).

WITH the announcement of the 2011 Billy Coleman Award winner just days away, some of its former incumbents are busily planning for next season even though one driver is being coy about his plans.

NEXT year’s Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally is one of four new rounds in the global Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) series.

SPECULATION is rife that next year’s Circuit of Ireland Rally will be included in the global Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) series.

NEWLY-CROWNED Irish Tarmac Group N champion, Garry Jennings headlines tomorrow’s Bailey NiteClub Redcastle Oceanfront Spa Hotel Donegal Harvest Rally, the penultimate round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship.

THE Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship could be decided in tomorrow’s Omagh-based Bushwhacker Rally, the penultimate round of both the Irish series and the Hankook Northern Ireland Rally Championship.

THESE are busy times for Craig Breen, yet another emerging Irish rallying star.

THE Quaife British Rallycross Championship and Summer Rallycross dovetail at Mondello Park on Sunday, where reigning Irish champion Tommy Graham will have plenty of opposition in the Supercar division.

THE best-known rally in the world, the Monte Carlo Rally, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, and the event has a great resonance for Irish competitors mostly initiated on Paddy Hopkirk’s victory in 1964.

DOUBLE British Rally Champion Keith Cronin has shelved his progress to the next level of the sport due to a lack of opportunities.

JUST a year ago, Keith Cronin ended a 35 year drought when he became the second Irish driver to win the British Rally Championship following in the tracks of Billy Coleman, who won the series back in 1974.

BRITISH RALLY champion, Keith Cronin is not that accustomed to playing the percentage game, mostly because the Cork driver hasn’t been required to adopt such a role.

FROM a season where little went wrong, culminating with victory in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle, the current defence of their crown is proving almost the total opposite.

HAVING led the Rally Islas Canarias, round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge up until the eighth stage, the Irish crew of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000), will begins today’s final leg in sixth position. Meeke set the pace from the start, taking a 4.4 second lead over the Skoda of Jan Kopecky.

THIS year’s Circuit of Ireland Rally will feature a demanding 18-mile night-time stage as the centrepiece to what is the second oldest rally in the world.

THE Irish crew of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle have been stripped of their victory in last week’s Rally of Scotland.

NOT since 1974 has an Irish driver won the British Rally Championship, indeed in the entire history of the BRC, only Billy Coleman has managed to triumph.

The Irish pair of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle in their Peugeot UK-backed Peugeot 207 S2000 have finished second in the Rally Principe de Asturias in Spain, round nine of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Ireland's Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle lie in seventh place at the end of the first leg of Rally Principe de Asturias in Spain, the ninth round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

THE Tarmac Rally Organisers Association (TROA) meet in Dublin on Sunday against the backdrop of a changing demographic in the Irish Tarmac Championship. The top contenders in the ITC have stated that the series should continue without any dramatic changes.

The Irish duo of Kris Meeke (Dungannon) and Paul Nagle (Killarney) in their Peugeot S307 have finished second in the Barum Czech Rally Zlin, round eight of the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Fifth place on the Rali Vinho Madeira, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, has seen the Irish crew of Kris Meeke (Dungannon) and Paul Nagle (Killarney) move into a five point lead in the championship.

IN what is clearly their most difficult assignment to date, Irish pair Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle lie in sixth place heading to today’s final leg of Rali Vinho Madeira, the seventh round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Dungannon's Kris Meeke and Killarney's Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000) have moved into a two point lead in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge series after today's victory in the Sata Rally Azores.

With six fastest stage times through today's nine tests, the North/South pairing of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle in their Peugeot UK 307 S2000 have swept into an impressive lead of 40.2 seconds at the end of the first leg of Sata Rally Azores today.

Ireland's, Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000) have won the Rally Internacional de Curitiba in Brazil, the second round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).

The Irish crew of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle (Peugeot 207 S2000) were in sensational form on today's opening leg of the Rally Internacional de Curitiba in Brazil.

Ireland's Kris Meeke (Dungannon) and Paul Nagle (Killarney) continue to make progress in the Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.