Dean Raftery is ready to make his mark in the World Rally Championship after being honoured at the Irish Motorsport Awards yesterday.

The annual awards usually throw up a few surprises but there was an air of predictability at yesterday’s Dunlop Ireland Champions of Motorsport Awards ceremony at the Hilton Dublin Airport Hotel.

THERE is unlikely to be a stampede of Irish applicants for the second intake at the FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy.

IN a remarkable coincidence, the County Dublin village of Swords netted the young Driver of the Year awards for rallying and racing as Motorsport Ireland honoured its top achievers yesterday.