This weekend is likely to be a defining moment in the annals of the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakes in Killarney. A glance through the list of previous winners reveal that drivers of World Rally Cars have triumphed since the Millennium, but that thread is tenuous as the new breed of R5 cars is set to bring the sequence to an end.

Rallying across the three Irish championships is a rare feat but one Monaghan’s Sam Moffett is accomplishing.

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.

There is a strong Irish presence in the Jim Clark International Rally, the second round of British Rally Championship, that begins with a stage around the streets of Duns in the Scottish borders this evening.

THE most anticipated round of the World Rally Championship, the Rally Italy in Sardinia, has enormous Irish interest with the competition debut of the Mini John Cooper Works WRC.

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.

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.

Irish driver Phillip Morrow and his co-driver, Daniel Barrett, in a Mitsubishi, finished fourth overall in the Carlisle-based Pirelli Rally, the first round of the British Rally Championship, today.

Lisburn’s, Phillip Morrow is the top Irish driver after the opening leg of the Carlisle based Pirelli Rally, the first round of the British Rally Championship.

THE Irish bid to host a round of the World Rally Championship will be further scrutinised today at the World Rally Commission meeting at FIA headquarters in Paris.

TWO of Ireland’s young rally stars, Garry Jennings and Shaun Gallagher, are in action tomorrow in the Border Counties Rally in Scotland.

Mark Higgins - co-driven by Belfast´s Michael Gibson (Ford Focus WRC) - have won the Newcastle based Pirelli International Rally, the opening round of the Pirelli sponsored British Rally Championship.