The dynamic of this year’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship — that is being launched in Galway tonight — sees a major shift towards the Hyundai i20 R5 for many of its top competitors.

Cork racing ace Lucca Allen is on the cusp of outright victory in the F4 SEA Championship with Finland’s Elias Seppanen standing between the Shanagarry driver and his first FIA title.

The motorsport careers of Derry’s Josh McErlean and Kildare’s James Roe Jnr. received a major boost in terms of finance and prestige after they were honoured at the MIS Motorsport Champions of Irish Motorsport awards ceremony at the Citywest Hotel, Dublin yesterday.

A magnificent silver trophy in honour of the late Maurice Nagle awaits the winners of tomorrow’s Rentokil-Initial Killarney Historic Rally that has attracted a superb entry.

Tomorrow’s Donegal Harvest Rally in Redcastle will mark the Volkswagen Polo GTi R5 debut for former Irish Tarmac and National champions Donegal’s Donagh Kelly and Monaghan’s Josh Moffett.

Irish drivers Kris Meeke (Toyota Gazoo Racing) and Craig Breen (Hyundai Motorsport) may have to park their own desire to win the Wales Rally GB to ensure their respective teams have the best possible platform to win the WRC Manufacturers’ title.

A competitor has been killed in a crash at the Donegal International Rally this afternoon.

Three former winners are amongst the entry list for Sunday’s Acesigns Laois Heartland’s Rally in Portlaoise with Cavan’s Jonny Pringle bidding to become the first man to win back to back events.

A meeting of the World Rally Commission in Geneva tomorrow to discuss next season’s Word Rally Championship may increase the possibility of an event returning to the island of Ireland.

The Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes in Killarney has appointed star actor Michael Fassbender as an ambassador

A qualifying round of the Motorsport Ireland National Navigation Trial Championship was suspended over the weekend due to the withdrawal of IRDS insurance cover.

Armagh’s James Wilson, 24, and Belfast’s Charlie Eastwood, 23, scooped the major honours at the Beta Tools Motorsport Ireland Awards yesterday.

As the Dayinsure Wales Rally GB cranks into gear today, Waterford’s Craig Breen still awaits his maiden victory in a round of the World Rally Championship for his Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT team.

As the curtain falls on the already decided Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship in tomorrow’s McKelvey Asbestos Bushwhacker Rally in Omagh, the outcome of the McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Rally Championship could also draw to a close should series leader Derek McGarrity (Ford Focus WRC) secure a top four finish.

It’s been a topsy-turvy few days for the Prestone British Rally Championship organisers.

The 17-year-old achieved the feat when she navigated for her dad in the Imokilly Stages Rally in Co Cork.

Teenager Sara McFadden has become the first visually impaired person to compete in Irish rallying.

Former Irish Young Racing Driver of the Year Cian Carey promises he is “not getting ahead” of himself despite securing his fourth win of the Formula 3 Cup Championship season last weekend at Oulton Park.

For the Cronin brothers, Keith and Daniel, Sunday’s Rathkeale House Hotel Circuit of Munster Rally in west Limerick has different agendas.

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.

There is widespread agreement across several platforms that junior rallying under the umbrella of Motorsport Ireland requires a radical overhaul as it has departed from the true spirit of its inception some 15 years ago.

Despite the increasing popularity of rallysprints organised throughout the country by the Rallysport Association, the chief executive of Motorsport Ireland, Alex Sinclair, admitted they have no plans to counteract a development which is causing concern amongst MI affiliated clubs.

Promising motorsport starlets Derry’s Callum Devine, 23, and Mullingar’s Jordan Dempsey, 17, scooped the main prizes at the Beta Tools Motorsport Ireland awards ceremony at Dublin’s

Five races in this season’s F4 British Championship powered by Ford EcoBoost have whetted Lucca Allen’s appetite to make it to the top table of motor racing: Formula 1.

Second fastest through yesterday’s shakedown stage for RallyRACC Catalunya - Rally de Espana, round 11 of the World Rally Championship, Irish pair Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle spearhead Citroen’s challenge for the three-day encounter.

It’s already a memorable season for Monaghan’s Sam Moffett and it can get even better as he edges closer to becoming the first ever driver to win all three major Irish rallying championships in the same season. 

Is there a lesson to be gained for Irish rally organisers from Sunday’s Midleton based Imokilly Rally? 

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.

Denied victory in last week’s third round of the British GT Championship at Rockingham by a controversial penalty, Cork’s Matt Griffin turns his attention to tomorrow’s World Endurance Championship (WEC) second round at the Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

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.

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.

One of the most popular events in Irish rallying, the Rose Hotel Circuit of Kerry is a perfect illustration of the current difficulties within Irish rallying.

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.

The two most prestigious awards within Irish motorsport were presented to the sport’s brightest talents last evening as Monaghan’s Josh Moffett, 24, scooped the Billy Coleman Award for the Young Rally Driver of the Year while Ciaran Carey, 22, from Rathoath, Co Meath, won the Sexton Trophy for the Young Racing Driver of the Year.

Good performances don’t always guarantee good results according to Cork racing ace Matt Griffin, who competes in the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium this weekend. 

Although not endemic within rallying, illegal reconnaissance is still a concern.

There is a noticeable decline in the level of entries for most Irish rallies with some organising clubs struggling to run their events without incurring losses. Some events are down 30 to 40 entries compared to previous seasons with scarcely any club having maximum entries as was the case in former years.

Racing driver Jake Byrne has abandoned his Motorsport Ireland Young Driver of the Year programme with immediate effect after it appears he is unhappy with his UK Formula Ford campaign - the prize for winning the prestigious award.