The Four Seasons Hotel Monaghan Rally ended in dramatic fashion as the Donegal/Monaghan pairing of Donagh Kelly/Conor Foley guided their KN Group liveried Ford Focus WRC to a final stage victory to deny long time leaders, the Monaghan/Cork duo of Sam Moffett/Karl Atkinson (Ford Fiesta R5).

Kilkenny driver Enda O’Brien powered his 2.5-litre engine Ford Escort to victory in the Germaine’s of Baltinglass Rally in Wicklow. 

The popularity of Sunday’s Germaine’s of Baltinglass Hotel Rally is reflected by an entry of 130 competitors that will be led away by top seed and favourite Kilkenny’s Enda O’Brien (Ford Escort).

Sam Moffett will create Irish motorsport history once he checks in at the first control of this weekend’s Acesigns Cork “20” International Rally, the final round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship

Cork driver Keith Cronin in the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 faces a difficult task in winning a fourth British Rally Championship crown that will be decided over the two-leg 138.com Rally Isle of Man that began last night.

Cavan’s Gary Kiernan (Escort) and his Limerick co-driver Keith Moriarty took a late victory in the Midleton based Imokilly Rally, round four of the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship after long time leaders Jonathan Pringle/James Fulton (Escort) crashed out of the lead on the penultimate stage.

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

With four rounds completed Sam Moffett (Ford Focus WRC) is marching towards success in the Triton National Rally Championship.

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.

Motorsport: A strong performance over the first run of the stage paved the way for Lisburn’s Wesley Patterson (Ford Escort) and his co-driver Johnny Baird to claim victory in the Cloyne-based AceSigns-sponsored Imokilly Single Stage Rally.

The An Post Chain Reaction outfit are the men to beat in this weekend’s Suir Valley 3-Day in Clonmel, Tipperary.

Sean Lacey won his fifth straight Lacey Cup in Tralee yesterday, edging out Michael Fitzgerald (Fermoy CC) and talented junior Dylan O’Brien (O’Leary’s Stone Kanturk CC) after 76 kilometres of hilly racing.

Cork’s Matt Griffin is upbeat ahead of this weekend’s fourth round of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at Silverstone.

Tomorrow is a red letter day for the fledgling Imokilly Motor Club who will host their first ever stage rally since affiliating with Motorsport Ireland six years ago.

Revival is the central theme to the weekend events in both rallying and racing.

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.

UNDER pressure throughout the event, Waterford’s, Craig Breen (Ford Fiesta) and his Welsh co-driver, Gareth Roberts were crowned the FIA WRC Academy Champions after clinching the title with victory in Rally GB, the final round of the series to claim the top prize worth €500,000.

THE Irish crew of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (MINI WRC) begins today’s second leg of Rally GB, the final round of the World Rally Championship, in fifth place following a solid run through yesterday’s opening three stages.

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

THE Bantry-based Westlodge Hotel Fastnet Rally brings the Dunlop National Rally Championship to a fitting finale on Sunday with a cracking entry featuring no fewer than seven World Rally Cars in a quality line-up.

ALTHOUGH Tim McNulty (Subaru WRC) and Alastair Fisher (Ford Fiesta S2000) each shared three fastest times over yesterday’s six stages of the opening leg of the Topaz Donegal International Rally, the former will take a 28.6 second lead in to today’s second leg of the Letterkenny-based rally, the fourth round of the Irish Tarmac Championship.

THE final round of this season’s Dunlop National Rally Championship, the Fastnet Rally, has a new base and headquarters at the Westlodge Hotel in Bantry.

SOME of the most renowned stages in Irish rallying, like Moll’s Gap, Caragh Lake and those in the Béara Peninsula, are the principal reason Tim McNulty opted to compete in this weekend’s Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally of the Lakes, the third round of the Irish Tarmac Championship, instead of last week’s Circuit of Ireland Rally.

IT’S a case of experience against youth for the top two seeds in this weekend’s Donnelly Group/UTV Drive Circuit of Ireland Rally.

ALTHOUGH Gareth MacHale (Ford Focus WRC) leads the Citroen Irish Tarmac Championship and is the best placed of four drivers to win the title, he is also the driver under most pressure ahead of this weekend’s final round, the Cork ‘20’ International Rally.

HORSEPOWER of a different variety will reverberate at the Tralee Racecourse tomorrow for the Tyre Stop Kerry Rallysprint.

DEREK McGARRITY could be forgiven for having a sense of déjà vu this weekend as he goes from one circuit to another.

YOUNG guns, Keith Cronin, 23, and Craig Breen, 20, represent the changing demographic of Irish rallying as the Citroen Irish Tarmac Championship gets underway tomorrow with the Safety Direct Galway International Rally.

Gareth MacHale, driving a Ford Focus WRC, dominated today's nine stages of the opening leg of the Cork "20" International Rally, the final and deciding round of the Irish Tarmac Championship.

SOME 23 years after he won the event, Tralee’s Donie Horan headlines Kerry Motor Club’s Tyre Stop-backed Rallysprint tomorrow at Tralee Racecourse. The 46-year-old makes his first competitive outing since the mid-1980s and will drive a hired Mitsubishi Evo9.

The latest round of the Irish Junior Rally Championship incorporated in today’s Cork Mini Stage Rally at Donoughmore, resulted in a narrow victory for Cork pair, Damien McCarthy/Eamonn Hayes (Honda Civic), who finished just 1.9 seconds ahead of Peter Wilson/John Kilmurray, also in a Honda Civic.