With two wins from two rounds, Monaghan’s Josh Moffett is on home territory for Sunday’s Four Seasons Hotel Monaghan Rally, round three of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship as he aims to increase his lead over his main title rivals Declan Boyle and Roy White.

In front of one of the biggest crowds of spectators in recent times, Waterford’s Craig Breen and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle took their Ford Fiesta R5 to victory in the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally, the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

For a fifth successive season, Triton Showers will underpin the 2019 Irish National Rally Championship, which begins with the Abbeyleix Manor Hotel Rally on February 24.

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

Two former Tarmac champions are to switch to R5 cars for next year’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in a move that should ease pressure on the Tarmac Rally Organisers Association (TROA).

In trying circumstances Donegal’s Declan Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) captured the Triton Showers National Rally Championship with his eighth place finish on the Ballybofey based Jackson’s Hotel Donegal Harvest Rally.

Although Monaghan’s Josh Moffett (Ford Fiesta WRC) won the Clare Rally, the penultimate round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship, he faces an uphill battle to win the series after his main rival Donegal’s Declan Boyle, co-driven by James O’Reilly came home in fifth.

Having spurned a chance to tighten his grip on the Triton Showers National Rally Championship, Donegal’s Declan Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) faces title rival Monaghan’s Josh Moffett (Ford Fiesta WRC) on Sunday’s Charlie McEnery Motor Services Clare Rally, the penultimate round of the series.

Josh Moffett’s victory in the Enniskillen Trailer Parts & Spares Lakeland Rally that saw him clinch the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship, was mired in controversy after he was excluded from the results; but after two appeals and a stewards’ meeting the decision was overturned and he was re-instated as rally winner some five hours later.

A resumption of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship after 11 weeks and the return of the Stonethrowers Rally after a two-year absence dovetail on Sunday in the Clonmel event.

For the third successive year, the Donegal crew of Manus Kelly/Donall Barrett in their Applegreen backed Subaru WRC took victory in the Letterkenny based Joule Donegal International Rally. 

The desire to win the Joule Donegal International Rally is the ambition of most drivers and even an obsession for some.

Monaghan’s Josh Moffett and his Limerick co-driver Keith Moriarty (Ford Fiesta WRC) claimed the Hotel Kilmore Cavan Rally yesterday.

Tarmac champion Sam Moffett (Ford Fiesta R5) heads the entry for the Cartell.ie Rally of the Lakesthat begins from Killarney tomorrow morning.

Cork driver and four-time British Rally Champion Keith Cronin will campaign the new generation Hyundai i20 R5-N in this year’s British Rally Championship that includes rounds of the World Rally Championship (Wales Rally GB) and the European Rally Championship (Rally Ypres).

After a dramatic opening on the final leg of the Easter Rally in Antrim, when the Subaru WRC of overnight leaders Derek McGarrity/Paddy Robinson failed to start after transmission troubles, Monaghan’s Josh Moffett (Ford Fiesta R5) and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes took the spoils and consolidated their lead in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

Leading from the start Donegal’s Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) swept to a fifth successive victory in the Quality Hotel West Cork Rally. Co-driven by Monaghan’s Conor Foley they finished 45.8 seconds clear of Monaghan’s Josh Moffett and co-driver Andy Hayes with Irish Tarmac champions Monaghan’s Sam Moffett and Cork’s Karl Atkinson (Fiesta R5) in third.

There are events that will always buck the trend in Irish rallying and this weekend’s Quality Hotel West Cork Rally, the opening rounds of the Irish Tarmac Championship and the PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship is a prime example.

Donegal’s Declan Boyle and his Monaghan co-driver James O’Reilly made the perfect start to this year’s Triton Showers National Rally Championship with victory in the Achill Island-based Óstán Oileán Acla/Connacht Print & Signs Mayo Rally.

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.

After overcoming the loss of the Galway International Rally, organisers of the Irish Tarmac Championship (the TROA) have now been forced to terminate their contract with its title sponsor Dance To Tipperary.

Cork racing ace Lucca Allen has teamed up with the British-based Fortec Motorsport outfit for this season’s British Formula 4 Championship powered by Ford EcoBoost — a category recognised as an important step on the ladder to F1.

Clare’s Pádraig Egan (Subaru) won the head-to-head in the four-wheel drive category of the Herospec Rallysprint in Mondello Park yesterday, while Wexford’s Jason O’Keeffe (Peugeot 205) netted the two-wheel drive class and Cavan’s Russell Woods claimed victory in the Buggy class.

The departure of Citroen Racing World Rally Championship team principal Yves Matton has increased speculation as to the future of the French outfit in the WRC. 

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.

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.

With his sixth victory of the season Monaghan’s Sam Moffett (27) clinched the Triton Showers National Rally Championship with a comfortable victory in the FAAC Simply Automatic/Sligo Park Hotel Rally.

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

The first day of the Joule Donegal International Rally in Letterkenny was a battle of the Kellys — Frosses driver Donagh Kelly and Letterkenny’s Manus Kelly — while Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings remains very much in touch.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly has won numerous Irish rallies some of which culminated in National and Tarmac Championship titles — one of three drivers to win both in the same season. Yet, the one rally that has eluded him is, ironically, the Joule Donegal International Rally.

Monaghan’s Sam Moffett (Ford Fiesta WRC) strengthened his grip on the Triton Showers National Rally Championship when claiming the Rathkeale House Hotel Circuit of Munster Rally, round four of the campaign.

The Rathkeale House Hotel Circuit of Munster on Sunday marks the halfway point of the eight round Triton Showers National Rally Championship. However, it also contains several subplots including preparation for the next rounds of the British and Irish Tarmac Championships and also forms part of the Top Part West Coast regional series.

Taking the lead on the third stage, Donegal cousins Declan and Brian Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) won the Hotel Kilmore Cavan Rally finishing 32.1 seconds ahead of the Subaru WRC of Fermanagh’s Garry Jennings and his Letterkenny co-driver Rory Kennedy. 

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.

Although the Triton Showers National Rally Championship hasn’t reached the halfway mark, Monaghan’s Sam Moffett is showing real championship form.

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.

Dovetailing the Triton Showers National Rally Championship and the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship doesn’t pose any huge problems for Monaghan’s Sam Moffett, who leads the former and is second in the latter. It’s an interesting combination as he drives a Fiesta WRC in the National series and a Fiesta R5 on the Tarmac campaign.

Setting a cracking pace and mastering the wet conditions, Monaghan’s Sam Moffett (Ford Fiesta WRC) guided by Cavan’s James Fulton won the Abbey Court Hotel Nenagh Rally, the opening round of the Triton National Rally Championship.

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.

Martin Walsh tells you all you need to know about the upcoming Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship.

Donegal cousins Declan Boyle and Brian Boyle (Ford Fiesta WRC) blitzed the opposition in the Martin Howley Donegal Harvest Rally in Killybegs, the final round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.

The only missing element to Roy White’s Triton Showers National Rally Championship victory is an event win in a round of the series.