Taking the lead on the second stage, the Antrim/Monaghan duo of Desi Henry and Damien Connolly (Ford Fiesta WRC) went on to win the Enniskillen based Lakeland Rally that counted as rounds of the McGrady Insurance Northern Ireland Stage Rally Championship and the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally series.

A winning margin of 20.4 seconds by Monaghan’s Sam Moffett and co-driver James O’Reilly (Ford Fiesta R5) in the Crafted Fitted Furniture Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, masks a tremendous battle with fellow countyman Barry McKenna and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes (Ford Fiesta R5) that wasn’t resolved until the penultimate stage.

The Joule Donegal International Rally ended in tragic circumstances early yesterday when Manus Kelly, who won the event for the last three years, lost his life after his Hyundai i20 R5 crashed and left the road on Stage 15, Fanad Head.

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

Martin Walsh Motorsport

Success in the Donegal International Rally, which begins in Letterkenny today, is closer to an obsession than an aspiration for a select group of drivers.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) and his Monaghan co-driver Conor Foley pulled out all the stops to deny the Monaghan/Wexford duo of Josh Moffett/Andy Hayes victory in the Four Seasons Hotel Monaghan Rally, round three of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.

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.

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.

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).

Carrick on Suir Motor Club’s kindness and generosity shows little sign of abating.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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).

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.

Cork racer Matt Griffin joins up with the Singapore-based Clearwater Racing team that also includes Mok Weng Sun and Kieta Sawa to contest round three of the World Endurance Championship (WEC) at the iconic Nurburgring circuit in Germany on Sunday.

Defending champions Donegal’s Manus Kelly (Subaru WRC) co-driven by Donall Barrett took back-to-back wins on an exciting Joule Donegal International Rally. 

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.

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.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) netted his fourth straight win in the Quality Hotel West Cork Rally, the second round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly bids for a fourth successive victory at the Quality Hotel West Cork Rally this weekend - a feat that has never been achieved in the 40-year history of the Clonakilty event.

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.

Although Donagh Kelly’s debut in a Ford Fiesta R5 lasted just shy of the halfway mark in the Grizedale Rally in Cumbria, the Donegal driver was impressed with the car and has vowed to give it consideration in his plans for next season.

Former National and Irish Tarmac champion Donagh Kelly will sample a Fiesta R5 in competitive mode for the first time tomorrow at the Grizedale Rally in the forests of Cumbria.

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

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) would happily trade all his rally wins and even his Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship and the Triton Showers National Rally Championship titles for success in the Joule Donegal International Rally that gets underway today.

Welsh driver Steve Wood (Subaru WRC) and his Limerick co-driver Keith Moriarty took a start to finish victory in the Rathkeale House Hotel Circuit of Munster Rally.

Motorsport Ireland chief executive Alex Sinclair is confident that a ruling from the European Court of Justice - which has the potential to have detrimental effects for motorsport across the EU - will be amended.