Punching in the best times on every stage Ballylickey’s Keith Cronin and his Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin took their new Hyundai i20 R5 to victory in the Rathkeale House Hotel Circuit of Munster Rally.

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

Waterford’s Craig Breen and his British co-driver Scott Martin had to be content with seventh place in the Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round six of the World Rally Championship.

As Rally Portugal begins in earnest today, Craig Breen scarcely needs reminding that he is the only driver from within the top echelon of the World Rally Championship yet to win a round of the series.

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).

Dovetailing as rounds of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship and the Northern Ireland Rally Championship, tomorrow’s Bushwhacker Rally, in Omagh, has a cracking field.

Monaghan’s Josh Moffett returns to European Rally Championship action this weekend when he contests the Junior U28 category of Rally Rzeszow in Poland.

Monaghan’s Sam Moffett (Ford Fiesta WRC) produced a start-to-finish victory in the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, to increase his chances of winning all three major Irish rally championships.

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.

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.

Cork racer Matt Griffin and team mate Duncan Cameron took their Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE to third place in the Silverstone 500, round six of the British GT Championship. 

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. 

Not surprisingly, Derry’s Marty McCormack and his Mallow co-driver David Moynihan in their Tiger Risk liveried Skoda Fabia R5 ran out comfortable winners of the Donegal Forest Rally, round three of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship.

The Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship is likely to have a new leader after tomorrow’s Abbey Hotel Donegal Forest Rally, the third round of the campaign as series leader and former champion Josh Moffett has withdrawn his entry due to business commitments.

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.

A ninth birthday present of a go-kart has propelled Shanagarry’s Lucca Allen towards his ultimate dream – competing in Formula 1. 

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. 

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

Leading all the way, Monaghan’s Niall Maguire (Subaru WRC), co-driven by James O’Reilly, survived a final-stage puncture to win the Lady Gregory Hotel Galway Summer Rally in Gort.

Irish rallying enjoyed one of its greatest days yesterday as Dungannon’s Kris Meeke and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle in the Abu Dhabi Total WRT-run Citroen DS3 WRC Paul Nagle won Rally Finland, round eight of the World Rally Championship.

Immersed in a test programme with Citroen’s new challenger for the 2017 World Rally Championship, this weekend’s Rally Finland, round eight of the WRC, offers the Irish crew of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle the opportunity to return to competitive action in the Abu Dhabi Total WRT-run Citroen DS3 WRC to pit their skills against the WRC regulars.

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.

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.

Cork driver Matt Griffin and his AF Corse team-mates Duncan Cameron and Aaron Scott had to be content with sixth spot in the LMGTE category of yesterday’s 4 Hours of Imola, the second round of the European Le Mans Series that ended under the safety car due to incessant rain.

The Moffett domination of the Monaghan Rally continued yesterday but it was the younger sibling Josh that won the event. 

Having built his racing career in Northampton and within earshot of Silverstone, Matt Griffin is content with life following his decision to return to his native Leeside from where he continues his globetrotting motorsport career as a professional Ferrari factory-racing driver.

With a clean sweep of the fastest times on all eight stages, the Antrim/Cork combination of Desi Henry/Liam Moynihan (Skoda Fabia R5) won the Abbey Hotel Munster Moonraker Rally in Ballyvourney, Co Cork, the second round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally series.

Having secured what seemed a comfortable victory in the Rallye Du Valais, the final round of the European Rally Championship, Craig Breen (Peugeot 208 T16) was subsequently handed a post-event two-minute penalty that dropped him to second.

The Valvoline National Forestry Rally Championship reaches its penultimate stage on Sunday with the Mayo Forest Rally. Though there is a 31-point difference between series leader and former champion Michael O’Brien (Ford Focus WRC) and his main rival, Monaghan’s Josh Moffett (Mitsubishi), the latter can land the title should he prevail on Sunday and again on the final round in Antrim early next month.

Meath driver Stephen Daly became only the fifth ever driver to make a successful defence of the famed Leinster Trophy.

The most prestigious award in Irish motor racing, the Leinster Trophy, awaits the winner of Sunday’s Formula Ford race in Mondello Park. Drivers like John Watson, Eddie Jordan, Ayrton Senna and Mika Hakkinen have all lifted the famous trophy at the Kildare venue and on Sunday Meath’s Stephen Daly will be hoping to retain the trophy for another 12 months.

Yet another Moffett show, the latest episode on the TuffMac Trailers Lakeland Rally, round five of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship saw the Monaghan born brothers Sam and Josh dominate proceedings during Saturday’s eight stages in the forests of west Fermanagh.

With consistent performances on the opening four rounds of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship, London-based Cork driver Michael O’Brien (Ford Focus WRC) makes another trip across the Irish Sea for tomorrow’s TuffMac Trailers Lakeland Rally in Enniskillen. The event also counts towards the Northern Ireland McGrady Insurance and Carryduff Forklift Championship.

Former National Rally champion, Warrenpoint’s Peadar Hurson (Subaru WRC), and his Monaghan co-driver Damien Connolly took a start to finish victory in the POC NI Distribution Tyrone Rally.

The decision by Motorsport Ireland to phase out the one-time popular single stage rallies has worked in favour of one of the newest motor clubs in the country, the Imokilly Motor Club.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly and his Derry co-driver, Kevin Flanagan (Ford Focus WRC), won the Triton Showers National Rally Championship with a second-placed finish in the McCormack Opel/Sligo Park Hotel Rally.

All season long Donagh Kelly (Ford Focus WRC) has been a consistent barometer of pace in the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.