The Irish crew of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle finished second in the Wales Rally GB, the final round of the series.

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.

Further to their maiden WRC win, the Irish duo of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) tackle this weekend’s Vodafone Rally de Portugal, round five of the World Rally Championship, in confident mood. They are also expected to benefit from redefined aerodynamics on the front end and a new bumper and redesigned wings.

Moving into the lead on the second stage, the Waterford/Cork pairing of Andrew Purcell/Liam Brennan brought their Kumho shod Mitsubishi EvoIX to victory in the Donegal Forest Rally, the second round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship.

Motorsport: A spin midway through the final stage of Rally Sweden, the second round of the World Rally Championship denied the Irish pair of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen DS3 WRC) the opportunity of finishing sixth.

Motorsport: Losing time off the start line of last night’s opening stage of Rally Sweden, round two of the World Rally Championship, the Irish crew of Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle (Citroen D3 WRC) are outside the top 10 but still only 2.6 seconds off the lead after the completion of the Super Special at Karlstad. Meeke was very relaxed at the stage finish and was looking forward to today’s nine stages.

Double Irish Forest Rally champion Owen Murphy (Subaru) used all his experience to beat Pádraig Egan (Semog Special) in the Munster Loose Surface Autocross at Ballinacurra, Midleton, yesterday.

Although Monaghan’s Josh Moffett (pictured) is officially listed to drive his usual Mitsubishi EvoIX at Sunday’s Sligo Rally, the 22-year-old will make his debut in the Ford Fiesta WRC his brother Sam drove to victory in the Rally of the Lakes last May.

The make-up of next season’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship is one of the main topics on the Tarmac Rally Organisers Association (TROA) agenda in Dublin on Sunday.

Past and present Billy Coleman award winners dominate the 100-strong entry list for today’s Carlow Rallysprint at Mondello Park.

Irish motorsport is in the middle of its award season and sandwiched between last week’s Dunlop presentation and tomorrow night’s Valvoline Irish Forest Championship ceremony were the interviews for the prestigious Billy Coleman award.

Nenagh’s Whitby Moynan (Toyota Special) clinched the Munster Autocross Championship in dramatic fashion with the fastest time on the fourth and final run of the Cork Autocross at Coachford yesterday.

The penultimate round of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship and the final round of the CarryduffForklift Northern Ireland Rally Championship dovetail on tomorrow’s Omagh-based McKelvey Bushwhacker Rally that has attracted 100 entries.

At the end of the first leg of Rally Finland, round eight of the World Rally Championship, the Irish crew of Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (Ford Fiesta S2000) hold fourth place in the S-WRC category.

Reigning champion Kenny McKinstry heads the entry for tomorrow’s Magic Bullet Rally at the Kirkistown Race Circuit for the beginning of the DGM/Carryduff Forklift Northern Ireland Rally Championship.

WEXFORD’s David James (Mitsubishi) took a comfortable victory in the Carlow Rallysprint at Mondello Park that attracted an entry of 127 drivers.

THIS year’s World Rally Academy Champion, Craig Breen has unveiled his plans for next season that will see the Waterford ace campaign his Kel-Tech Engineering Ford Fiesta S2000 in the Super 2000 World Rally Championship (SWRC).

DUNLOP National Rally champion, Tim McNulty will receive the Vard Memorial Trophy at the National Rally Championship awards ceremony at the Clayton Hotel, Galway tomorrow night.

TEAMS will tackle six stages in Co Antrim this afternoon in their respective opening legs of the Todds Leap Ulster Rally and the Todds Leap International Rally Northern Ireland, part of the Irish Tarmac Rally and Dulux Trade British Rally championships.

WITH the dawning of a new era in the World Rally Championship, one question remains pertinent — who can break Sebastien Loeb’s dominance? World champion since 2004, the unflappable French ace bids to continue his amazing WRC record as Rally Sweden begins in earnest today following last night’s super special at the city’s trotting track in Karlstad.

WEST Cork’s Ian Stanley (Honda Civic) inched his way closer to the Jerry Murphy Tyres Munster Autocross Championship title as he moved four points ahead of arch rival Mark Dolphin (Mini) in yesterday’s penultimate round of the series in Clonakilty.

IT seems there is no room for manoeuvre in the Irish Motorsport calendar that cannot accommodate the re-scheduling of its more high profile events.

THE DONEGAL Mini Stage Rally in Glenties fell victim to the weather conditions despite the heroic work of the organisers who salted the roads over which the event was to traverse.

Cork driver Gerard Lucey (Toyota Special), needing to finish ahead of his championship rival David Forde (Toyota Special), did just that and duly annexed the Munster Autocross Championship at the final round of the series at Clonakilty this afternoon.

With just his second outright win of the season, Tipperary’s, David Forde (Toyota Special) maintained his lead in the Jerry Murphy R and R Tyres Munster Autocross Championship at a cold Ballynacorra, Midleton yesterday.