Sebastian Loeb claimed his ninth Rally of Germany title with victory in Trier today.

Sebastien Loeb continued his dominance of the German Rally as he moved into a commanding lead on today’s second leg to stand on the brink of his ninth victory in this event.

Sebastien Loeb made a potentially decisive move in his quest for a ninth successive World Rally Championship title with a commanding first-day performance in Rallye Deutschland.

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

Entering today’s final six stages of Rally Finland, Waterford’s Craig Breen and his Killarney co-driver Paul Nagle lead the way in the S-WRC category.

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.

Yesterday’s, Cavan Rally was marred by tragedy during the first stage of the event near Bailieborough.

Remarkably, for the fifth time in recent years, the Carlton Hotel Circuit of Kerry Rally, the third round of the Dunlop National Rally Championship, ended in a tie-break.

There is no real explanation why the Carlton Hotel Circuit of Kerry is one of the most hotly contested events in Irish rallying. On four occasions in recent times the rally has ended in a tie-break situation and three have involved current leader of the Dunlop National Rally Championship, Niall Maguire.

Irish driver, Craig Breen (22) is second in the S-WRC registered competitors at Rally Sweden after yesterday’s nine stages.

World Rally S2000 Championship leader Craig Breen (Ford Fiesta S2000) seeks to consolidate his position in Rally Sweden, which gets under way in earnest this morning.

WATERFORD’S Craig Breen (Fiesta S2000) made the best possible start to his SWRC title challenge with a category victory in the Monte Carlo Rally that was won by Citroen’s Sebastien Loeb.

EVEN though Sebastien Loeb (Citroen DS3) leads the Monte Carlo Rally by a considerable margin, the world champion is taking nothing for granted given the vagaries of the weather and road conditions.

WITH five out of six fastest stage times, Sebastien Loeb (Citroen DS3) extended his overall lead in the Monte Carlo Rally to a minute and 37.2 seconds as the battle for second between Dani Sordo (MINI WRC) and Petter Solberg (Fiesta WRC) hotted up.

WORLD champion Sebastien Loeb (Citroen DS3) made the perfect start to his Monte Carlo Rally title defence as he ended the first day over a minute ahead of Dani Sordo (Mini WRC).

THE performance of reigning World Rally Academy champion, Craig Breen, will be monitored closely on the Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of the World Rally Championship that begins today.

THE World Rally Championship gets underway next week with the Monte Carlo Rally and according to Corkman Gerard Quinn, winning the manufacturers’ title remains the holy grail while having the world champion driver is also a tantalising prospect.

IRISH interest in next month’s Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of the 2012 World Rally Championship, has been severely diluted as Tyrone’s Kris Meeke and his Kerry co-driver, Paul Nagle do not appear on the 89-strong entry list that was announced earlier this week.

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.

IRISH drivers, Kris Meeke and Craig Breen will start today’s second leg of Rally Spain in sixth and 14th places respectively as Sebastien Loeb leads the way in the penultimate round of the World Rally Championship.

BRIDGING a 25-year gap, Midleton’s Daragh O’Riordan (29) became the first Cork driver since Billy Coleman to win the Silver Springs Moran Hotel/Orchard Motorsport Cork “20 International Rally.

EVEN though he had to replace the power steering pump on three separate occasions, Meath’s, Tim McNulty (Subaru WRC) maintained his unbeaten sequence in the Dunlop National Rally Championship.

Defending champion Sebastien Loeb looks set to win his second event of the current World Rally Championship season as he finished day two at the head of the field in Sardinia.

HAVING set the third fastest time on the second stage of Rally Italy in Sardinia, round five of the World Rally Championship, Irish pair Kris Meeke/Paul Nagle retired their MINI WRC on the following test whilst fourth overall.

THE most anticipated round of the World Rally Championship, the Rally Italy in Sardinia, has enormous Irish interest with the competition debut of the Mini John Cooper Works WRC.

WATERFORD’S Craig Breen made a great start to the inaugural WRC Academy series in the Vodafone Rally de Portugal yesterday where he leads Estonian Egonaaur Kaur by 48.4 seconds after seven stages, with Fermanagh’s Alastair Fisher just 0.8 of a second behind in third.

TWO of Ireland’s most talented drivers, Waterford’s, Craig Breen and Fermanagh’s, Alastair Fisher compete in the WRC Academy series that begins this weekend alongside Rally Portugal, the third round of the World Rally championship.

Sebastien Ogier retained his lead after the second leg of the Rally Mexico but only after Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb fell foul of the rulebook.

Sebastien Ogier will take a 2.3-second lead into the second day of the Rally Mexico after edging out Citroen team-mate Sebastien Loeb on the first leg.

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.

THE demise of Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge both here and in Britain is a major blow, particularly to the young drivers, as it provided a perfect launching pad to their careers.

IN his first full season in Irish rallying’s Group N showroom category, Monaghan’s Shane Maguire has already learned some salutary lessons.

BATTLING through wet and difficult conditions, reigning British Rally Champion, Keith Cronin, took an important and memorable victory in Rally Isle of Man, the fourth round of the Dulux Trade British Rally Championship.

WITH the margin for error in both the Dunlop National Rally Championship and the Dulux Trade British series diminishing as both championships near conclusion, this weekend’s Dominic Quinn Body Repairs/Sligo Park Hotel Rally and Rally Isle of Man are of major significance to their respective title protagonists.

CHRIS PATTERSON (41) will be the new partner for Norwegian driver Petter Solberg in the World Rally Championship. Early last month, Phil Mills, Solberg’s regular co-driver, stepped down from his role with the flamboyant Norwegian, who has 152 WRC starts including 13 wins and one world title.

Championship leader Sebastien Loeb has warned he will not be taking anything for granted at the New Zealand Rally this weekend despite completing a hat-trick of wins last time out.

Sebastien Loeb has a 30-second lead over closest rival Mikko Hirvonen as he enters the final day of the World Rally Championship season in Wales.

Sebastien Loeb made the perfect start to his bid to secure his sixth straight World Rally Championship title by winning four of today’s six stages to lead by 5.3 seconds after day one of the Rally of Great Britain.

Dani Sordo was the man to catch after the first day of the Rally Argentina after he won a thrilling battle with Mikko Hirvonen and Sebastien Loeb on the opening leg.

Sebastien Loeb’s immaculate start to the World Rally Championship continued with victory on the Rally of Portugal, his fourth win out of four events in 2009.

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb increased his advantage in the Cyprus Rally by eight seconds after claiming another stage victory on the gravel roads around Limassol today.

Sebastien Loeb continued his perfect start to the new World Rally Championship season by taking victory on Rally Norway to deal a major blow to Ford’s title hopes.

SEBASTIEN LOEB holds the lead at the end of the opening day of the Rally of Norway, having moved ahead of Mikko Hirvonen on Friday’s final stage.

Subaru have withdrawn from the 2009 World Rally Championship due to the global economic downturn.