Competitors in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the British Rally Championship will traverse the same stages under their respective banners of the Ulster Rally and Rally Northern Ireland this afternoon.

IT’S a case of experience against youth for the top two seeds in this weekend’s Donnelly Group/UTV Drive Circuit of Ireland Rally.

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.

SEVERAL championships unfold over the weekend against a backdrop of well-subscribed entries. The Dunlop National Rally Championship curtain-raiser, the Abbey Court Hotel Nenagh Rally that also counts towards the Top Part West Coast Championship and the Dunlop Junior Championship, has attracted over 150 crews.

The Irish crew of Daniel Barry and Martin Brady have moved into the lead of the Pirelli MSA Gravel Rally Championship and have also consolidated the lead in the Mitsubishi Evo Challenge following their fourth place in the Brick and Steel Border Counties Rally in Scotland yesterday.

Enniskerry's Daniel Barry, driving a Mitsubishi Evo9, took top points in the opening round of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge UK at Bournemouth today.

Derry driver Eugene Donnelly and co-driver Paul Kiely have won the Shell Donegal International Rally for the second year in succession.

It was a day of high drama on the second leg of the Shell Donegal International Rally where Eugene Donnelly and co-driver, Paul Kiely (Toyota Corolla WRC) hold a one minute and 10.9 second advantage over the Subaru WRC of Tim NcNulty/Eugene O’Donnell (Subaru WRC) who regained second at the expense of Eamonn Boland/Francis Regan.

Setting the pace on the opening stage, Andrew Nesbitt in his ADL backed Subaru led throughout the opening leg of the Shell Donegal International Rally.

IT’S a venture into the unknown for Dubliner George Tracey, who competes in the Swedish Rally, the second round of the World Rally Championship, that begins today.

Details of the 2004 Killarney Historic Stages Rally were revealed at a launch last night at the Dromhall Hotel in Co Kerry.

Northern Ireland’s Andrew Nesbitt completed a hat-trick of victories in the Jim Clarke Memorial Rally in Scotland today.

Ireland’s Austin MacHale and co-driver, Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) are beginning today’s final leg of the International Rally of Wales in third place with Northern Ireland pair Kris Meeke/Chris Patterson ((Corsa) in seventh spot and leading the Super 1600 category.

THE MOONRAKER Rally, an event steeped in tradition, marks a beginning of an era for the Munster Car Club, the rally section of the now technically disbanded Munster Motor Cycle and Car Club, one of the oldest clubs in the sport that originally catered for four different aspects of motorsport.

Former Irish Tarmac Champion, Kenny McKinstry and co-driver, Noel Orr, in a Subaru WRC won the Roush Manx Rally.

Britain's Steve Perez won the Killarney Historic Rally by over a minute in his Porsche 911 from the similar Porsche 911 of defending champion, Dessie Nutt.

Competitors in the Killarney Historic Stages Rally are now past Moll's Gap for the second time.

BASED on previous performances, Dessie Nutt is the obvious favourite in Sunday’s Killarney Historic Rally.

THE MICHELIN Race of Champions motorsport spectacular in Gran Canaria, in its 16th year, will have its usual and exciting head-to-head Race of Champions as well as the fifth running of the ROC Nations Cup team competition.

NOT content to rest on his laurels, Eugene Donnelly has already completed a deal that will see the 36-year-old Derry ace drive a Toyota Corolla WRC in next season’s Irish Tarmac Championship.

MAINTAINING his remarkable run of success on the Killarney Historic Rally, Dessie Nutt, co-driven by Geraldine McBride in a Porsche 911, won his fifth title when he finished the ten-stage event a minute and twenty one seconds ahead of the similar Porsche of John Keatley/Maurice Beckett.