Marcus Gronholm gave Ford their first victory in the British forests for 27 years today as he became the most successful Finnish world rally driver of all time.

Two former World Rally Championship (WRC) title holders have announced their support for Ireland's bid to host a round of the prestigious championships from 2007.

Some of the biggest names in the World Rally Championship have received fines and road licence bans after being caught speeding during last year’s Rally GB.

SEBASTIEN LOEB’S world championship challenge could be thrown off course as his Citroen team feel the pressure of two title battles at the Wales Rally GB.

Markko Martin remains on course for his first World Rally Championship victory after consolidating his lead at the head of the Acropolis Rally today.

LEADING from the start, Derek McGarrity and co-driver Chris Patterson withstood pressure from defending champions Andrew Nesbitt and James O’Brien to take their first win in the Buy & Sell Circuit of Ireland Rally.

FIA World Rally Championship, Rally of New Zealand

Marcus Gronholm admitted that the moment when he tipped his Peugeot on its side during the second leg of the Rally of New Zealand was enough to get him to back off the throttle pedal for the remainder of the race.

FINLAND’S Marcus Gronholm is already looking a strong contender for a third Swedish Rally victory in four years, having mastered the icy conditions with almost nonchalant ease.

AUSTIN McHALE has been forced to withdraw from this weekend’s Swedish Rally, the second round of the World Rally Championship.

Richard Burns and Colin McRae went head-to-head on the opening super-special stage of the Network Q Rally of Great Britain.

TREVOR MOORE, in an Escort Cosworth, won the Toshiba Rally after he capitalised on the retirement of Robbie McGurk (Subaru) who set the pace through the first five stages.

Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm rounded off Rally Australia with a flourish, setting the fastest time on the final stage in Perth to confirm his fifth win of the year.

Peugeot’s Marcus Gronholm gave his chances of winning his fifth rally this season a huge boost with his first stage victory of day two of the Rally of Australia.

Colin McRae could drive for Subaru next season, team principal David Lapworth has revealed.

LAW student Juliet Ward is certainly a woman who knows how to rally to a good cause.

Sebastien Loeb is driving his heart out at the head of the field to try and clinch his first World Rally Championship event win but there is a possible cloud on the young Frenchman’s horizon.

SHE knows all about spare tyres, but they’re not her own.

ALTHOUGH there are few certainties in rallying, Niall Maguire should wrap up the Dunlop National Rally Championship at the Clonmel Arms Hotel/FESP-sponsored Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally on Sunday.

Pressure is mounting on Ford’s Colin McRae in Kenya as the Scot hangs on to a diminishing lead in the Safari Rally.

Four-time world champion Tommi Makinen was forced out of the Rally of Catalunya before the start of the second leg through engine failure.

Colin McRae set the fastest time on today’s opening stage but it only scratched the surface of his deficit to Swedish Rally leader Marcus Gronholm.

World champion Richard Burns heads back to the drawing board this week insisting he is still confident he has the car with which to successfully defend his rally crown.

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb faces an anxious and lengthy wait before discovering if his likely maiden world championship victory in today’s Monte Carlo Rally is confirmed.

Eamonn Byrne dominated the ninth round of the Hewison Autotest Championship at Carrick on Suir today. The former champion won all the day’s twelve tests and at the finish he was some 15 seconds clear of championship leader, J. J. Farrell.

Frenchman Sebastien Loeb retained his lead and Colin McRae consolidated third place as the 70th Monte Carlo Rally resumed in the French Alps this morning.

Cautious Colin McRae will take the softly, softly approach this morning when he resumes his Monte Carlo Rally challenge.

Richard Burns admitted he had to be cautious in the opening stages of the Monte Carlo Rally.

World rally champion Richard Burns has resolved his legal wrangle with Subaru, leaving him free to race for Peugeot next year.

Multi-millionaire racer Richard Burns has revealed how he powered to World Rally Championship glory - by phoning a friend!

Richard Burns was crowned world rally champion after finishing third in the Network Q Rally of Great Britain.

Top Irish rally star, Austin McHale was prevented from starting the Network Q Rally of Great Britain last evening when his car failed to pass pre-event scrutiny in Cardiff.

British hopefuls Colin McRae and Richard Burns have been warned to expect a ‘big fight’ for the World Championship by rival Tommi Makinen in the Welsh forests this week.

Watch out Michael Schumacher. The world’s top rally drivers might not match you for outright speed but they are hot on your trail in the race for TV coverage and the market in hi-tech boys toys in the ultra-competitive world of motor sport.

Richard Burns needs only to repeat his performance of the last three years in the Network Q Rally of Great Britain at the end of this month to achieve his ambition of becoming world champion for the first time.

Englishman Richard Burns set himself up for a world championship showdown with former champions Colin McRae of Scotland and Finland’s Tommi Makinen by finishing runner-up to current title holder Marcus Gronholm in the Telstra Rally of Australia in Perth today.

Aiming to win the Group N category of the Belgian Rally Championship, Tipperary driver, Roy White, co-driven by Northern Ireland's, Michael Patterson lies third in the category after three of today's ten stages of the Condroz Rally.

Alister McRae will drive for Mitsubishi in the World Rally Championship for the next two seasons.

Cork driver, Matt Griffin, will start tomorrow's final race of the 2001 British Formula Renault Championship on the front row of the grid.

Setting the fastest time on the ninth and final stage (Mbaruk – 84.58Km) of the second leg, Tommi Makinen (Mitsubishi) has increased his lead in the Safari

Tommi Makinen consolidated his advantage in the firstthree stages of today’s second leg of the Safari Rally.

Colin McRae has taken his third consecutive victory in the current World Rally Championship.

Colin McRae, in his Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, maintained his lead through the second leg of the Acropolis Rally.