Donagh Kelly craving home joy

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.

Victory in what is the only three day event in the Tarmac series is seen as a status symbol and with Kelly acknowledging he has little or no interest in events outside Ireland, he describes winning in Donegal as “the ultimate.”

Kelly faces stiff competition from former winners Garry Jennings (Subaru), Declan Boyle (Fiesta WRC) and Eugene Donnelly (Mini WRC).

Top seed Garry Jennings (Subaru WRC) has won twice before and should have won in 2013 were it not for road penalties.

The Fermanagh driver and his Letterkenny co-driver Rory Kennedy warmed up for Donegal with an emphatic victory in last week’s Mourne Rally. Jennings likes the Donegal terrain.

Meanwhile, in a season where his Ford Fiesta WRC has proved unreliable another Donegal ace Declan Boyle will be seeking some consistency and cannot be overlooked along with Eugene Donnelly (Mini WRC).

Championship points will be the focus for most of the R5 contenders that will be led by Tyrone’s Alastair Fisher in his Ford Fiesta.

Current leader of the series he should set a good pace, a number of years ago he finished runner-up in a Ford Fiesta S2000, with maximum scores on the last two rounds he will be intent on edging further ahead in his quest to become Tarmac champion.

He has moved some 12.5 points in front of Keith Cronin (Citroen DS3 R5) whose car will be overseen by David Greer Motorsport. It’s a crucial event for the Ballylickey driver as he needs a good haul of points to stay within touching distance of Fisher, the battle between them will be interesting.

The pair seem to be the quickest of a group that also contains the Fiesta R5’s of Sam Moffett, Josh Moffett and Stephen Wright, the latter the only driver to have scored in all rounds to date.

There are six stages down for decision today.

Elsewhere, Cork racer Matt Griffin and his British team mates Duncan Cameron and Aaron Scott in their AF Corse Ferrari 458 are aiming for a podium finish in the Le Mans 24 Hours that starts tomorrow afternoon.