Motorsport: Sam Moffett on brink of historic triumph

Sam Moffett will create Irish motorsport history once he checks in at the first control of this weekend’s Acesigns Cork “20” International Rally, the final round of the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Championship

Along with his Bandon co-driver Karl Atkinson, Moffett will have clinched the Tarmac series courtesy of the five bonus points for starting all six rounds and those points will put them in an unassailable position.

Last week Moffett won the Irish Forest series to add to the Triton National Championship he won in July and will be the first driver to win all three in the one season.

On board, his CombiLift Fiesta R5 Moffett has set a great pace in this year’s Tarmac series where Fermanagh’s Alastair Fisher (Fiesta R5) was his main rival, however, on the last round in Derry, engine trouble forced Fisher out and ended any title ambitions.

Fisher, as he has shown in the past, is capable of matching Moffett stride for stride. It remains to be seen what impact top seed and last year’s Cork “20” winner, Josh Moffett (Fiesta R5) will have over the two days where the 16 stages will provide a daunting challenge – with classic stages like Mushera, Lough Allua and Kilnamartyra, the latter described a decade ago by then rally winner Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) as one of the best stages he had ever driven.

Clonakilty’s Kevin Kelleher heads the local challenge. Others in the 110 plus entry are Stephen Wright (Fiesta), Joe McGonigle (Skoda Fabia R5), Pauric Duffy (Fiesta R5), Aaron MacHale and Cork pair Owen Murphy (Skoda Fabia S2000) and Daniel Cronin (Fiesta R5), the latter pair will be aiming for a top five finish.

In the Modified category, Donegal’s Kevin Eves and his Macroom co-driver William Lynch will clinch the series via the five bonus points and that will allow them battle at full tilt with the likes of Brian Brogan, Phil Collins, Barry Meade, all in Escorts, Eugene Meegan (BMW) and Jason McSweeney (Mitsubishi). The first of tomorrow’s eight stages, Cobbler’s Cross, near Kilmurry starts at 9am.

A meeting of rallying clubs in Portlaoise on Monday night to discuss the Rallies Committee’s three-year plan (set to be introduced next season) failed to reach agreement. It appears that the majority of the clubs remain concerned as to how the financial shortfall, suggested at in excess of €250,000, will be addressed. Another meeting of the clubs will take place next Tuesday night.