Lynch aiming for three in-a-row

WITH three different leaders after each of the opening three rounds, the Dunlop National Rally Championship is shaping up to be an intriguing contest.

Sunday's fourth round action is the Adare-based Woodland's House Hotel Circuit of Munster and includes all the championship protagonists infiltrated by a number of other drivers that boost the quality line-up.

Defending Dunlop champion Niall Maguire has freely admitted that the pace of this season's Dunlop series has moved up another gear; he finished fifth in Cavan on Sunday last and although he drove as hard as possible, he was some way off the pace of his rivals.

While Jim Harrison led after winning the opening round, Patrick Elliott, who led after round two, and Ray Breen, the present leader, underline the value of consistency.

Breen, with two fourth places and one third, holds a four-point advantage over Kevin Lynch and seems to be gaining pace and confidence in the Dunlop shod Turnex liveried Ford Focus.

However, the driver in the best form is Derry's Lynch the reigning Irish Forestry champion has won the last two rounds as well as winning two forest events in the interim. A victory in Limerick would give further credence to the notion that he is the one to beat, while it would also be the perfect build-up to the Donegal International.

Yet drivers like Harrison, Charlie Donnelly and Patrick Elliott as well as Breen will try to stall the Derry driver and keep the championship open.

Harrison had a brief excursion in Cavan and then decided to play the percentage game and secure points he trails Lynch by four. One of the quickest starters, his jaunt with his rivals should make for an interesting day.

Donnelly is certainly back on the pace and his recovery from eleventh to second was an indication that he has fully recovered from his Circuit of Kerry accident.

After suffering the disappointment of retiring from his home rally, Patrick Elliott (Subaru WRC) is another driver that should bounce back quickly, especially as he performed well in Limerick last time. Meanwhile, Elliott's co-driver, 23-year-old David Moynihan, will also contest the remaining rounds of the British Rally Championship with Welsh driver Sebastian Ling, who is currently four points behind series leader Austin MacHale. Ling, who was a front-runner in the Production Cup category in last season's BRC, has this season moved up to a World Rally Car.

Moynihan is one of a number of young Irish co-drivers in demand. Apart from calling the notes with Patrick Elliott, he has also partnered Ollie O'Donovan and Robbie McGurk and two former Peugeot 205 champions, Gary Jennings and Shaun Gallagher. Last month, he teamed up with the promising young Ballincollig teenager Owen Murphy, who is competing in this season's Peugeot 206 Cup. The other championship contenders competing on Sunday are Daniel Doherty, Mel Evans, Sean Gallagher and Kevin Barrett.

Interlopers like the Subaru trio of Ollie O'Donovan, Denis Cronin, Tim NcNulty, Maurice Gass (Skoda Fabia WRC) and JJ Fleming (Ford Focus) enhance the rally's competitive nature of the rally and most of them will have designs on victory, although Cronin's car will lacks the technology of his rivals.

The Group N contenders like Willie Fannin (Subaru) James O'Sullivan, Alan Ring and Eamonn Daly will have local ace Colm Murphy (Subaru) as the barometer in the category that also features Peter Clifford, Kevin Kelleher and Tadhg Linehan. Mallow's Gordon Coleman will drive a Mitsubishi Evo8 and hopefully will get the reliability that his talent deserves.

The rally is also a counting round of the Top Part West Coast Championship. First car away from the Woodland's House is at 8.50am, with the opening 12-mile stage, Curraghchase, beginning at 9am. Servicing in Pallaskenry follows stages 2, 4 and 6 with the rally finishing at 4.40pm.

The Mutiny Rally in Wales incorporates the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge and the Peugeot 206 Super Cup the Irish contingent in the former includes Phillip Morrow (Lisburn), Neil McCance (Newtownards) and Connor McCloskey (Kilrea), while Cork's Owen Murphy competes in the latter category. Meanwhile, Brendan Crealey (Focus) is the top Irish driver in the main event.

Carlos Sainz returns to rallying with Citroen in the Rally of Turkey which begins today, his team mate, Sebastien Loeb is seeking to consolidate his lead role in the series with Peugeot trying to gain its first win of the season. Irish driver, Kris Meeke competes in the Junior WRC category.