MacHale leads field for rally

Dubliner Austin MacHale will head the entry for next week’s Buy & Sell Circuit of Ireland Rally.

Seeding for the second round of the Pirelli Irish Rally championship was announced at Belfast’s Odyssey Pavilion yesterday.

MacHale, in his Sanyo backed Ford Focus WRC was third in Galway, the opening round of the Pirelli Irish championship, will face a stern challenge to record his first Circuit win since 1998.

Finland’s, Tapio Laukkanen, who won Galway, albeit by seven tenths of a second, is set for a full championship bid.

Last year’s winner, Derek McGarrity (Subaru WRC) along with reigning national champion, Eugene Donnelly (Toyota Corolla WRC), Maurice Gass (Hyundai) and Killarney’s Donie O’Sullivan (Ford Focus WRC) are the top six.