Battle royal likely for Tarmac supremacy

WITH an air of expectancy, the Pirelli Irish Tarmac Championship season begins tomorrow with the First Choice Flooring Galway International Rally. Several top drivers are involved in some type of change, a factor that adds further intrigue to the first of the eight round series.

Five times Irish Tarmac champion, Austin MacHale, heads the entry in his Sanyo/Maxol backed Ford Focus that has been converted to right hand drive. Last year in Galway, MacHale set the fastest time on the opening stage and eventually finished third. He reckons the change could benefit him by as much as a second a mile. If so, there is no doubt he will be a serious contender.

Joint Tarmac champions, Eugene Donnelly and Derek McGarrity line up behind MacHale. Donnelly's Kingspan backed Toyota Corolla WRC has been re-fettled since the Cork '20' Rally and improvements have also been made to the suspension system. Having lost out by an agonising seven-tenths of a second to Tapio Laukkanen last season, the Derry driver has unfinished business in Galway.