Swede dreams for Dubliner Tracey

IT’S a venture into the unknown for Dubliner George Tracey, who competes in the Swedish Rally, the second round of the World Rally Championship, that begins today.

Other Irish interest centres on Belfast's Michael Orr, who will co-drive for German Antony Warmbold.

More of a tarmac specialist, Tracey's principal aim in his Peugeot 206 WRC is just to finish the rally; Sweden's Maria Andersson will co-drive.

Meanwhile, Orr replaces Monaghan's Damien Connolly as Warmbold's co-driver, even though the latter was praised for his efforts in guiding Warmbold to 10th overall in Monte Carlo, and only found out by through an e-mail that he was being replaced.

"Initially, I was disappointed," said Connolly.

"I left Monaco with the Ford team and Antony reassuring me that I did a good job. On the way to the airport, Antony discussed plans for Sweden, while my flights were booked for the third round in Mexico.

"Then, a few days later, I got an e-mail and that was the end of things. I thought that was very unprofessional. I'm not bothered anymore, I will co-drive for Glen Allen in the Northern Ireland and Irish Forest Championships."

Another Northern Ireland co-driver, Trevor Agnew, will partner Mark Higgins in the Production Car WRC.

With a fifth of the route covered in thick snow, Swedish organisers are watering roads to build up a layer of ice and they are also hoping for the predicted heavy snowfalls.

Having broken the Nordic dominance last year, Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) is seeking another victory.

In his build-up to the event, Henning Solberg, who has been nominated by Ford for manufacturers' points along with Toni Gardemeister, won the recent Rally Hadeland, the

second round of the Norwegian Rally Championship in a '02 specification Focus RS. Today's first leg consists of seven special stages.

Kerry's Alan Ring competes in the Wyedean Rally in Wales tomorrow.

The former circuit racer, who switched to rallying a few years ago, is using the event to gain experience in slippery conditions. This is just his second outing in the forests last September he competed in the Killarney Forest Rally in a Mitsubishi but was curtailed by a few problems.

He will drive a Maxspeed Group N prepared Subaru.

He said: "I really need a bit of practice in how to slide the car around and the forest is the best opportunity to gain experience for muddy tarmac stages."

Limerick's Greg Shinnors will co-drive.

Meanwhile, Ring will be partnered by Tralee's Sean Moriarty when he contests the Group N series in the Dunlop National Rally Championship that begins with the Castlebar- based Mayo Rally.

He said: "I have a new N11 Subaru for the Dunlop series, the car feels good, it is about 35 to 40kg lighter than the N10 Subaru and the centre of gravity is lower. I plan to give it a shakedown in the coming week."

The Wyedean Rally, based at Chepstow, is the opening round of the BTRDA Championship. Four-time winner Andy Burton in his Peugeot Cosworth is the top seed, and opposition includes Steve Perez (Ford Focus), Nik Elsmore, Shaun Gardener (both Mitsubishi Evo5) and Brian Bell (Ford Focus). Natalie Barrett (Subaru) and regular Irish visitor Huw Jeffries (Subaru) are among the Group N entries; Ring is seeded 21.

IN-FORM Eddie Peterson will be hoping to edge closer to Eamonn Byrne in the 12th round of the Hewison Autotest Championship in Monaghan on Sunday. Byrne has a three-point lead.

The top six positions are: 1 Eamonn Byrne 253 points; 2 Eddie Peterson 250 points; 3 Christopher Evans 242 points; 4 Paddy Power 227 points; 5 Chris Grimes 220 points and 6 Sam Johnston 218 points.

Elsewhere, the Donegal Navigation Trial starts from Donegal town at 8.45pm tomorrow night and on Sunday, while the Cavan Loose Surface Autocross is at the club's complex, off the Ballybay to Cootehill road, from 10.30am.

Cork's Frank O'Mahony and RTÉ Sunday Game presenter Michael Lyster will team up to compete in the Meteor Electrical Circuit of Ireland Rally to raise funds for Temple Street Children's Hospital.

Two other members of the O'Mahony family are also competing Emily will debut an N11 Subaru and Brian will be in a Ford Puma, both as part of the fundraiser and also in their respective classes in the Pirelli Irish Tarmac Championship.

Brian and co-driver John Higgins lead Class 6 following an impressive outing in Galway last weekend.