U.S. in Nations Cup defence

THE MICHELIN Race of Champions motorsport spectacular in Gran Canaria, in its 16th year, will have its usual and exciting head-to-head Race of Champions as well as the fifth running of the ROC Nations Cup team competition.

Former world rally champion and current ROC champion Marcus Gronholm is among four drivers seeded for Sunday's Michelin Race of Champions. The Finnish ace narrowly defeated rising star Sebastien Loeb in last year's final. Loeb is also in the quarter final-line-up along with Francois Duval and Gilles Panizzi. They will be joined by the "best of the rest" from Saturday's contests. In the ROC Legends, the finalists from the first-ever Race of Champions in Paris in 1988, Juha Kankunnen and Timo Salonen, will renew rivalry.

They will also complete a number of exhibition laps in an Audi S1, Lancia 037 and Ford RS200.

Defending champions the US will try to become the first country to make a successful defence of the Nations Cup. France will have the talented Loeb along with Toyota Formula One driver, Olivier Panis and 250cc GP rider Randy de Puniet. This year's F3000 Champion Bjorn Wirdheim is part of the Swedish team.

2002 Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Award Winner Shaun Gallagher won no fewer than seven trophies last weekend. The 23-year-old Donegal driver clinched the 2003 British

Peugeot 206 Super Cup championship at the Ulster Rally in September. Aside from the receiving the supreme award at the Peugeot UK championship ceremony, he also won the Junior Cup for drivers under the age of 25, the Dealers Cup and the Junior Dealers Cup representing Budgen Motors of Shrewsbury and the Overseas Award for his win on the Ulster Rally.

Even though he had to skip the final round of the French Peugeot 206 Championship as it clashed with the awards night Gallagher maintained his place at the top of the Junior table and, as a result, was crowned 2003 French Peugeot Junior Champion.

He also finished third in the overall championship. "I am absolutely thrilled, it certainly was a winning weekend. To win so many prizes in the UK championship was brilliant, but to secure the French Junior Peugeot Championship and hold third overall in the main cup was the icing on the cake."

Dessie Nutt is the top seed for next week's Killarney Historic Rally. Details of the event were announced on Wednesday night with John Keatley and Steve Perez, all in Porsches, Drexel Gillespie (Cortina) and Martin Freestone (Escort) completing the top five. In the Classic section, John Moynihan heads the entry. The Millstreet driver is followed by Tom Randles, Kieran O'Neill, Gareth Lloyd and the legendary Jimmy McRae (Porsche).

Dunmanway's Liam McCarthy will receive the top award at the 023 Tiles Southern 4 Championship prize-giving that takes place in the Woodland's Hotel, Adare, tonight. Since its inception in 1999, the series has almost been the sole domain of Cork drivers. Donal O'Donovan won the inaugural series; Denis Cronin won out in 2000; there was no championship in 2001 due to the foot-and-mouth situation, while last year, London-based Limerick driver Ollie O'Donovan was victorious.

The Irish Motor Sport Annual goes on sale this weekend. Edited by Michael O'Carroll, this year's issue has over 200 pages of articles and photographs on Irish and International motorsport.

Next season's British Touring Car Championship will feature former champion Jason Plato driving a SEAT Toledo Cupra Rs. The signature of the Monaco resident is a coup for the SEAT team.

Meanwhile, 23-year-old Robert Huff, who will also drive an official works car, graduates from the 2003 Holiday Inn SEAT Cupra Championship where he drove a Leon Cupra R. Initially, his prize was a works drive in the 2004 ETCC, but this has been changed to a works drive in the BTCC. The SEAT cars that will be built at its headquarters in Martorell, near Barcelona will be run and maintained throughout 2004 in the UK, with additional technical support from SEAT Sport's 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) team.

The series is also set to be screened live on ITV. The 2004 British Touring Car Championship rounds are: Thruxton (April 10/11); Brands Hatch (April 24/25); Silverstone (May 8/9); Oulton Park (May 22/23); Mondello Park (June 12/13); Silverstone GP Support (July 2/3/4); Croft (July 10/11); Knockhill (July 24/25); Brands Hatch (August 21/22); Snetterton (September 4/5) and Donington (September 25/26).