Championships gear up as Eddie Doherty heads impressive line-up 

Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) and his Limerick co-driver Tom Murphy are the top seeds in Sunday's West Tyre/Westport Woods Hotel & Spa Mayo Rally, the first round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship. Picture: Martin Walsh.

Irish rallying moves up a gear this weekend as two championships get underway headlined by Sunday's West Tyre/Westport Woods Hotel & Spa Mayo Rally that kicks off a new season in the Triton Showers National Rally Championship with a capacity entry and tomorrow's ever-popular Fivemiletown Forest Rally opening the Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge series.

The Mayo Rally returns to Westport after a lapse of some two decades that has seen a major shift at the sharp end of competition to the Rally2 variants.

The Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 car has six examples in the top 10 with reigning Triton Showers national champion Eddie Doherty heading an impressive line-up for the season opener.

Although he is planning to concentrate on the Tarmac Championship, the Kilkenny driver will register for the Triton campaign where, as of now, he will be an interloper to coincide with events as shakedowns ahead of ITRC events, however, that plan could be revised.

Second on his debut in the car on the Galway International Rally some four weeks ago, he is hoping that the experience will be beneficial.

On his debut where he was again co-driver by Tom Murphy, he said, 'We we're happy enough, there was no risks or anything like that. I still have a good bit of work to do on set-up on and a bit more with my driving style." He elaborated, it (the new car) is a bit different to drive than the old car (Skoda Fabia R5). It has more stability in the air and on high speed corners and I need to be less aggressive with this car. In Galway, it was a case of (due to the way I was driving it) the car really had too much power for the conditions, but that's just all learning." Agreeing that the changes can only be very incremental, he concluded, "Yea, that's it, it's what the rest of the team want as well. But then when you are running first on the road that kind of goes out the window. It will probably be a mix of things, nothing too drastic, but still we want to learn things and have a good mindset for the West Cork (Rally) as well.

In Galway, Doherty had a great battle with Donegal's Michael Boyle, whose Skoda retired on the penultimate stage with a mechanical issue, a repeat of that battle would be a treat for the spectators, however, it's unlikely that it will be solely between the top two seeds.

The other Skoda mounted drivers are the Donegal trio of David Kelly, Declan Boyle and Matthew Boyle, the latter, the latest to acquire the Czech marque. Omagh's Cathan McCourt, who drove a Fiesta Rally2 in Galway, is back in a Skoda.

The presence of a pair of Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 cars in the hands of Monaghan's Josh Moffett and Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin, who is another debutant, makes for fascinating comparisons. The Ford Fiesta Rally2 cars of Cavan's Gary Kiernan and Tyrone's Jason Dickson complete the top ten.

Elsewhere, the likes of Kevin Eves, Shane Quinn and Keelan Grogan, all in Ford Fiesta Rally2's and the Citroen C3 Rally2 cars of Paul Barrett, Cal McCarthy and Joe McGonigle and the modified cars of Kevin Gallagher (Darrian T90 GTR) and Johno Doogan (Ford Escort) is a reflection of the current buoyant state of rallying and the great efforts of clerk of the course Stephen McGing and his team. The day's opening stage starts at 09:04.

Meanwhile, tomorrow's Samsonas backed Fivemiletown Rally with its base at Campbell's Contracts near Tempo - a few miles from Enniskillen has a 9.30am start. Last year's winner Greencastle's Mark Donnelly (VW Polo GTi R5) is the top seed and will have the similar car of Strabane's Niall McGonigle and the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 trio of Ballygawley's Vivian Hamill, Carlow's David Condell and Monaghan's James McCarville along with the Ford Fiesta duo of Omagh’s Gareth Mimnagh and Monaghan's Derek Mackarel as principal opposition. The two-wheel-drive category is spearheaded by local favourite Shane McGirr (Lada Riva) and Lisburn's Wesley Patterson (Ford Escort).

Reigning British Rally champions William Creighton/Liam Regan will contest this season's European Rally Championship beginning with Andalusia Rally in April. Initially, the MI Academy duo will campaign a Citroen C3 Rally2 before switching to the all-new Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale during the season. Tagai Racing Technology, representing Stellantis Motorsport, will oversee their seven-round campaign.