Motorsport: Josh Moffett chases first Rally of the Lakes triumph

Championship leader has yet to win in Killarney but Callum Devine has been hugely successful at the popular event

Irish Tarmac Rally Championship leader Monaghan's Josh Moffett (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) is seeking his first victory in the Assess Ireland Rally of the Lakes in Killarney this weekend. Picture: Martin Walsh.

Irish Tarmac Rally Championship leader Josh Moffett (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) has yet to break his duck on the Rally of the Lakes and when the Asses Ireland underpinned event gets underway with the iconic Moll's Gap early on Saturday morning, he faces the second most successful driver in the history of the event.

This fourth round of the ITRC captures the imagination from many aspects with Derry's Callum Devine (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) bid to equal the five-in-a-row record of the late Enniskillen driver Bertie Fisher (1990-1994), who also won in 1996 and Moffett's maiden quest the stand-out features.

Consecutive victories are unique but also rare with Fisher the only driver to achieve the feat thus far.

There are similarities between the pair of Ulster drivers insofar as Letterkenny's Rory Kennedy partnered Fisher in all his events while Killarney's Noel O'Sullivan is Devine's guiding light. Devine is the only driver in the top 10 to have actually won in Killarney.

SPECIAL

However, records are far from the minds of drivers when the event starts, it's the clock that matters although there's a very special prize for the fastest driver on Moll's Gap with the trophy honouring Fisher.

This year's ITRC campaign has seen Moffett score well on all three rounds to date with his victory in the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally the highlight and the first for a Toyota marque in the ITRC since Eugene Donnelly (Toyota Corolla WRC) won the Ulster Rally in 2006 - incidentally, he was co-driven by Paul Kiely - Josh Moffett's father-in-law.

Moffett, who lost the Circuit of Ireland by a mere half second, tops of ITRC classification - four points ahead of Devine (48pts) with David Kelly (44pts), Eddie Doherty (43pts) and Jersey resident Sam Touzel (25pts) completing the top five.

Set-up issues thwarted Doherty's performance on the Circuit of Ireland and the Kilkenny driver, like his rivals, know that it's very difficult to regain lost time. This weekend is only his third outing in a Rally2 car in Killarney so it's still somewhat of a learning curve in comparison to his rivals. It's something similar for Donegal's David Kelly (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) however, he should be in confident mood following his maiden ITRC win on the Circuit, the note calling of Killarney's Shane Buckley should also help.

Another Donegal driver Eamonn Kelly makes a welcome return to the series following his second stage exit in Galway that damaged his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, much is expected of Kelly following his Junior WRC outings. After an impressive end to last season, there are also expectations on fellow Donegal ace Michael Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) whose father Declan (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) is also returning after missing events due to family commitments. Although seeded in the top 10, Longford's Shane Quinn (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and Scotland's Max McRae (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) are non-starters.

Tyrone's Ryan Loughran (Ford Fiesta Rally2) completes the top 10 seeds followed by Donegal's Kevin Eves (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), Touzel (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and the third member of the Boyle family, Matthew (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2).

For Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin, who will be co-driven by Killarney's Ger Conway, it's continued acclimatisation to his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 and the hope that he can show his true form. Leitrim's Keelan Grogan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) has his maiden outing in Killarney in a Rally2 car.

Killarney aces Rob Duggan and Conor Murphy, both in Ford Escorts, head the modified category with Donegal's John O'Donnell (BMW M3) and Dunmanway's Jason McSweeney (Ford Escort WRC) playing a similar role in the Historic category. Action both days begin with Moll's Gap - at 8.35am tomorrow and 9.15am on Sunday. The respective service parks are the Green Glens Arena, Millstreet and the Liebherr facility in Fossa.

Meanwhile, Offaly's Alex Dunne resumes his FIA Formula 2 campaign in Miami weekend followed by Montreal in two weeks' time - the events replacing the cancelled rounds that were due to take place in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.

The Clonbullogue driver racing with Rodin Motorsport is also part of the Alpine F1 driver development programme. After a disappointing start in Australia where a collision with his team mate Martinius Stenshorne ended in retirement, Dunne will be aiming to bag a major share of the points from the sprint and feature races.