Motorsport: Eves heads up strong Ulster presence at Donegal Harvest Rally

Donegal's Kevin Eves (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) is the top seed in tomorrow's Donegal Harvest Rally, the penultimate round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship, the nine stage event is based in Burt. Pic: Martin Walsh.

Saturday's Donegal Harvest Rally, the penultimate round of the Triton National Rally Championship, has a bulging entry list, with some 50 crews placed on reserve. 

Donegal's Kevin Eves (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) heads the 165-car seeded list, three-quarters of which are Ulster-based. 

Indeed, the top 10 drivers are all from the province. Eves, in his second full season in Rally2 still awaits his maiden victory at this level and given the opposition, it's a tough ask over the nine stages of the Burt-based event.

Fellow Donegal driver Michael Boyle, also in a Skoda, who returned to competitive action last weekend for the first time since the Donegal International Rally will be keen to add a Harvest victory to his credentials. 

On his outing in the Chris Kelly Rally on the Isle of Man he finished second (+19s) to his younger brother Matthew, both campaigning Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars.

Monaghan's Sam Moffett will steer the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 belonging to his younger brother Josh, who has already clinched the series - to become a five-time national champion. Notably, he equalled Sam's record of being the only driver to have won all three major Irish Championships in the same season. 

While it will be interesting to see how Sam performs in the Japanese marque, his presence is mainly to ensure that co-driver Keith Moriarty - who was Josh's co-driver in the national series - will annex the Noel Smith Trophy as the national championship-winning co-driver. 

Currently, the Limerick co-driver has a seven points advantage and a top twelve championship registered finish will suffice.

Circuit of Ireland winner Donegal's David Kelly, who won the opening national round last March but opted to chase the Tarmac series, should be a strong contender for event victory over the day's nine stages.

Longford's Shane Quinn (Ford Fiesta Rally2) will battle with Eves for the national series runner-up spot with his co-driver Stephen Reynolds still with a chance for the overall co-drivers' title. Quinn is another driver on the cusp of his first victory in a round of the national series and is probably one of, if not the most improved driver on the rallying scene.

The top ten also features two other members of the Boyle family, Declan, who is a former national champion and son Matthew, who took his first rally win on the Chris Kelly Rally.

Having endured a problematic Cork '20' Rally, Derry's Desi Henry (Ford Fiesta Rally2) will be keen to get a good result as the season draws to a close. 

The remaining top ten places are occupied by Ryan McHugh (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and Tyrone's Jason Dickson (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2). Seeded at eleven, Mayo's John Warren (Ford Fiesta Rally2) breaks the Ulster dominance. 

Clonakilty's Cal McCarthy withdrew his entry as his Citroen C3 Rally2 isn't ready. 

The French marque is represented by local driver Joe McGonigle and Maynooth's Paul Barrett in the Triton Showers liveried car.

In circuit racing West Cork driver Michael Keohane completes his racing return season in Brands Hatch on Sunday in the final double header of the Carwow Porsche Carrera Cup GB series. 

The Ballygurteen racer, who began in karting before moving to single-seaters and drove in Formula Ford 1600, Formula Opel, Formula 3, Formula Renault and F3000 made his racing return last April.

Having looked and tested for the McLaren Trophy Europe series, Keohane decided that the Carwow Porsche Carrera Cup GB series, where he drives with Century Motorsport, was more suited to family and business life in West Cork. 

Despite the long lay-off, Keohane, a former Irish Examiner Cork Sports Star monthly award winner (April 2002) quickly found the groove in the Keohane Readymix liveried Porsche. 

Driving in the Master's category he has infiltrated the Pro and Pro-Am categories in some of the races. As the season finishes in Brands Hatch he's in a rich vein of form with a category victory in Silverstone last time out that followed a brace of wins in Croft. 

Physically, the series is demanding and requires a high fitness level as he explained: "My fitness is good, It's demanding inside in the car, it's like putting yourself into a glasshouse with no air conditioning, no windows open or anything, with the fireproof gear, racing suit and the physicality of the car that you're driving, it's hugely energy sapping."

There's a 30-minute qualifying session tomorrow at 3.20pm with Sunday's races at the Kent circuit at 12.06pm and 4.20pm.