Finaghy’s Gary White took his Escort Cosworth to the narrowest of victories, by just one second, over Camillus Bradley in his potent Mk2 on last Saturday’s Kilbroney Rally. Glenn Wilson was 3^rd in his F2 Escort following the 7 special stages above Rostrevor.

Kenny McKinstry is competing on the Easter Stages, which is backed this year by Dublin Crystal, as a shakedown for the Manx National. The Easter Stages will, in a break with tradition, run on the Saturday of the Circuit of Ireland and will have a different route from the main rally.

Former National Rally Champion Paul Harris is running in this year’s London Marathon to raise funds for Spina Bifida. The charity is close to the Letterkenny man’s heart. Accompanying Paul will be Rory Kennedy.

Omagh man Robbie McGurk, recognised as one of the quickest men in Ireland through the forests, having won several events outright on his occasional outings over the last few years, is switching to asphalt with an entry on the Circuit of Ireland in a GpN Lancer.

The Killarney Rally of the Lakes, round 3 of the Pirelli Tarmac series, has introduced an innovative Junior section so that young drivers, for a very low entry fee, can tackle the last four stages of the event for their own awards and also help with their licence upgrade.

Former NI Champion Denis Biggerstaff is very disappointed not to get an entry on the Easter Stages, round 3 of this year’s series. Biggerstaff admits that his entry was a fraction late due to a mix-up, but still felt that he should have got a run. The rally is however oversubscribed.

Austin Mchale’s co-driver Brian Murphy, the winning driver on the Sean Conlon Memorial Forestry win at Mitchelstown last Sunday, commented, "I’ll certainly do the next round of the forestry, in Wicklow. Most of the other rounds should be manageable, despite clashes with the Pirelli BRC where I’ll be co-driving for Austin."

Following his West Cork win in mostly damp conditions, Donie O’Sullivan is hoping for a dry run on the Circuit of Kerry this weekend. Killarney man Donie wants to carry out further development with Kumho tyres allied to new springs being made up for his Focus WRC by ADR, in preparation for the Circuit of Ireland.

Motorsport Ireland has announced an important new initiative to underwrite the entry fees on Wales Rally GB for the top three drivers on the Southern Forestry Championship. This could form part of a wider scheme to attract National teams to the British WRC round, and in the meantime is a brilliant opportunity for Irish drivers. Currently topping the forestry table are: Brian Murphy and Kevin Lynch tying for 1^st on 38 points, Bob Scanlon and Patrick Elliott tying for 3^rd on 22 points.

Regards, Brian Patterson.