Gareth McHale will have a last minute test session in the RHD Corolla WRC before this weekend's Galway International. Gareth is no stranger to the car, having driven it on occasion last season. Interestingly there is a new Lancer Evo8 being built for Gareth, and he will compete on the Sunseeker, with a view to contesting the Lancer Challenge.

Tim McNulty's new Impreza WRC was due to be delivered to Ireland earlier this week and McNulty was due to test the car in the Knockmealdown Mountains on Wednesday. "I'll ease myself into it, the paddle gear change will be hard to get used to" reported McNulty.

Jonny Milner's entry in Galway was to have brought the number of Skoda WRC's up to three, but the example earmarked for George Cullen, a sister car to Derek McGarrity's, was damaged on the Monte and the entry has been withdrawn.

On last weekend's Galway 'recce' weekend Roy White and Seamus Leonard were just two of the GpN drivers who reported that their new Lancer Evo 8's were not quite ready to test, and it would be a race against time for the rally. The anticipated level of GpN Competition and the number of new cars for Galway is pretty remarkable, with Willie Fannin, James Foley, Garry Jennings, Aaron McHale, Colm Murphy, Alan Nesbitt and Paul Dempsey just some of the top names in new machinery.

Mark Alcorn took his Corolla to a clear cut win on last Sunday's Sligo Stage event, with David Leonard 2^nd in a Nova, with Billy Coleman Award winners Eamonn McElvaney 3^rd and former winner Stuart Darcy 4^th. Local man Dominic McLoughlin was the early leader but his RWD Peugeot's engine blew.

In the Irish 205 Challenge section of the Sligo event, Graeme Colfer extended his lead with a points win, while Adrian McElhinney was 2^nd on the day, Seamus O'Grady 3^rd.

Donegal man Michael McCollum will have one of the most unusual cars on the National section of this weekend's Galway, a BMW Compact, with M3 running gear, imported from Sweden.

Regards, Brian Patterson.