Top two wheel drive exponent Philip Shaw has sold his famous black MK2 Escort to Geoffrey Dolan of Donegal. Shaw has bought Dominic Loughran’s BMW M3, and although the car is currently in a bare metal state, Philip intends to rebuild the ex-Prodrive machine to GpA specification. Shaw and co driver Derek Brannigan intend to debut the car on next year's Killarney Rally of the Lakes.

Mike Marshall, the ebullient Clerk of the Course of the Killarney Rally of the Lakes, was last week appointed to the Motorsport Ireland Rallies commission. Next year will be the 25th running of the Lakes with Marshall at the helm.

It is a role reversal this weekend for Eugene Donnelly and Paul Kiely. Kiely is taking his ex Jack Ingleby 206 Supercup car to the Galloway Hills rally, Donnelly moving into the co-drivers seat on this occasion. Always a popular event for Irish competitors, notable leading entries include Denis Biggerstaff in his 6R4 and Kevin Lynch in his KPL Impreza WRC.

Dessie Nutt heads away a capacity entry for this weekends Killarney Historic Rally. Nutt will drive his usual Porsche 911, but will have his work cut out against other top historic drivers including John Keatly at 2 and reigning British historic champion Steve Perez at 3. John Monaghan is top classic seed while Martin Freestone heads the Post-Historic section in his beautiful Escort Mk2.

Dairmuid Falvey is making a welcome return to full special stage rallying this weekend in Killarney when he partners regular driver Kieran O'Neill in their spectacular Opel Kadett. Falvey has been out of action since March after sustaining serious leg injuries when he crashed out of the Mayo stages with Donegal's Stuart Darcy.

Fermanagh's Raymond Johnston has been confirmed as runner up to Eugene Donnelly in the NI Rally Championship. The final points tally takes into account every competitor's marshalling duties, with a 5 point bonus for those that comply. The biggest looser was Denis Biggerstaff who dropped from 2nd to 5th when deducted 10 points for not marshalling on an ANICC event.

Peugeot 206 Supercup winner Shaun Gallagher will have his first taste of 4WD on gravel this weekend. The young Letterkenny driver will use a DGM GpN Lancer on the Galloway Hills Rally with the experienced Rory Kennedy co-driving.

Michael Patterson