The 5^th and 6^th September Ulster Rally will run to European Championship rules and will not have the Super 1600 cars running at the front of the field as has become the norm on Pirelli British Championship events. Also the WRC machines will not be subject to a weight penalty. Last year’s winner Andrew Nesbitt will run first on the road in his Impreza WRC,followed by Jonny Milner, Derek McGarrity, Tapio Laukkanen, Austin McHale and Jari Matti Latvala. Garry Jennings is at 9 in the works Peugeot, followed by Gwyndaf Evans and Kris Meeke. The rally has 91 entries in the main event and 17 Historics.

At a press conference last week in the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork, top competitors Frank O’Mahony and Hugh McPhillips confirmed details of the 3/5^th October Cork ‘20’ International. The event will be the final counter in this year’s Tarmac Championship as well as Ford Ireland Focus and KA Championships. Murphy Construction is again lending their support to the event and Frank and Hugh promised a mix of old and new classic stages.

Maurice Gass led last weekend’s Triton Showers Lurgan Park Rally briefly, but crashed his Impreza WRC on the 4^th stage. Although the car was extensively damaged at the rear end, the engine and gearbox were removed from the Subaru before the day was out, and the car was on the way to the body shop on Monday morning. Popular Armagh man Maurice is quite confident he will be on the start line of the Ulster Rally.

Killarney’s Donie O’Sullivan, 2^nd overall on this year’s Killarney International Rally of the Lakes, is competing on the Wexford Rally in a McKinstry Subaru WRC as a warm up for a serious assault on the Cork 20 International.

Motorsport Ireland has granted two new permits for ‘single stage’ rallies for the weekend of 8^th/9^th November to replace the Galway Rally. The locations of the two new events are Carrick on Suir and Cavan.

Next year St Patricks day falls mid-week and the West Cork Rally has decided to go for the preceding weekend, 13^th and 14^th March. The rally will again be based at the Quality Hotel in Clonakilty and will receive backing from Delaney Oils through Esso and Mobil. The always popular event will be the opening round of the 023 Tiles Southern Four and the Get Connected Championships.

Brian Patterson