Sunday marks the start of a new era in Irish rallying with the opening round of the new Ford Ka Rally Championship, the first ever "one make, one model" category in rally sport, contested by 15 crews in the Circuit of Kerry.
The Ka class will be headed away from the Banna Beach Hotel start by former Circuit of Kerry winner Ken Lyons (Limerick) and Killarney Ford dealer Derek Daly. Also in the line-up are circuit racers Liam Denning and Barry Barrable (Dublin), National Autocross championship winner Jimmy Travers (Kilkenny), hotrod racer Oliver Stanley (Laois), and Gus Kearney (Clonmel). The event is the second round of the National Rally Championship, and for the first time the reigning champion, John Gilleece, and last year's runner-up, Niall Maguire, compete for points, both having missed the opening round in Ballina which was won by the Doherty brothers, Daniel and Michael.
Gilleece is chasing a championship hat-trick, but his biggest threat is likely to be Daniel Doherty rather than Maguire or Frank O'Mahony, the latter recovering from a shoulder injury received when he crashed out of the lead of the recent West Cork Rally.
The stages are in the Castleisland area, Smearla River and Cordal (each three times) and Desmond's Grave (twice).
Inistioge, Co Kilkenny, is the venue for the two opening rounds of the RIAC/Dunlop Hillclimb Championship, tomorrow and Sunday. All the leading contenders are entered, including reigning champion Donal Griffin, Ronnie Maybin, and Padraig Forde. Damien Faulkner from Moville, Co Donegal, will contest the Formula Palmer Audi Championship for the second successive season, which will include for the first time two rounds at Mondello Park, on May 16th. He won a championship race last year and finished sixth overall in a season spoiled by niggling car problems.
The top 10 seeds in the Circuit of Kerry are: 1, Gilleece/Gibson (Belfast) Ford Escort WRC; 2, Doherty/Doherty (Donegal) Subaru Legacy; 3, Maguire/Nestor (Monaghan) Subaru Impreza; 4, O'Mahony/McPhilips (Cork) Impreza; 5, Harrison/Bell (London) Escort Cosworth; 6, Breen/Newe (Waterford) Escort Cosworth; 7, Barrable/Downey (Dublin) Toyota Celica GT4; 8, McCluskey/English (Dublin) Celica; 9, McCarthy/Murphy (Celica); 10, McAllenan/McMonagle (Down) Celica.
