Round-Up: Donegal Harvest Preview and Rally New Zealand Recap
The Triton Showers-backed Irish National Rally Championship will conclude on Saturday with the Gortahork-based Donegal Harvest Rally.
While the championship has already been won by Monaghan’s Josh Moffett and his Limerick co-driver Keith Moriarty (Hyundai i20 R5) and while they are absent from the 140-car entry, there is still much to play for on this nine-stage event.
The top seed is Callum Devine. The Derry man will have recently crowned British Rally Champion Noel O’Sullivan on pacenote duty in his Volkswagen Polo GTi R5.
He will face opposition Sam Moffet (Ford Fiesta WRC) and Robert Barrable (Ford Fiesta Rally2) Barrable is already confirmed as the runner-up in the national series.
The battle for third overall in the championship involves Monaghan’s Michael Carbin (Mitsubishi Evo VIII), Maynooth’s Paul Barrett (Citroen C3) and Castlederg’s Gareth Sayers (Ford Fiesta Rally2), all of whom are within a point of each other.
The top local driver is former triple national champion Declan Boyle in a similar car to Devine’s.
Another local to watch is Eamonn Kelly in another Volkswagen Polo GTi R5.
Kelly recently clinched the Junior category of the British Rally Championship and is a nominee for the 2022 Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year award.
The rally will be based at Teac Bhillie, in Gortahork and gets underway just after 9 am. The first car is due at the finish ramp at Scoil Fhionnain at around 17.20.
Rally New Zealand was a rally to forget for the three Motorsport Ireland competition licence holders that competed in the event.
Craig Breen and Paul Nagle were challenging for the event lead when they put their Ford Puma off the road on the event’s fifth stage.
They were able to continue under SuperRally rules and set a string of top times in a show of what might have been, but the time loss on Friday was too much to regain.
Japanese driver Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta and his Tyrone co-driver Aaron Johnston crashed out on Saturday afternoon.
The Irish World Rally championship regulars will now turn their attention to Rally de España on October 20-23.
The penultimate round of the WRC is based in Salou to the south of Barcelona, the event is known for its smooth and fast asphalt roads that are like a racing circuit in their characteristics.
A large Irish entry is expected at the event with Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy members Josh McErlean, amongst others, and Will Creighton set to join the championship’s full-timers.