Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship Stonethrowers Rally previews

eddie doherty leads the triton showers national rally championship going into this weekends tipperary stonethrowers rally.

Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship’s final countdown begins in earnest in Tipperary this weekend.

So far this year, there has been five rallies and four different winners. There are now three rallies left in the season, with the two competitors in each car now fighting for one title.

Eddie Doherty leads the title race after June’s Circuit of Munster. The Skoda Fabia driver is knocking on the door of his maiden rally win and could easily happen on this weekend’s Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally. He and co-driver Tom Murphy came ever so close on The Circuit of Munster and only for the surprise appearance of Callum Devien on a pre-Donegal International Rally test, he may well have achieved that dream last month. They are the second  seeds for Sunday’s rally.

Leading the capacity entry is defending champions Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty. They won last time the Triton Showers National Rally Championship visited Tipperary but despite two wins so far this year their title defence has been far from straightforward and the Citroen C3 Rally2 arrive at round five in fourth place in the championship standings.

Daniel Cronin and Donnchadh Burke took their first National Championship win in Carlow in May. The third seeds for the Stonethrowers, the Volkswagen Polo R5 crew are second in the title race. They are on 71 one points, just one point behind championship leaders Doherty and Murphy and both leading crews have dropped a score meaning the fight at the top could not be any closer.

Former champions Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly make a welcome return to the series after skipping the Circuit of Munster and non-finishing in Carlow. The Hyundai i20 Rally2 crew are fifth in the championship and start with four on the door on Sunday.

Desi Henry has been making sporadic Triton Showers National Rally Championship appearances this season. The Citroen C3 Rally2 driver will have the experienced Andy Hayes alongside and will start fifth on the road. Behind them is Jason Mitchell and Paddy McCrudden in another Volkswagen Polo R5 while Triton Showers boss Paul Barrett and Darragh Kelly start at seven in another Citroen C3 Rally2.

Andrew Purcell and Liam Brennan make a rare appearance in a Triton Showers National Rally Championship event. They will steer the third Volkswagen Polo R5 entered in the top ten.

The first Ford Fiesta Rally2 in top ten is in the hands of Cork-based crew David Guest and James O’Brien and the top ten is completed by fellow Corkonians Cal McCarthy and Eric Calnan in another Citroen C3 Rally2.

One interesting entry, just outside the top ten is that of Jordan and Paul Hone. The Ford Fiesta R5 crew are event winners on rounds of the Motorsport Ireland National Forestry Rally Championship but are making a rare appearance on a tarmac event this weekend.

The modified category is led by Kerry crew Rob Duggan and Ger Conway in their Ford Escort and they will be challenged every step of the way by Michael Carbin and Dean O’Sullivan in a similar machine.

John Warren and Ruthann O’Connor complete the top 15 in their Ford Fiesta while Steve Wood is top overseas seed in the Citroen C3 he shares with Kenny Hull.

Kyle Browne and Mark O’Leary are the top Junior seeds but the Cork-based driver is n not registered for championship points so Donegal’s Jordan Jervis and Kyle McDaid will fight it out.

Championship leader David Armstrong leads the historic category in his Ford Escort.

TOP FIVE OVERALL AFTER ROUND 5