Irish pair in pole position

MOTOR SPORT NEWS ROUND-UP:PETER DEMPSEY and Eoin Murray are driving for motor racing championship title wins this weekend in America and Italy. Dempsey, from Ashbourne, leads the Star Mazda series on 354 points from Joel Miller (349) and John Edwards (334).

He followed up his hat-trick of wins at Road America (Wisconsin), Trois Rivieres (Quebec) an Mosport (Ontario) with a win and a third at the new Jersey Motorsports Park (near Atlantic City).

Although he is currently the class act of the series, seven drivers are in with a mathematical chance of winning the championship.

Dempsey cannot afford even the slightest slip-up in his challenge for two more race wins in the weekend's penultimate double round at Road Atlanta. The final is at Laguna Seca (California) in two weeks' time.

Fellow Irish driver Murray is just a single point behind the leader Marin Colak of Croatia going into Sunday's final two rounds of the Seat Leon Eurocup at Monza.

No less than 14 drivers are in with a mathematical chance of winning the prestigious saloon racing title.

Murray has everything to go for as the big prize for the title winner is a fully funded Seat Sport drive in the European Touring Car Cup (ETCC) in Austria in November.

Ray Breen on 98 points leads John Reid by two as they line up for Sunday's final round of the Hankcook National Forestry Rally Championship.

Breen is in a more favourable position on the dropped scores system to add the forestry title to his 2005 Dunlop National Rally Championship win. Breen is seeded number one ahead of Denis Cronin (72 points), Reid, Patsy Keenan, John Reddington, Connie Delaney, Richard Burke, Ger Lucey, Pat Price and Colin Britton (66) in the Birr Club's event.

John Naylor from Carnew, Co Wicklow this week takes up the position of event director of Rally Ireland 2009.

WEEKEND FIXTURES

Saturday:Leinster MC Sporting Trial, Newcastle, Co Wicklow, noon; Co Monaghan MC, Navigation Trial, starts Urbleshanny, Scotstown, Co Monaghan, 9pm.

Sunday:Birr District MC,Forestry Stages Rally,starts Nenagh, Co Tipperary, 9am; Laois Rallysport Club, Pallas Sprint, Tynagh, Co Galway, 10.45am; Wexford MC, Autotest, Ballycogley, Co Wexford, noon.