McGarrity can take crown

MOTOR SPORT: Derek McGarrity can clinch the Toshiba Tarmac Rally Championship in this weekend's Ulster Rally, but even if the Belfast driver puts in a superb performance it is unlikely to be good enough to beat Armagh's Andrew Nesbitt and British Championship leader Jonny Milner for top prize this time out.

McGarrity leads the tarmac series, on 64 points, with last year's Ulster winner and reigning Irish champion Andrew Nesbitt on 42 points and Eamonn Boland six further back. This is the penultimate round, the last being the Cork 20 on October 4th/5th.

Although McGarrity has a 22-point lead over Nesbitt, his position is far from safe as the best six out of the seven rounds are counted and Nesbitt has only scored in three rounds. McGarrity will have to drop his worst score, which to date is 10 points.

Austin McHale has had a difficult year and is out of contention to win the Tarmac Championship, which he has won a record five times. The Rathcoole driver is lying second in the British Championship on 35 points against leader Milner's 57 points.

After winning the Manx in his Toyota Corolla WRC, and beating a quintet of Subaru drivers, Milner is confident of going for a fourth British Championship round win on the Ulster.

The two final rounds of the Dunlop National Hillclimb Championship will be run at Knockalla Hill, Co Donegal, this weekend. The race for championship honours will be fought between Wexford drivers Michael B Roche in a Reynard-Opel and Pat Roche in his OMS-Honda.

Irish drivers Michael Devaney (Dublin) and Robby Coleman (Cork) race in Rounds 13 and 14 of the Formula-BMW Championship at Nurburgring in Germany.

Devaney drives for the championship-winning Team Rosberg and is fourth in the points standings. Coleman races for a little-known Austrian team, HBR Motorsport, and says "having struggled at the start of the season, due to lack of experience of the championship, I'm happy to be ninth in the standings with the possibility of finishing in the top five". There are six races to run in the series.

WEEKEND FIXTURES

Today: Ulster Rally, starts Armagh, 3 p.m.

Saturday: Ulster Rally, restarts Armagh 8 a.m.

Saturday & Sunday: Munster MC & CC (Sat.)/Cork MC (Sun.) Hewison Trophy Autotests, 11/10 a.m.; Co Donegal MC, Knockalla Hillclimb, 11a.m.; Leinster MC/Carlow CC, Autocross, Ardmore, Dublin Road, Athy,Co Kildare, 1 p.m.

Sunday: Killarney & District MC, Forestry Stages Rally, Castleisland, Co Kerry, 9 a.m.; Castle AC, Stage Rally, starts Mountnugent, Co Cavan, 10 a.m.; SKC, Kart Racing, Tynagh, Portumna, Co Galway, 10 a.m.; MRCCI, Midget car Racing, Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, 2 p.m.