Nesbitt poised to set Donegal stages alight

MOTOR SPORT: Derek McGarrity, Austin McHale and Eugene Donnelly spearhead the battle for Pirelli Tarmac Championship points in the weekend's Shell Donegal International Rally, starting today at noon from Letterkenny.

Former champion Andrew Nesbitt is not contesting the championship series but he is poised to set the stages alight in one of the latest Subaru S9s in a big bid for another Donegal win.

With two wins and a fourth in three events McGarrity in a Subaru leads the Pirelli on 38 points. Austin McHale in a Ford Focus is second on 30 points.

The title chase could go anyway between the top two, but third-placed Toyota driver Eugene Donnelly has a lot of catching up with only 24 points. After finishing second in Galway and the Circuit of Ireland he retired from the Killarney event with mechanical trouble. Eamonn Boland has changed allegiance from Subaru to Mitsubishi and is fourth in 4th on 17 points.

The leading quartet of co-drivers is headed by Dermot O'Gorman on 38 points, from Brian Murphy (30), Paul Kiely (24) and Damien Morrissey (17).

For Donegal's Shaun Gallagher this is a very important event as it is the first time for him to rally a Super 1600 Citroen Saxo. Shaun's biggest rival will be top British Super 1600 competitor Gareth Jones and fellow Donegal driver Sean Gallagher.

After retiring from the opening round of the British Rallycross Championship, Dermot Carnegie is playing catch-up on Ulsterman Lawrence Gibson in a Metro 6R4. In difficult conditions five-times British Championship winner Carnegie recently powered his Ford Focus to a third successive Scottish victory at Knockhill, near Edinburgh. Fellow Dublin driver John McCluskey was second in his Peugeot 307, his best finish to date. The Irish trio compete in round five at Croft, near Darlington on Sunday.

Eoin Murray, who is competing in the Alfa Romeo European Championship, has been nominated Motorsport Ireland Young Racing Driver of The Month for May.

WEEKEND FIXTURES Friday/Saturday/Sunday: Co Donegal MC, Shell Donegal International Rally, starts Letterkenny, today 12.0; Tomorrow: 8.45 a.m; Sunday: 8.00 a.m. Saturday: Garda Siochana MC, Sporting and 4x4 Trial, Bohernabreena, Co Dublin, 10.30 a.m. Sunday: Munster MC and CC, kart Racing, Kiltorcan, Co Kilkenny, 11 a.m; MRCCI, Midget Car Racing, The Beehive, Co Wicklow, 2 p.m.