Peter Grimes is the RIAC Hewison Trophy Autotest Champion for 1997/98. The Dublin driver clinched the title with a recent win in Monaghan, his eighth of the winter series.
He has added the Hewison Trophy to his British and Northern Ireland titles, and, more importantly, he toppled reigning champion Eamonn Byrne and prevented the Delgany driver from winning six-in-a-row Hewisons. With two events to run, Grimes on 296 points cannot be caught by Byrne on 289.
Eddie Peterson on 42 points has won the novice championship, as Steven Bolton (37) and John Keohane (32) battle for runner-up. Confirmed class champions are: Sam Johnston, Chris Grimes and Robert Kinsella.
Sunday's penultimate Hewison round is the MEC's Freeman Cup Trial at Roadstone Whitestown, 13 miles south of Blessington on the N81 BlessingtonBaltinglass road.
Sponsorship by Red Mills Ltd of Goresbridge, Co Kilkenny, is great news for the newly named Red Mills RIAC National Rally Championship. Red Mills directors Joe and Bill Connolly were both former rally drivers. Bill was particularly successful, firstly driving a Ford Escort RS and then an Opel Manta 400 in National events and a BMW M3 on the Irish Internationals.
The 14-round championship dates are: March 8th - Ballina; April 5th - Circuit of Kerry; April 19th - Monaghan; May 10th - Carlow; May 24th - Cavan; May 31st - Circuit of Munster; June 28th - Carrick-on-Suir Raven's Rock; July 12th Connacht; July 26th - Clare; August 9th - Tipperary Stonethrowers; August 23rd - ALM Montague Stages; September 6th - Galway; October 10th - Donegal; October 25th - Skibbereen.
Bertie Fisher and Rory Kennedy, the most successful partnership in Irish rallying, will campaign a new Subaru Impreza in the Tarmac Rally Championship, commencing with the Galway International on February 21st/22nd. The ToughMac Subaru Ireland Team car employs all the technology of the Subaru WRC works cars, campaigned in the World Rally Championship by Colin McRae and Piero Liatti, similar to the Subaru Impreza's that have won the World Rally Championship for Manufacturers for the last three years.
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