MOTOR SPORT:PAUL O'CONNELL and Simon McKinley are equal on 67 points in the Magnus Technology Hillclimb Championship as they contest the Limerick Motor Club's two weekend events.
O'Connell, the reigning champion, won the first six rounds of this year's series, in Wexford, Galway and Clare. The champion's Delta had mechanical trouble in the two Tipperary events and as a result he salvaged only seven points with a fourth place.
Instead of his usual super-fast Ford Escort, McKinley double-drove the Radical SR3 of Rory Stephens to score a win and a second place and draw level with O'Connell in the standings.
O'Connell will be on home ground at Old Mills tomorrow and Boola on Sunday, but the Limerick driver will be under major pressure from McKinley in either his Escort or the Radical.
The final rounds are the MEC Sprints at Ashford, Co Wicklow, on August 23rd and 24th and the Donegal hill climbs on September 6th and 7th.
Kevin Lynch is favoured to win another Dogleap Rally; he is the number-one seed tomorrow.
Organised by the Maiden City Motor Club and run out of Limavady, the 10-stage event has drawn over 100 entries, including the Northern Ireland Championship top three, Seán Devine, Connor McCluskey and Glenn Allen. With four rounds to run, the NI Championship is still wide open.
Drivers in the Irish Global Championship race their motorcycle-powered cars at Lydden, Kent, tomorrow and Sunday.
Keith Dawson on 192 points has a big lead over Peter Drennan (132), Mark Braden (109) and Michael Conway (105).
Last Friday in Piltown GAA club, George Clancy of Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club handed cheques each worth €45,441 to the Children's Medical Research Foundation in Crumlin and the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire. The money was raised at the Carrick-on-Suir Golden Jubilee Festival of Motorsport at Piltown, Co Kilkenny, in June.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
Saturday: Limerick MC, Hillclimb, Old Mills-Carrigkerry, Co Limerick, 11am; IKC, Kart Racing, Kiltorcan, Co Kilkenny, 1pm; Killarney District MC, Autocross, Cork Road, Killarney, 5pm.
Sunday: Limerick MC, Hillclimb, Boola, near Broadford, Co Limerick, 11am; IKC, Kart Racing, Kiltorcan, Co Kilkenny, noon; Killarney District MC, Autocross, Cork Road, Killarney, noon; MRCCI, Midget Car Racing, Ballinamona, Waterford, 2pm.
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