Motor Sport: The tranquillity of the vast Gurteen Forest complex in south Tipperary will be shattered by the sound of high powered engines in Sunday's opening round of the McCauley Trailers sponsored National Forest Rally Championship.
This year's eight round series promises to be extremely competititive with Subaru drivers Kevin O'Kane, Pat Norris, Adrian McElvaney and Stephen Moore, Dermot Kelly, James Murphy and Glenn Alen in Ford Escort WRC's, John McCarthy and Gareth McHale in Toyota Corolla WRC's, and Mitsubishi Evo drivers Patrick Elliott, Johnny McKenna, Pete Willoughby, James Cribben, Andy Mackarel and Pete McCullough all chasing the title.
Driving highly tuned Ford Escorts in the always hotly contested rear-drive category are Brian Lawlor, Paul Staunton, John Reid, Noel Driver, Jason Roche and James Coleman.
Clerk of the course Terence Kearney has devised an exciting new format for round one, the Willie Loughman Memorial rally, consisting of four stages covered twice in the Gurteen, Anner and Slievenamon forests with a new short stage close to Carrick-On-Suir.
The Motorsport Ireland championship rounds are: 1. March 6th, Carrick-On-Suir; 2. March 27th, Tipperary (Mitchelstown); 3. April 17th, MEC (Glendalough); 4. May 15th, Munster (Midleton); 5. July 3rd, Monaghan (Three Mile House, near Monaghan town); 6. July 23rd/24th, Cork (Mallow); 7. August 14th, Birr (Roscrea); 8. September 4th, Killarney (Castleisland).
Gareth McHale and co-driver Paul Nagle will contest the Dunlop National Championship and the forest series in the Toyota Corolla WRC in which they finished seventh on the recent Galway International. McHale's previous rally experience was at the wheel of a Peugeot 206 in last year's Donegal and Ulster.
Eoin Ryan of Cashel is heading for America to race in the Formula Dodge National Championship.
The identical cars are run by Skib Barber Racing over 14 championship rounds in America and Canada.
Ryan was quickest of 12 drivers from America, Canada and Brazil in recent testing at Sebring, Florida, where he will compete in the first race on March 16th. His previous racing experience was in Formula Vee in 2003.
After two difficult races and no testing last year he abandoned Irish racing to concentrate on his 2005 venture. Since qualifying as a Mechanical Engineer in DCU, he has worked on construction sites in Dublin and Cork to help fund his racing ambition.
John McCluskey debuts his Citroen Xsara WRC in Sunday's opening round of the Irish Rallycross Championship at Mondello Park, where he will face multi Irish and British champion Dermot Carnegie in his Ford Focus in a supercar head to head.
WEEKEND FIXTURES: Sunday: Carrick-On-Suir MC, Forest Rally, starts Carrick-On-Suir, 10am; Co Kildare MC, Rallycross, Mondello Park, 12pm.
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