MOTORSPORT: Gareth McHale (22), is the new leader of the National Forestry Rally Championship with wins in the two opening rounds. Having finished seventh in his first international, in Galway last February, McHale, with co-driver Paul Nagle, made a successful forestry stages debut in round one.
McHale withdrew his Circuit of Ireland entry and won round two on Easter Sunday. The duo are the top seeds in Sunday's round three, the MEC's Circuit of Wicklow run out of Laragh.
John McCarthy, Wicklow winner in 2003, with Francis Regan, is the second seed. He pushed McHale hard on the last round in Mitchelstown and came close to victory. Kevin O'Kane and Martin Hanna in a Subaru WRC start behind the two Toyota Corolla WRCs and need a good result after a disappointing retirement last time.
Fourth-seed Glenn Allen and Damien Connolly debut their Corolla WRC in the series. Allen trails McHale by six points in the championship and is fired up to challenge for the lead. Pat Norris is joint second in the points standings and with Declan Tumilty is seeded fifth in a Subaru Impreza 555. Norris has two third-place finishes in the series.
In Group N the leading three are sixth-seeded Johnny McKenna/Paddy Robinson in a Mitsubishi Evo 6, seventh-seed Stephen Moore/Tony McHugh and eighth Trevor J Harding/Charlie Boland in Subarus.
Moore leads McKenna by two points in the class. The always spectacular local crew of Paul Staunton/Bruce Burgess are the first of the two-litre Ford Escort competitors, and are ninth seeds. Patrick Elliott/Mark Bowens round off the top 10 in a Mitsubishi Evo 8.
Brian Lawlor and Frank Kelly in Ford Escorts, as well as Staunton, are good enough for top-place finishes against the superior four-wheel-drive cars.
From the 10am start the cars take to the forests of Glenmalure (SS1) and Drumgoff (SS2) followed by service in the grounds of Avondale House, Rathdrum. Next are stages at Ballydowling Hill (SS3) and Glenealy (SS4), followed again by service at Avondale. The fours stages are then repeated and the cars are due back at the Broacagh Centre finish in Laragh from 5.30pm.
The pressure to perform is greater on McHale than on other driver, as his father, Austin, is one of Ireland's all-time successful rally drivers, over three decades.
After two rounds, Austin McHale is second in the Pirelli Irish Tarmac Rally Championship on 19 points behind leader Derek McGarrity on 25.
Round three is the Killarney Rally of The Lakes on April 30th-May 1st.
Peter Dempsey (Ashbourne) has scored five British race wins, his latest being round two of the MotorSport Vision Formula Ford 1600 Championship at Snetterton last Sunday, where he also set a class lap record.
Dempsey has a seven-point lead in the championship going into round three, at Brands Hatch on Sunday.
SUNDAY: MEC, Circuit of Wicklow, starts Laragh (Glendalough), 10am.
