The Irish tarmac rally Championship crosses over the Scottish border for this weekend’s Jim Clark International rally. Based in Kelso, round four of Ireland’s premier rally championship will be held on Friday and Saturday, May 22nd/23rd.
Day one is centred around Duns with 60 miles of stages in the Lammermuir Hills and will finish with two stages run in the dark. Day two sees the event tackle over 100 miles of stages in the fast lanes of the Merse where the stages are famous for their big jumps.
Having won six of the last seven Jim Clark rallies, the slippery Berwick lanes hold no fear for Irish drivers and it is good to see all the major championship contenders entered. Eugene Donnelly won here in 2007 in a Subaru and he leads the ’09 championship on 32 points, courtesy of wins in Galway and the Circuit of Ireland. However an off-road excursion on round three on the Rally of the Lakes might force the Maghera man to drive a more cautious rally in the Skoda Fabia WRC.
Eamon Boland the reigning Tarmac champion is another Irish winner of the Jim Clark, with a victory here last year. The Wexford man is not as consisten this year but his pace in Galway and the Lakes will worry Donnelly and co. Boland has 24 Tarmac championship points.
Tim McNulty is another Subaru driver with 24 points. The Meath man will arrive in Scotland very determined for victory. He has been runner-up here on three occasions and he will be in confident mood after his dramatic win in the Lakes.
Gareth McHale was leading the Rally of the Lakes when he crashed out on day two, but he has 22 points and remains very much in the championship hunt, like his brother Aaron who trails him by four points. The brothers will be Ford Focus WRC mounted as usual.
Alastair Fisher has 12 points in the Group N section and a maximum score in Scotland could bounce the Fermanagh driver to the lead of the showroom category. He impressed many pundits with his pace and maturity on the Lakes, his first time over the classic stages in a four wheel drive car. Another driver who impressed in Killarney is Daragh O’ Riordan. Driving a Renault Clio, the Corkman is the leading two wheel drive in the championship and an amazing sixth overall in the standings.
The Jim Clark rally is also a counting round of the British rally championship, and after two rounds of that series Irish driver Keith Cronin leads Mark Higgins by four points.
(From Austin Shinnors.)
