Not a huge distance by road, but for the championship contenders, the series is now really hotting up with just ten points covering the top three drivers on the leaderboard.
And the last two rallies experienced nail biting finishes.
The Moonraker was round three and just 21 seconds covered winner Owen Murphy to Colin Britton who was fifth. In the middle of that sandwich, Gary Jennings, Vincent McAree and Pat O'Connell were separated by just two seconds!
The Mallow based Cork forestry rally was round four and that was another installation of high drama when Owen Murphy triumphed on home soil for the first time. The Corkman won by six seconds ahead of Colin Britton with Pat O'Connell a mere second behind to claim third. It is not squeaky bum time yet, but we are most definitely at the business end of the season. The close racing and tight leaderboard scenario has brought unprecedented excitement to the special stages.
The leaderboard now reads Colin Britton (Evo9) 71 points, Stephen Wright (Evo6) 62 and Gary Jennings (Impreza GpA) 61. Vincent McAree (Evo9) is fourth with 53 and the last year's champion Owen Murphy (Evo9) is seventh with 43 points, just ahead of 2010 champ Pat O'Connell (Evo9) with 37 points. Murphy and O'Connell had a terrible start to the year and neither driver finished the two opening rounds in Donegal and Carrick-on-Suir. It is all to play for, and the Mitchelstown rally will have a significant effect on the outcome of the title.
The event is hosted by the Tipperary Motor Club, with Martin O'Keeffe as Clerk of the Course. The action gets underway at 09:00 with eight stages on the menu with visits to Glaneskin and Coolfree repeated in the morning loop. The afternoon stages are based at An Oige, which are repeated with the first car on the victory ramp at 17:00. Service will be held in the old Galtee Meats Complex, Mitchelstown. The Rally is also round five of the South East Stages Rally Championship.
