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Dubliner Derek Tohill, the former double European Rallycross Touring car champion, qualified his Parts for Cars Ford Fiesta in eighth position in Saturday’s heats of the Swedish round at Holjes, heading into yesterday’s third round of this year’s series, writes Richard Burke . However, his hopes of advancing to the final were dashed when a stewards’ decision demoted him in the results of the fourth qualifying heat, denying him a place in the semi-finals and leaving him down in fourteenth position in the European Supercar points table. His teammate Peter McGarry made it to the quarter finals in the Touring car section on his European debut, driving an older Fiesta previously used by Tohill. Kilkenny’s Ian White, the reigning Hewison National and Munster Autotest champion, was the clear winner of the Cork MC Premier Autoparts Munster round at Fermoy, 24 seconds clear of Martin Walsh, with Liam Croston close behind in third place. Photo aabove of Derek Tohill in action in Sweden at ...

Photo: Ruaidhri Nash For the third year in succession, local crew Manus Kelly and Donall Barrett in a Subaru Impreza took top place in the Joule Donegal International Rally, but in a completely different way from their first two triumphs, writes Richard Burke .  In each of the previous years, they only took the lead on the final stages of the three day rally, but this time, they set the pace on Friday’s opening stage, and apart from slipping to fifth position on the following test, they led for seventeen of the twenty stages, winning by 42 seconds despite easing off for yesterday’s two loops in order not to take any risks. Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes held runner up spot setting out yesterday morning in the first of a group of Ford Fiesta R5s, but Josh’s elder brother Sam, a former winner of the rally, was on a charge, and took over second place halfway through the day, opening out a 22 second margin by the finish.  Two recent winners of the Billy Coleman Award for Yo...

Derek in action Derek Mackarel has been nominated for this year’s Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver Award for his performances in March and April, writes Richard Burke . The 22 year-old from Stone Bridge, near Clones, Co Monaghan (pictured left), drove his Vauxhall Nova to victory in the Junior class of the Munster Moonraker Forestry Rally in Cork, finishing 16th overall in a field packed with four wheel drive cars. Derek backed this up by his runner up position in the Limerick Forestry Junior section, taking 14th overall on that occasion. Derek began his motorsport career at the age of fourteen, and already has two national titles under his belt. In 2014, he won the National Autocross series, aged eighteen, and earlier this year, he was the winning driver in the Navigation Trial Championship, along with his regular navigator Muireann Hayes. He plans on contesting the remaining Forestry Championship rallies this year, and would also like to tackle the Auto...

Josh Moffett and Stephen Thornton in action. Pic: Ger Leahy. Monaghan pair Josh Moffett and Stephen Thornton came through on the closing stages to take a fourteen second victory in the second round of the Valvoline National Forestry Rally Championship, Limerick MC’s Treaty Plant Hire event at Silvermines at the weekend, writes Richard Burke . Moffett, a former title holder, lay third for much of the day, but increased his pace just as early leader Andrew Purcell hit trouble, losing 40 seconds and two places to finish behind Barry McKenna, with all three driving Fiesta R5s. Best of the two wheel drive brigade were David Crossen and Aileen Kelly in their Escort, taking eighth place overall, with Marty Gallagher narrowly beating Derek Mackarel for the Junior class, and finishing twelfth and fourteenth overall, just twelve seconds apart. The Tynan family dominated the Monaghan Navigation Trial at Newbliss, with Mickey and his nephew Ciaran coming out on top after ...

Donagh Kelly and co-driver Conor Foley Donegal driver Donagh Kelly, the former National and Tarmac rally champion, extended his already long list of achievements by becoming the first driver ever to win the Quality Hotel Clonakilty West Cork International five years in a row, writes Richard Burke . At the finish in Clonakilty yesterday, he and co-driver Conor Foley had almost two minutes to spare over runners up Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes, who led the R5 challenge to Kelly’s more powerful Ford Focus World Rally Car. The Monaghan-Wexford pair took their Fiesta to maximum points towards the Clonakilty Blackpudding/Michelin Irish Tarmac title, as WRC cars are no longer eligible for the series. Defending Tarmac title holder Sam Moffett, Josh’s elder brother, had a good day yesterday, as he climbed from fourth place at the end of Saturday’s eight stages, to overtake Declan Boyle, finishing the weekend just nine seconds behind his sibling. Dubliner Rob Barrable, a...

Declan Boyle in his Ford Fiesta World Rally Car Former double National Rally champion Declan Boyle took a comfortable victory in the opening round of this year’s Triton Showers series by bringing his Ford Fiesta home 37 seconds clear of the nearest opposition in the Achill Island Hotel-Connacht Print and Signs Mayo Stages Rally yesterday, writes Richard Bourke . The Donegal driver and his new Monaghan partner James O’Reilly led from the opening stage and were never headed all day, with Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty taking runner up position ahead of Desi Henry and Liam Moynihan in yet another Fiesta, just over a minute farther back. Two more ex-title holders were out of luck, with Donagh Kelly recovering to tenth place at the end after a disastrous puncture, while Roy White slid off the road on the first stage and was completely out of contention by the time he could restart. Adrian Wray won the Group N Production class, with Jason Black and Jack McKenna the Junior winners. ...