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James Wilson in action on the Cavan Stages Rally (Pic by Adam Hall). What an exciting year in rallying it is for twenty-three year old James Wilson from Keady, as now the family team prepare the left hand drive Philip White Tyres backed Peugeot 208 R2 for the Ypres Rally in Belgium, the second round of the British Rally Championship (BRC), writes Andrew Bushe . The event based around the famous town of Ieper, so poignant from the World War 1 battles, will witness some of the best rally stars in the world battling from the 21 - 23 June. James Wilson The famous Belgian tarmac closed roads await James for the first time and he’s heard a lot about them. “Some of my main rivals have competed on the rally before and it’s a reputation for being tricky. The weather will be hot but we could be on softer compound tyres than normal due to the smooth roads and the big cuts that are taken. It’s a big experience for us and we have to treat it as part of our learning curve t...

Despite only driving his newly acquired Formula 3 Dallara for the first time, Clare driver Sylvie Mullins scored a double in the two fastest races of the weekend at the MEC two day meeting at Mondello Park, writes Richard Burke .  The former Irish Hillclimb champion narrowly beat his Limerick rival Paul O’Connell in both races, with less than a second between them at the finish each time. Lee Newsome and Colm Blackburn had another of their close duels in the first Formula Vee Championship race until mechanical problems forced Dubliner Blackburn to retire, but he got his revenge in race two with a clear win, while Newcome couldn’t repeat his earlier victory, finishing fourth. Brothers Eoin and Niall Murray, both former Young Driver of the Year Award winners, shared a Seat Leon to top place in the Open Endurance Race, finishing 15 seconds clear of runner up Rod McGovern in a similar car after almost an hour’s racing. No fewer than six other drivers also managed to ...

Four times British Rally champion Keith Cronin, from Ballylickey in West Cork, headed a family 1-2 in yesterday’s Rathkeale House Hotel Circuit of Munster Rally, leading from start to finish as he beat his younger brother by almost two minutes over the nine stages, writes Richard Burke . Keith, with regular co-driver Mikie Galvin, used the day to get more accustomed to his new Hyundai before the next cross-channel round as he mounts his defence of last year’s British series, while Daniel and his co-driver J J Cremin in their Fiesta were more than half a minute ahead of third placed Ed Synan and Tom Collins in an Impreza.

Volkswagen has unveiled an electrically-powered sports car, the ID R Pikes Peak, writes Brian Byrne . Faster than Formula 1 and Formula E cars in a sprint, the new car has 680hp on tap and is the vehicle by which VW hopes to set a new record for an electric car at the Pikes Peak hillclimb event in Colorado, USA, in June. The ID R Pikes Peak has a 0-100km/h sprint capability of 2.25s. It weighs less than 1,100kg. The powertrain features two electric motors, and is designed to provide speed rather than range, as the hillclimb distance is just under 20km.