MOTORSPORT

LOCAL rally competitors and fans will make the short journey across the county bounds to Rathkeale for the traditional bank-holiday weekend Circuit of Munster Rally.

With stages near Abbeyfeale and Newcastlewest, the Trition Showers National Rally Championship and Top Part West Coat Championship counter is very a local rally.

Leading the Kerry contingent is Killarney co-driver Mikie Galvin and his West Cork driver Keith Cronin.

The Ford Fiesta R5 crew are tackling the British Rally Championship this year, and after three events in the forests of England, Scotland and Wales, the series switches to Tarmac in late June with the world famous Ypres Rally in Belgium. Galvin and Cronin are using Munster to gather additional asphalt mileage ahead of their continental sortie.

There is a wealth of Kerry rally experience contesting Sunday’s rally, Kerry Motor Club members Kevin Barrett and Sean Mullally field their Subaru Impreza WRC in the top ten while navigator Denis O’Connell returns the passenger seat of Ed Synan’s Ford Escort and starts at 16, four places behind is the similar car of Timmy Enright.

Brain Doherty is on pacenote duty for New York visitor Paul Rowley in a Citroen DS3. The first all Kerry-based crew on the road is Tom Relihan and Maurice McElligott in their Ford Escort Mk2.

Ballybunion’s Jason Costello is also on the entry list after a mechanical failure ended their Rally of the Lakes earlier in the month. Darren Young and Sean Walsh are in action in their Honda Civic.

Tralee co-driver Sean Hegarty is alongside Keith Lyons in the Ford Fiesta, the pair scored a top class result on the Rally of the Lakes last month and will be hoping for a repeat performance on Lyons’ home patch.

Keith McCarthy is another local navigator sitting with a Limerick driver, in this case Ken Ryan is the pilot.

Another all Tralee based crew is Eoin Duffin and Mikie Cleary in their Escort while Abbeydorney/ Tralee crew Ger O’Brien and Sean Liston drive a similar machine.

Former Historic Rally champions PJ O’Dowd and John Young have entered their Talbot Sunbeam and will be hoping to add to their Circuit of Kerry category win.

Eddie Kennelly and Timmy Murphy are another North Kerry crew on the entry as is Lixnaw co-driver Tony McCarthy.