The Irish Tarmac Championship makes its second visit north of the border this coming weekend for the Todds Leap Ulster Rally, an event that’s always well received and enjoyed by competitors. Championship leader Garry Jennings is on home territory for the Fermanagh based event, and the Kesh driver will be looking to put more daylight between him and his competitors. At present he holds a 3.5 point lead over both Sam Moffett and Donagh Kelly, both of whom will be hoping to take advantage of any slip ups by the championship leader. Stephen Wright who lies in fourth place and is also the leader of the Group N category is also in with a chance of upsetting the odds as the championship heads towards the penultimate round. Derek McGarrity currently lies in fifth place but his chances took a severe knock with a final stage retirement in Donegal, while Declan Boyle has been out of luck since the opening round in Galway as two non-finishes have hurt his chances.
Stephen Wright leads the Group N category from Sam Moffett who has now gone the WRC route and can only score points in class 6. Rory Byrne, Josh Moffett, Stephen Carey and Shane Maguire are all still in with a chance of claiming the overall Group N class. Stephen Carey comfortably leads the FWD category from Ian Chadwick and will prove very hard to stop now. The Irish Tarmac Modified Challenge could see another twist this weekend with third placed Frank Kelly hoping to close the gap on leader Fergus O’Meara (second placed Billy Coogan has not entered), and with both drivers seeded in the top five of the modified category, a great battle should be assured.
Wesley Patterson who holds a strong lead in the Irish Tarmac Historic Championship will once again be favourite to take the spoils after a very good year. The opposition is stronger in Ulster than it was in Donegal with Niall Creighton, James O’Mahony and Drew Wylie all coming out to play, and if Patterson were to slip up, it could let any one of the aforementioned quartet back into the running for overall honours.
Kevin O’Driscoll
T.R.O.A. Press & Media Officer
Mobile: +353 86 286 6256
Email: troapro@gmail.com
ENDS