The Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship moves into the second half of the season with Sunday’s FACC Simply Automatic Sligo Stages Rally.
The rally has attracted one of the strongest entries so far this season with many interlopers from both the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and Northern Ireland Rally Championship set to take the challenge to the series regulars.
Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty arrive in the northwest after three straight national wins in the trot.
The Hyundai I20 crew are odds on to retain their title. It is not clear yet if the Monaghan-based driver will steer his own R5 version of the Hyundai or continue with his brother Sam’s Rally 2 version that he drove to victory in the Raven's Rock earlier this month.
Callum Devine and Noel O'Sullivan return to the championship fray after the Volkswagen Polo crew skipped Waterford. Winner in Longford in March, they will need another win if they are to keep Moffett and Moriarty honest over the reaming four rounds.
Welsh visitors Meirion Evans and Jonathan Jackson usually ply their trade in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship but make a welcome first visit to Sligo in their Polo.
Despite almost calling Ireland their second home, it is hard to believe that this is their first appearance on an Irish National round since the Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally in 2015.
Still, they won the Galway International Rally earlier this year and cannot be discounted.
Another driver making a welcome return to the Triton Showers-backed championship is Jonathan Greer and Niall Burns in their Citroen C3 Rally 2.
Like Evans, they concentrate on the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and the Northern Ireland Rally Championship and this is their first visit to a one-day Irish National event since the Sligo Rally in 2019.
Former Triton Showers National Rally champion Declan Boyle is another Citroen mounted pilot. Welsh co-driver Patrick Walsh returns to the hot seat after missing Waterford. Boyle’s run to second place in the Raven’s Rock was his first Irish National podium finish since the Carlow Rally last year and his run of bad luck seems to be finally behind him.
Wicklow’s Daniel Barry and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes are another crew forced to skip Waterford. They have their Skoda Fabia R5 repaired after an off-road excursion in Cavan in May.
Declan’s Boyle son Michael is another driver finding his form. He and co-driver Dermot McCafferty steered their Polo to a fourth-place finish on the Raven’s Rock, a career-best-placed finish for the Donegal driver.
West Cork’s Daniel Cronin and Donnchadh Burke make their fourth Triton Showers National Rally Championship appearance of the year in the Polo GTI R5 that they share with Daniel’s brother Keith.
They finished fifth in Waterford, their best run of the year so far.
Leading the modified category are Kevin Gallagher and Ryan Moore from Donegal. The Darrian T90 GTR crew have already won in Kerry.
They will face intense competition from two Monaghan-based Ford Escort crews - Dessie Kennan, Jason McKenna, Gary McPhillips, and Paul Sheridan.
Another driver hoping to build on his Raven’s Rock performance is championship sponsor Paul Barrett. He and co-driver Kevin Reilly finished sixth in Waterford two weeks ago – a career-best for the Kildare-based businessman.
The nine-stage rally gets underway just after 930 am on Sunday morning with a loop of stages in the Ballintogher, Lough Bo and Carrickbanagher areas.
The first car is due back at the Sligo Park Hotel just before 5.30 pm.
