The Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship makes a welcome return to County Mayo this weekend. Event rotation rules mean it is two years since the Triton Showers series last visited the county.
Leading the capacity 150-car entry is defending Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Champions, Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty.
Back in 2022 Monaghan’s Moffett and his Limerick co-driver Keith Moriarty took a start-to-finish victory on the McHugh’s Service Station Mayo Rally, in their Hyundai i20 R5. They have switched to Citroen C3 Rally2 for the 2024 campaign and finished third on the Galway International Rally last month.
A notable absence is last year’s runners-up, Calum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan in their Volkswagen Polo R5. This opens the door for Desi Henry and his Scottish co-driver Stewart Loudon.
Also, Citroen mounted, Henry made his Irish National Rally championship debut at the ALMC Rally in Oldcastle last August and promised at the time he would be back for more as the one-day format suited his work schedule.
He was right in the mix of the Galway Citroen battle last month and will be fighting hard for their share of the championship spoils at the end of Sunday’s eight stages.
Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly start at four in their usual Hyundai I20 R5, one place ahead of another Citroen driver and former triple champion Declan Boyle and his Welsh co-driver Patrick Walsh.
Daniel Cronin and Donnchadh Burke return for a second craic at the National title in their Volkswagen Polo GTI R5. Highlights last season included a third-place finish on their home Fastnet Rally and a win on the non-championship Wexford Rally.
Defending Irish Tarmac Modified champions Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy have entered in a Skoda Fabia R5 and Gary Kiernan and John McCabe appear in the Ford Fiesta R5 that they debuted in Galway last month. The modified section is headed by the Darrian T90 GTR of Kevin Gallagher and Ryan Moore.
The rally is based at The Great National Hotel in Ballina and will start at 8.30am on Sunday morning. The first car is due at the finish ramp at 5.30pm on Sunday evening.
