Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship’s final countdown begins in earnest in Tipperary this weekend.
So far this year, there has been five rallies and four different winners. There are now three rallies left in the season, with the two competitors in each car now fighting for one title.
Eddie Doherty leads the title race after June’s Circuit of Munster. The Skoda Fabia driver is knocking on the door of his maiden rally win and could easily happen on this weekend’s Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally.
He and co-driver Tom Murphy came ever so close on The Circuit of Munster and only for the surprise appearance of Callum Devine on a pre-Donegal International Rally test, he may well have achieved that dream last month. They are the second seeds for Sunday’s rally.
Leading the capacity entry is defending champions Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty. They won last time the Triton Showers National Rally Championship visited Tipperary but despite two wins so far this year their title defence has been far from straightforward and the Citroen C3 Rally2 arrive at round five in fourth place in the championship standings.
Daniel Cronin and Donnchadh Burke took their first National Championship win in Carlow in May. The third seeds for the Stonethrowers, the Volkswagen Polo R5 crew are second in the title race. They are on 71 one points, just one point behind championship leaders Doherty and Murphy and both leading crews have dropped a score meaning the fight at the top could not be any closer.
Former champions Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly make a welcome return to the series after skipping the Circuit of Munster and non-finishing in Carlow. The Hyundai i20 Rally2 crew are fifth in the championship and start with four on the door on Sunday.
Desi Henry has been making sporadic Triton Showers National Rally Championship appearances this season. The Citroen C3 Rally2 driver will have the experienced Andy Hayes alongside and will start fifth on the road. Behind them is Jason Mitchell and Paddy McCrudden in another Volkswagen Polo R5 while Triton Showers boss Paul Barrett and Darragh Kelly start at seven in another Citroen C3 Rally2.
Andrew Purcell and Liam Brennan make a rare appearance in a Triton Showers National Rally Championship event. They will steer the third Volkswagen Polo R5 entered in the top ten.
The modified category is led by Kerry crew Rob Duggan and Ger Conway in their Ford Escort and they will be challenged every step of the way by Michael Carbin and Dean O’Sullivan in a similar machine.
