Motorsport Ireland weekend roundup - National Rally Championship Decided

Second place for Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan in yesterday's McCormack Opel/Sligo Park Hotel Stages Rally was enough to clinch their first Triton Showers National Rally Championship with just six of the eight rounds completed.

The Donegal-Derry pairing have dominated the season, winning four of the six counting events and finishing second and third in the others, to leave them with a huge points lead over former three times title holder Niall Maguire from Monagha.

The Sligo Rally was won by Declan and Brian Boyle, the National champions for the last two years, but their run of bad fortune for most of the year meant that their hopes of taking a hat-trick of titles vanished some time ago. However, since changing from their troublesome Impreza to a Fiesta last month, they have proved that they still have the pace to be front runners for the rest of the year.

There were some close finishes at Mondello Park, at the Co Kildare MC race meeting in aid of Laura Lynn Children's Charity, with Robert Savage taking a last minute victory in the second Irish Touring Car race at the end of an epic race-long three way battle, ahead of Shane Rabbitt and Eoghan Fogarty, with just over half a second covering all three at the chequered flag.