Cronin does it again!!
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Cronin/Shinnors prove their pace with second win!
When heading to Cumbria this weekend, Cronin Motorsport were taking another giant leap into the unknown. Such giant steps are becoming the norm for this team who, last month, became only the third Irish team ever to lead the BRC.
The main objective this weekend was to return home still in contention in the championship.
Having triumphed over triple champion Mark Higgins on the opening round in North Wales in March, the second round seemed to be even more daunting, as Champion for the last two years, Guy Wilks, was also on the entry as was former Evo Challenge champion Philip Morrow. Richard Cathcart, who was so rapid on last years Evo Challenge, was also listed to start albeit in a Subaru.
Before the event Keith openly admitted that he would not be trying to win the rally, as it was more important at this juncture to consolidate his position with a good points haul.
As things transpired on the first stage on Friday evening, Keith felt that for some reason he did not settle into his rhythm properly and consequently on the first stage he dropped over 16 seconds to rally leader Wilks and was only 5th fastest on that opening test. He was happier on the second stage and was only beaten by Wilks and Higgins. In overall terms, the Cork / Limerick pairing were 4th overnight, some 35 seconds off the early leader, Wilks.
On Saturday’s first stage they settled in well and despite the car suffering a slight power loss due to turbo problems, they were beaten only by Wilks. Philip Morrow was second to Wilks on the following stage with the Cronin Motorsport crew third, again trimming a couple of seconds from Higgins.
Stage 5 saw a different name at the top of the timesheet, when for the first time on this rally somebody beat Wilks. It was Higgins who was fastest, but the Munster crew were only 3.9 seconds slower and they too, beat Wilks on the stage. This stage also saw the demise of Philip Morrow, who crashed out of the rally.
Stage 6 saw the Irish crew topping the time sheets and having already moved into third position because of Morrow’s departure, they were steadily nibbling away at Mark Higgins advantage. On stage 7 they were again fastest followed by Wilks and Higgins and had the time differential to Higgins down to 10.2 seconds.
At this point Keith was very upbeat about his chances as all the remaining stages were repeats of the earlier ones. Never having competed on them before he was confident that on his second run he could improve on his first times over them.
On stage 8 Wilks, who was running first on the road, had a problem with the car and when he pulled over, a fire took hold and although all the following cars stopped and used their extinguishers on the fire, his car was completely gutted. As none of the lead cars now had fire extinguishers, it was decided that the following two stages be cancelled to allow the competitors get replacements.
So with two stages remaining Mark Higgins led the rally from Keith Cronin. Certainly a sense of déjà vu as that was also the scenario entering the final pair of stages in North Wales on the opening round. That time the pair were separated by 9.5 seconds, this time it was 10.2.
History was about to repeat itself as Cronin’s second run over the second last stage saw his stage time improve by 22sec and he trimmed Higgins’ lead to just 2.4 seconds. On the last stage Higgins improved on his previous time by 11 seconds, however Keith trimmed his own time by 18seconds to beat Higgins by 4.4seconds on the stage and by 2 seconds on the rally.
A narrow victory maybe, but a decisive one!

Cronin Motorsport Website

BRC & Pirelli Rally praise fire-fighting crews
British Rally Championship manager Mark Taylor and Pirelli International Rally manager Brian Kinghorn praised crews for their quick thinking and professionalism at the scene of Guy Wilks’ car fire on this weekend’s Rally. 
Stage eight of the event saw Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh’s new Proton S2000 catch fire whilst leading the rally, the source, although unconfirmed, thought to be a hot exhaust after losing a section of it in the stage. 
As the first cars arrived on the scene, the Satria was already well ablaze, but several of the drivers tried to stem the flames with their own hand held extinguishers. 
“We initially used our extinguisher to try and put the car out,” said the first on the scene Mark Higgins, “But it was obviously going to be no use. So I left Bryan (Thomas) at the scene to wave down the next crews and drove past the burning car to let the radio point know and try and get help. By the time Keith (Cronin) arrived, they concentrated their efforts in trying to stop the fire spreading.” 
Cronin added, “It wasn't a nice scene to see the car burning there when we arrived; you wouldn't wish that on anyone. We did what we could but the car was too well alight.” 
Mark Taylor said , “The crews had the presence of mind to stop the fire from spreading to the forest. We’re obviously all very sad for Guy, Phil and the MEM team, but the main thing is that they are OK and that nobody was injured.” 
He was joined by Brian Kinghorn in adding, “The crews that stopped and helped are to be praised for their professionalism and level headedness. We believe it was the right decision to bring the event back to service, so they could all re-start the final pair of stages safely with replacement extinguishers.”

Simon Hughes takes first Evo Challenge victory.
A storming drive in this weekend’s Pirelli Tour of Cumbria by Simon Hughes, together with co-driver Craig Parry, netted him his first win in the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge, crossing the line 37 seconds ahead of Daniel Barry/Martin Brady, who’s second place sees them continue as championship leaders.
Starting and finishing at Carlisle Racecourse and utilising the demanding gravel roads of Kielder Forest, the event featured four stages followed by a service halt and then a repeat of the same four stages. The route then returned to the host venue after covering a scheduled competitive distance of just under 70 miles.
Barry/Brady assumed their usual position at the front of the Evo Challenge field following the first stage, albeit by a slim four-tenths of a second from Hughes/Parry. However, with Barry suffering from a cold, he predicted that his performance was likely to be under par and, on stage two, Hughes/Parry went into the Evo Challenge lead by six seconds.
The margin between first and second continued to increase in the remaining two stages of the first loop, but for a moment Hughes/Parry thought their day was over when a large rock in the middle of the stage smashed into the gearbox, bending part of the casing and causing oil to leak out.  Unable to anything about it they continued, but before the end of the stage Hughes found the car was jumping out of fifth gear.
Although there was a long road section between the stages and Carlisle, fortunately for Hughes/Parry a service halt followed and the problem was rectified. Barry/Brady were now 26 seconds behind and reported that they were not running at 100% and only pushing when Barry felt he could do so.
For Nik Elsmore/Craig Drew in third place it was a difficult weekend, as this was the first event since their team’s chief engineer Rex Paddock was tragically killed in a Microlite crash two weeks beforehand. Although the car was not set up as well as it would have usually been, they made some adjustments at the service halt and were able to pick up their pace in the afternoon.
Most frustrated Mitsubishi crew of the day were Owen Murphy/Dai Roberts, who were having to cope with the return of a recurring electrical fault causing an intermittent loss of power to their car’s ECU.  Murphy recalled that the car must have cut out 20 – 30 times during the morning’s four stages and he had no faith that the problem would be fixed for the second loop.
Debuting their new Evo IX in the forests were fifth-placed Alan Carmichael/Ivor Lamont and, with no time to test on a gravel surface, they were another crew to adjust their car’s set-up at the service halt.
Due to the leader in the British Championship field (Guy Wilks) car catching fire, stage six was cancelled.
Although listening out for the slightest noise or vibration, much to his relief the gearbox in Hughes’s car performed faultlessly for the rest of the day and he recorded the fastest Mitsubishi times on two the three remaining stages. Even though Kielder Forest was living up to its reputation of being hard on cars and crews, all Evo Challenge crews made it back to Carlisle in the positions they held at the halfway halt.
At the finish, the time sheets showed Hughes/Parry had won by a margin of 37 seconds ahead of Barry/Brady, who had opted for a safe final leg in order to ensure they got a good points score. Elsmore/Drew found their car handling more to their liking and held on to third, whilst Murphy/Roberts continued their stop-start progress and finished fourth. Although relieved to make it to the finish, without the problems there was no doubt that the young Irishman’s speed would have seen him and Roberts battling for the Evo Challenge lead.
Carmichal/Lamont were also pleased to get back to Carlisle and philosophically put the day down to good experience and an excellent test for their car on gravel.
"We pushed as hard as we could for the final loop of stages without taking any risks’, said Hughes. “It’s great to get our first Evo Challenge win as it keeps our title hopes on track and I’m now looking forward to getting onto tarmac for the first time this year at the next round.”
Although running a different sequence of stages, the Pirelli Rally also hosted a number of other events, including the MSA British Rally Championship.
Interestingly, after comparing times between the Evolution Challenge runners and those contesting the British Championship driving similar specification machinery, the results on shared stages showed the leading Mitsubishi crews setting times commensurate with those of the leading BRC teams.
The fourth round of the Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge takes place on 8th & 9th May, when crews head to the Isle of Man for the Manx Rally and the first asphalt surface event of the season.
The 2009 Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge is supported by Mitsubishi Motors UK, Ralliart, Pirelli tyres, Sunoco fuels, JR Motorsports, Speedline Corse wheels, Carbone Lorraine brakes, Walkinshaw Performance, Sparco racewear and PIAA lights - who sponsor the junior award for under 25-year old drivers

Mitsubishi Ralliart Evolution Challenge UK
Round three results
1 Simon Hughes (Abergle)/Craig Parry (Llanymynech) 51:07.8
2 Daniel Barry (Enniskerry)/Martin Brady (Navan) 51:44.7
3 Nik Elsmore (Coleford)/Craig Drew (Bream) 52:06.4
4 Owen Murphy (Cork)/Dai Roberts (Carmarthen) 53:32.7
5 Alan Carmichael(Ballymena)/Ivor Lamont (Ballymena) 56:53.9

Breen gets a grip at the Pirelli
The third round of the Kick Energy Fiesta SportTrophy took place over the weekend at the Pirelli International Rally. Based in the border town of Carlisle, the event took in some of the most famous stages in the North of the country including tests in the largest man made forest complex in Europe, Kielder. The FST event was fought out over the first six stages of the event, approx 51 miles, including two stages on Friday evening.
At the conclusion of the FST event it was Craig Breen (18) from Waterford and navigator Gareth Roberts who would hold off the competition to take victory from nearest rivals Kyle Orr and Rob Fagg by 11.7 seconds. Craig would continue to compete in the International event in a bid to score BRC points, where he would end the day in a magnificent 10th overall, as well as first 2wd car home in the International event. The combination of his excellent performances during the day also caught the eyes of the Pirelli Star Driver competition judges and the young Irishman was awarded the famous yellow jersey which sees him gain a place in the end of year 2009 Star Driver shootout with a top prize of a fully funded drive in the BRC, the prize Adam Gould, another ex-Fiesta competitoris currently enjoying. Breen showed during the weekend that although a newcomer to the series he is proving to be quick and starting to attract the attention of some of the sports most important decision makers.
However, the FST victory was not an easy straight forward win for Breen. The event began on Friday night with 17 miles of stages. The first test for the crews was the 8.53 miles of Glen Dhu. The FST crews were split between the BRC event and the BRC Challenge event, with the BRC crews running first on the road it was still light as the leading entry, nineteen-year-old Kris Hall from Appleby, and stand in navigator for this event Barry McNulty started the test. It would however be disaster for the Round one winner, whilst cutting only the second corner of the stage he would sustain a puncture; Hall would drop over two minutes in the stage dropping him a long way down the order. Mark Donnelly (18) from Omagh and co-driver Paddy Robinson would take the early lead stopping the clocks on 9.40.7. Tom Walster (23) from Nottingham and regular navigator Tim Sturla had decided to enter the event in their Fiesta and showed they were still on the pace by putting in a time of 9.43.6, to take second quickest, Breen would take third quickest after being slowed by Hall’s dust. Meanwhile, in the BRC challenge event, Round 2 winner Matt Edwards (24) from Cockermouth would be first on the road and although running later during the evening and with the light fading and the lack of a recce he still set a time of 9.49.1, an impressive achievement which allowed him to stay in contention with the leaders. Further down the field some other crews were having tough times. Martyn Jones (22) from the Isle of Man and navigator Kris Killip hit a concrete bridge bending their rear axle dropping them time. Harry Hunt (20) from London and new navigator Steve McPhee, was feeling the pain of driving after falling off his motorbike only days before the event, the sustained injuries meant he was struggling to change gear and would drop time, although he was thoroughly enjoying the evening tests. Stevie Brown (21) from Peterhead and navigator Andrew Roughead had only third gear from the stage start after the gear cables came loose, although the crew would complete the opening leg but drop time in the process.
Crews next headed to the second stage of the event and the last of Friday night, 8.70 miles of the Valley. Breen would find his form on this stage and take the fastest time. Kyle Orr (19) from Dromore and co-driver Rob Fagg would showed their speed by taking second quickest with Donnelly taking third quickest only 1.5 seconds slower than Orr. Heading into the overnight halt the top three would be Breen, Donnelly and Orr.
The second day of the event saw the crews take in four stages in quick succession with no service between any of the tests. With clear blue skies the stages all based in the Kielder complex would be fast and exciting and ensure the competition in the FST remained close. Stage 3 of the event, the 6.98 miles of Pundershaw would see Walster take fastest time, two seconds quicker than Hall who was now under no pressure after losing time on the opening leg. Orr would be third quickest and in doing so close the gap to rally leader Breen. It would be a bad start to the day however for Donnelly, after lying second overall at the end of leg one, he would slide wide in the first stage and hit a rock bending the rear beam, with no chance to repair it he would have to tackle the next three stages with the car damaged, this would cause him to lose time on every stage and slip down the field as the day progressed.
The 8.30 miles of Trinket was the next test for the crews, the second test of the morning would see the demise of Kris Hall, after getting into a rhythm he slid wide on a corner and off the road, the resulting damage to the underside of the car meant it forced his retirement and he would not score points for the rally. Orr would improve his pace further and score his first fastest time of the day and with this move into the lead of the event. Walster would take second fastest with Breen third. Barry Greer (21) from Carryduff and navigator Susanne Wright (sister of Irish FST runner Stephen Wright) set fourth quickest time, the Irish pairing having a good run on the fast stages. Edwards was comfortably leading the Challenge rally and the main competitor pushing the BRC runners, but he would pick up a puncture during the stage and lose 30s.
The penultimate stage of the rally was the longest in length, 11.57 miles of Roughside. The stage would see the lead once again change with Orr setting joint third quickest time with Walster. Edwards would be second quickest - back up to speed after his time loss on the previous stage but Breen would take the stage win and move back into the lead to enter the final stage with a 3.8 second cushion over Orr. It was looking like it could be a close finish to the event. Meanwhile, this stage would see the retirement of the second FST crew of the day, Neil Coalter (26) from Peterculter and co-driver Hannah Cessford, after setting good times in the challenge event and looking for their first points of the season the crew were caught out and slid off the road, they were unable to get back onto the stage and were forced to retire, an unfortunate end to their event.
All that now remained for the FST crews was the final 7.26 miles of Chirdonhead. Edwards knew he was not in contention for the win going into the final stage of the event but was desperate to try and get on the podium, however, whilst pushing hard he was caught out and sent him off the road and into a bog, a concerted effort by the crew and spectators got them going again but he lost around 22 minutes and all hopes of a good haul of championship points - a disappointing end for the youngster who was also comfortably leading the Challenge event overall at the time. Back with the International runners Breen knew that Orr was very close behind so he gave it his all and was rewarded, coming out of the stage with the fastest time and the event win, Walster would be second quickest on the stage and finish third FST crew overall and Orr would be third quickest on the stage but finish second overall in the final classification, his best finish so far this year.
Away from the podium, other crews had a successful day. Donnelly continued even with his damage and finished a respectable fourth overall. Ross Forde (25) from Galway and navigator Gary McElhinney completed the event with no dramas and set some promising times during the event to finish fifth overall. Patrick Malley (24) from New Zealand and co-driver Malcolm Read got to the end of their first UK event, happy that they had completed the mileage. John Boyd (22) from West Linton and co-driver Fred Bell are improving with every event and finished 10th in the FST as well as third overall in the BRC Challenge event, whilst Tom Watson (18) from Glanamman was very pleased to finish another event, and quoted he had got on far better with his new navigator Ken Bowman - hopefully it will be the start of a successful relationship. The final FST crew to finish were Jamie Brown (17) from Norwich and Craig Burgess, Brown is only competing on his second ever rally, after admitting he loved the night stages he saw off a couple of big moments during Saturday to bring home his car 14th overall FST.
As Breen celebrated his FST win, himself as well as Walster, Orr, Forde, Greer, Jones and Malley went out to continue with the remainder of the International event. With all these crews completing the event and scoring BRC points as well as Craig becoming top 2wd car and Pirelli star driver nominee, the FST had six crews in the top 20 of the International event, a superb achievement and a great end to the third round of the series.
The next round of the championship moves away from the BRC format for one event for the RSAC Scottish Rally on the 26th June.
Event Winner, Craig Breen, said:
“I am over the moon. To win in Portugal (the Fiesta SportTrophy International class, on the Rallye de Portugal), win (the Fiesta SportTrophy Ireland round) on the Circuit of Ireland and now come to here to England and win again, what more could I ask for? It was an incredible day. But as I was being presented with my Fiesta awards, I was suddenly called to the interview area and was then presented with the Pirelli Star Driver award for the Rally! To say that I’m absolutely shocked about this is an understatement. I never expected to win the International, Irish and British Fiesta rounds one after another - but to then win the Pirelli Star Driver as well, was the icing on the cake”
- Craig Breen was selected as the Pirelli Star Driver award for the event, giving him the chance to win a fully funded drive in the 2010 BRC.

Cronin Motorsport – The Battle Resumes…

Cronin Motorsport venture across the Irish Sea again this week to compete in the 2nd round of The British Rally Championship, the Carlisle based Pirelli International Rally. This is another trip into un-chartered waters for the team as they have never competed on this event before. They do so, however, in the most enviable of positions as they currently lead the Championship after victory on the first round.
Their last two outings in the BRC were also unknown quantities, however, 3rd overall on last years International Rally of Yorkshire (Trackrod Rally) and then an outright victory in North Wales in this years opening round have proved that competing in new terrain is not a problem for West Cork's Keith Cronin and his Limerick navigator, Greg Shinnors in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.
Victory for them on this years opening round, the Bulldog Rally, not only elevated them to the head of the championship, it also awakened the British Rallying public to the precocious young driver from Ballylickey. Even triple British Champion, Mark Higgins, who was second to the Irish Team in Wales, in his Subaru, commented that he could not believe the pace of the of the 22year old, former Billy Coleman Award winner.
The television commentators that cover the championship, which is broadcast on Sky Sports, were equally impressed at Irishman’s pace and openly admitted to being surprised that Higgins did not canter to victory.
The Pirelli International, based at Carlisle Racecourse adds an additional flavour to this years championship as Guy Wilks, winner of the last two championships, returns to the British stages, this time in a Proton Satria Super 2000 car which differs from the regular cars on the BRC in that it is not Turbo-Charged. This car has proved to be quite potent on Tarmac, however its potential on the loose tracks of the Kielder Forest won't be known until Sunday evening. Wilks has, however, won this event for the last two years and will be familiar with the territory.
Northern Ireland’s Richard Cathcart, who proved to be very fast on last years Evo-Challenge is also on the entry list for the Pirelli as is former Evo-Challenge Champion, Philip Morrow, thus ensuring that the competition will be tougher, but also ensuring the Irish fans will have more to cheer for.
The rally begins on Friday at 6pm with 2 evening/night stages before a return to Carlisle for an overnight halt.
Ten stages are tackled on Saturday beginning at 8.30am and the cars visit the service park 4 times during the day before crossing the Podium, which is scheduled for 7.45pm Saturday.

Top 10 International Rally Seeds
1 Guy Wilks / Phil Pugh (Proton Satria Neo S2000)
2 Keith Cronin / Greg Shinnors (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
3 Mark Higgins / Bryan Thomas (Subaru Impreza N11)
5 Adam Gould / Sebastian Marshall (Subaru Impreza N14)
6 Euan Thorburn / Claire Mole (Subaru Impreza N12B)
7 David Bogie / Kevin Rae (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10)
8 David Weston Jnr / Dave Robson (Subaru Impreza N14)
9 Phillip Morrow / Simon Morrow (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
10 Richard Cathcart / Stephen McCauley (Subaru Impreza N12B)
11 Andreas Sjölander / Håkan Jacobsson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
More Details available on Cronin Motorsport website

JR Motorsports Team gets set for Kielder challenge
The JR Motorsports team will be heading to Carlisle this weekend to contest the second round of the MSA British Rally Championship, the Pirelli International Rally, which takes place on the infamous gravel roads of Kielder Forest on Friday and Saturday 17th & 18th April.
Driven by David Bogie and co-driven by Kevin Rae, hopes are high that an improvement on the opening round’s fifth place can be achieved, as the team’s Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X has undergone a series of tests and technical changes since the Bulldog Rally in March.
Success on the Pirelli Rally is nothing unusual for the team, as cars built by the same engineers recorded outright victories in both 2007 and 2009. JRM are now targeting the same level of performance with the Evo X and are confident that with further development its full potential will soon be realised.
Already the team are delighted with the feedback received from Bogie and others who have driven the car, all reporting that the handling and brakes are excellent. Therefore, attention is now being focussed on extracting more power and torque from the engine.
“With the development that’s been carried out on the car since the Bulldog Rally, I’m confident we will be able to increase our pace”, said David. “Although I’ve not competed on the Pirelli Rally before, I like the long fast stages that are synonymous with Kielder and I think that the Evo X will be well suited. I’m therefore looking forward to getting back into the car and seeing if we can get on terms with the front-runners.”
Adding further interest to its BRC campaign, JR Motorsports has joined forces with the Lico sponsored Mitsubishi team, which on this event sees Daniel Sigurdarson behind the wheel of a brand-new Evo X. The Icelandic Rally Champion will be co-driven by Andy Bull, who partnered Stuart Jones on last month’s Bulldog Rally. Following round one, Team JRM Lico lies second in the Team’s Championship standings.
Starting a finishing at Carlisle Racecourse, the Pirelli International Rally gets underway at 6.00pm on Friday evening and sees two stages before the overnight halt. A further 10 stages take place on Saturday, the total of which provides the field of 44 cars with a total competitive distance of 102 miles.
JR Motorsports’ 2009 British Rally Championship campaign is supported by: Oakbank Services, Exe-tc competition suspension, Lico,

Entry Lists

Top 10 International
1 Guy Wilks / Phil Pugh (Proton Satria Neo S2000)
2 Keith Cronin / Greg Shinnors (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
3 Mark Higgins / Bryan Thomas (Subaru Impreza N11)
5 Adam Gould / Sebastian Marshall (Subaru Impreza N14)
6 Euan Thorburn / Claire Mole (Subaru Impreza N12B)
7 David Bogie / Kevin Rae (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10)
8 David Weston Jnr / Dave Robson (Subaru Impreza N14)
9 Phillip Morrow / Simon Morrow (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
10 Richard Cathcart / Stephen McCauley (Subaru Impreza N12B)
11 Andreas Sjölander / Håkan Jacobsson (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)

Full Entry Lists on event website Pirelli Rally BRC

BRC Cronin ahead, but Wilks joins Higgins’ chase
The second round of the 2009 MSA British Rally Championship is a mere three weeks after the first nail biting opener in Wales and Irishman Keith Cronin will be keen to keep the momentum after his first win, on the forthcoming Pirelli International Rally on 17/18th April. 
All the crews will need to be on their toes to turn their cars around for the event, which has previously been the start point for the BRC, as Easter also falls between the two rallies. Despite the tight schedule, over forty entries are already on the International list. 
Absent from the tussle at the top between Cronin/Greg Shinnors and Mark Higgins/Bryan Thomas, was reigning BRC Champion Guy Wilks, but he and Phil Pugh will be back to try and secure their own hat-trick of wins on the Carlisle based rally. Wilks’ switch to a Proton S2000 will mean an unfamiliar package for the Durham driver. 
Seeded at car one as the winner of both the 2007 and 2008 Pirelli International and British Rally Championships, Wilks should add even more spice to the action at the front, the ultra fast Cumbrian stages suiting his smooth yet attacking driving style. 
Iceland’s Daniel Sigurdarsson takes the place of Stuart Jones in a Team JRM Lico evolution 10, the 32year-old former Icelandic Rally Champion and BRC newcomer making the move from his regular Evo 9 for the Cumbrian event. 
2008 Pirelli Star Diver Adam Gould and Seb Marshall will benefit from previous experience on the event, as will Andreas Sjölander and Håkan Jacobsson, both crews expected to go well after impressive UK 4WD debuts in Wales. 
Two Scottish Davids; Bogie and Weston Junior, with co-drivers Kevin Rae and Neil Shanks respectively, will battle for Celtic honours against two Northern Irishmen, the four taking fifth to eighth points on round one. The Irishmen in question come in the form of Alastair Fisher and Jonny Greer, former BRC and Irish Champion co-driver Rory Kennedy alongside Fisher, with Antony O'Conaill guiding Greer. 
British Teams Rally Championship 
As leaders in the category, Pirelli TEG Sport drivers Higgins and Gould will be watching their backs for improvements in the JRM Lico Team. Sigurdarsson and Bogie have certainly got a bit of ground to make up, but speed and consistency are required for the Team award. 
Unfortunate not to finish the first round, Rob Swann/Darren Garrod and Euan Thorburn/Claire Mole’s Revolution Wheels team will be burning some midnight oil to make the start of the rally. Swann’s car suffered an electrical failure while Thorburn’s introduction to the BRC ended more violently, crashing out on stage three of the Bulldog. 

BRC Classes 
Rally 3 
The class wars will continue in Kielder, MSA British Junior Championship leader Tom Walster also top of Rally 3, ahead of a gaggle of Fiesta SportTrophy cars. The one make series is now led by Matt Edwards, opening a gap of five points from Kris Hall in Wales with a BRC Challenge win. Former Finnish Junior Champion Matti Rantanen heads the R3's despite a non finish in Wales, while Steve Graham and Fin McCaul will rejoin their struggle for Diesel Rally Cup supremacy within R3, McCaul retiring with propshaft problems first time out. 

Rally 2 
Rally 2 is an all Citroën C2 affair, Jason Pritchard ahead of Marty McCormack and last year’s Suzuki Champion Mark Gamble. The leading pair do have an advantage though, as they both have the new Max kits, although all drivers in the C2R2 Cup also qualify for the Citroën Racing Trophy prize fund, making the battle even more worth fighting for. 

Rally 1 
Taking over at the head of Rally 1 and the Swift Sport Cup is Australian Molly Taylor, socking it to the men on only her second visit to the UK stages. Luke Pinder is her closest rival, with newcomer Joseph McGonigle third in R1 in a Civic and 2008 Swift Sport Cup runner-up Gordon Nichol third in the BRC’s one make series. 

The organisers of the BRC’s traditional first round have not rested on their laurels this year. The new base for the Pirelli International Rally will be Carlisle Racecourse; close to the City centre and with excellent facilities, this is coupled with new stages in the infamous Kielder forest complex, keeping the April event fresh and exciting. 
The Pirelli International Rally runs over the weekend of 17th / 18th April and the action gets underway at the racecourse, with cars leaving from 4:30pm on Friday. There is ample spectator viewing from the main grandstand and a full commentary as the cars head off. 
But just who will be cantering up the final furlong to the winning post on Saturday is anybody’s guess and the bookies would be hard pressed to pick a winner. 
The Greenlight TV Pirelli International Rally preview programme will air at 6.30pm on Sky Sports Xtra on Wednesday 15th April, with coverage from the event shown on Monday 20th at 8pm on Sky Sports 3.

Forde Set To Continue Good Form On Pirelli
After a fine top six placing on the previous round in Wales, Galway driver Ross Forde heads to the infamous Kielder Forest next weekend for round three of the Kick Energy Fiesta Sport Trophy UK which takes place with the Carlisle-based Pirelli Challenge.
Following improvements to his Motorsport Ireland and Irish Sports Council-backed Ford Fiesta, the tracks of Europe's largest man-made forest will hopefully suit the young Irishman and having retained the services of co driver Gary McElhinney for this event, he's hoping to improve on his sixth placing in the current championship standings:
"We are looking forward to the next round as we have really settled in with the car. I'm testing this forthcoming week and after looking at the times from the last round, we are fired up for the Pirelli. We were setting top three stage times constantly so I'm sure we can improve on that again and I'm delighted that Gary will be calling the notes again.
"I did the Pirelli Rally last year in the Suzuki Swift and was leading with only one stage to go but the car broke down so I'll be hoping for a better result. I did the full recce and all stages except one last year so hopefully this will stand me in good stead. I like the dark so I'm looking forward to the night stages too."
Forde is contesting a full season in the series this year in his M-Sport-run Ford Fiesta with the support of Global Group Ireland as his prize for winning the 2008 Billy Coleman Award.
The 51-stage mile Pirelli Challenge gets underway on Friday evening at 19.05 from Carlisle Racecourse with a pair of 8.5 mile stages to the north and after the overnight halt, the remaining crews will tackle a loop of four classic stages around Kielder Water on Saturday morning before the finish back at Carlisle Racecourse around 14.00.

BHRC preview, round two: Pirelli Historic Rally
The second round of the Dunlop/Gambia MSA British Historic Rally Championship will pit another fine field of historic rally cars against the challenge of Kielder on the Pirelli Historic Rally (Friday/Saturday 17/18 April). With two stages on Friday evening and then four more in a quick-fire leg on Saturday morning, it will be a hugely competitive event with battles across all the classes. 
Category 1
Category one is for the oldest cars, from the pre '68 era, and they run first on the road with a short gap before the rest of the historic field. One of the stars of the Bulldog was Jonathan Gale, having his first rally in the ex-Patrick Watts Sunbeam Tiger. Co-driven by his father Graham, Jonathan drove superbly in Wales to win category 1 for the pre '68 cars.
Gale's rivals will again include Dessie Nutt/Geraldine McBride (Porsche 911) and Newcastle crew Paul Mankin/Desmond Bell (Lotus Cortina) on their home event. Meanwhile, returning to the category for this event with their Porsche 911 will be Phil and Barbara Smith.
One of the best battles on the Bulldog was for class B1 as Gary and Jane Edgington (Singer Chamois) beat Steve Taylor and Steve Greenhill (Hillman Imp Sport) in a great final stage contest. 
Category 2
In category two, for the post-historic cars, it is Ford Escort Mk1s against Porsche 911s at the head of the category. Former British Rally champion David Higgins is mounting a serious bid on the historic title this year in a Mk1 Escort from Mark Solloway's stable and started his campaign with category two (1968-74) victory in Wales. With Ieuan Thomas alongside, Higgins won despite a serious hand injury and having to adapt to route notes after nearly a decade using his own pace notes. He will surely be quicker still in Kielder.
Sure to go well, however, will be Rupert Lomax and David Alcock in their Escort Mk1. They took second to Higgins in Wales and won here a year ago, on their Kielder debut. Meanwhile, a real dark horse in class C5 is Bob Bean, the amazingly quick 71-year old who has acquired the ex-Jeremy Easson Escort for this season and has Malcolm Smithson alongside as usual.
Tim Mason/Graham Wild are overdue a strong result and have previously shown their pace in the region with their Porsche 911, while the newly completed 911 of Peter Smith/Russ Langthorne could also be a major contender. Ranged against the Porsches in class C4 will be the Ford Capri RS3100 of Jeremy Easson/Alun Cook, fresh from a great result on the Bulldog.
Class C3 is dominated by the 2-litre Pinto-powered Escort Mk1s and there are a gaggle of potential class winners in what will surely be one of the most competitive classes of the rally. Strong contenders include Bulldog victors Tim Jones and Don James, while Northumberland crew Ken Forster and John Stanger-Leathes will also be right up there on their home event along with Drew Wylie/Howard Pridmore and Andrew Siddall/Captain Thompson.
In class C2 for the 1600cc cars, championship newcomers Richard Williams and Richard Ekin took their Mk1 Escort to victory on the Bulldog. 
Category 3
Category three is for the cars produced from 1975 to 1981 and here it is the Ford Escort Mk2 that is the car to beat. With a stunning charge, Nick Elliott and Dave Price won the Bulldog to make it two wins from two BHRC starts. Can the Cheltenham crew complete the hat-trick in Cumbria?
Their major rivals include Julian Reynolds/Ian Oakey, who claimed second in Wales despite some pre-event engine dramas, while more fast and spectacular Escorts will be in the hands of 2008 Pirelli winner Darren Moon, now teamed with Chris Parsons, Bulldog star Seamus O'Connell, Will Onions/Tim Hobbs and Simon Tysoe/Cliff Simmons. Joining the D5 ranks for this event will be David Stokes and Guy Weaver in the Escort Mk2 of Jonathan Brace, which is on loan after Stokes' regular Mk1 was badly damaged on the Bulldog.
But no one should see class D5 as just about Ford Escorts. Two Vauxhall Chevettes are sure to fly, with the car of Rob Smith/Shaun O'Gorman more than capable of shaking up the Escort ranks, while Roger Kilty/Lynette Banks are getting quicker and quicker in their Chevette. Added to the mix is the Triumph TR7 V8 of Mike Anderson/Mark Perryman, with its Bulldog engine maladies hopefully resolved.
In D3, for the Pinto-powered Escorts, the benchmarks should be the Mk2 Escort of Richard Lane/Frank Richer, which was hobbled by a puncture in Wales, and David Lloyd-Roberts/Dei Jones, while Chris Shooter/Bev LeGood will also be up there in another Escort Mk2.
In D2, the Escort Mk2 crew of Jakob Scannell/Nina Thompson make the long trek north from Dorset in search of another class win.

Event Website has further details - Pirelli Rally BRC