The 2024 National Endurance Trial Championship got under way with the ALMC Winter Endurance Trial being the first round of the series. Held at the familiar Luttrellstown Castle Resort, 33 crews tackled 16 selectives across Meath, Kildare and Dublin.
Seeded first on the road as the 2023 event winners, Robert Howard and Claire Murtagh would go on to take another victory, but it would be a three-way race for the win right up until the end of the day.
Graham O’Donoghue and William Kelly would eventually settle for 3rd OA, 16 seconds off top spot having led the event for five tests. Karl O’Donoghue and Evin Hughes had a slower start but quickly pulled back time and went into the final two selectives with a one second advantage. However they couldn’t hold Howard/Murtagh back. The final gap between first and second was just five seconds.
Shane and Ciaran Maguire were the first non-Starlet finisher. They took 5th OA and 1st in the A2S Class in their Mitsubishi Colt.
Andy Mackarel and Richard Cassidy took Class E honours in the Opel Ascona, just ahead of the Ford Focus of Class C winners Cathal McGlone and Michael Sheridan. Robert Graham and Caolan Treanor were second in that class in their navigation-spec Subaru.
The next round of the championship is the Galway Endurance Trial on 14 April.
Drumlin Navigation Trial
Monaghan Motor Club’s Drumlin Navigation Trial takes place this weekend, 3/4 February. Clerk of Course Ciaran Tynan and Assistant COC Michael Tynan have an 85 mile route set out for competitors. Venue is the Acorn Centre in Newbliss. The event is a counting round of the club navigation and overall championships, the Squealing Pig Border Navigation Trial Championship and the National Navigation Trial Championship. Marshals are required and anyone available on the night is asked to contact COC Ciaran Tynan directly on 087-7827918.
Countdown to ITRC opener in Galway
The 2024 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship is buckled up for a thrilling opening round – the Galway International Rally.
New contenders, returning champions, and familiar foes make up a blockbuster entry for the notoriously difficult two-day rally.
Over 30 Rally2 cars are set to start the Samdec Security supported international series’ curtain raiser with reigning Irish Tarmac champions Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan opening the road as top seeds.
Devine is yet to win in Galway and will have second seed and 2022 victor Josh Moffett breathing down his neck with Andy Hayes on the notes. Josh’s brother Sam, co-driven this weekend by James O’Reilly, made a solid start to his Irish Tarmac campaign 12 months ago with a third-place finish in Galway.
There could well be another Moffett duel in this latest edition of Irish Tarmac drama. The event will also mark the unveiling of the newly acquired Combilift Rallying Citroen C3 Rally2.
Jonathan Greer, Desi Henry, and two-time Galway winner Garry Jennings are consistently competitive and will be bidding for top positions on round one.
There will be two Ford Fiesta Rally2s, however, that Irish rally fans will be eager to see in action on the slippery Connacht stages.
2016 Irish Tarmac and four-time British Champion Keith Cronin returns to Galway for the first time in eight years. Seeded third, there are fewer more talented than Cronin and one can be confident he will waste no time in getting up to speed.
Seeded sixth, Wales’ Matt Edwards makes his first-ever Irish Tarmac bid after two years fighting for Donegal International honours. The three-time British Champion’s entry adds extra intrigue to what is a fascinating top ten.
The grueling two-day event demands a balance of speed, bravery, and caution for crews as they thread their way through the stone wall-lined stages.
Monaghan Motor Club will be represented throughout both the main field and modified sections of the rally.
County Monaghan Motor Club 