Round 3 - Pirelli Irish Tarmac Rally ChampionshipRound 2 - West Euro CupRound 2 - 023 Tiles Southern Four Rally ChampionshipRound 1 - Irish Ford Focus Rally ChampionshipRound 3 - Pirelli Historic Tarmac Rally Championship
MITSUBISHI AND PEUGEOT WORLD RALLY CARS TO DEBUT ON KILLARNEY RALLY
The Ordnance Survey Ireland Rally of the Lakes 2004 will see the firstIrish appearance of World Rally Cars from Mitsubishi and Peugeot. Long-time Pirelli Irish Tarmac Rally Championship contender, Eamonn Boland, is to drive a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC2 in the Killarney-based event, while George Tracey will give the Peugeot 206WRC its long-awaited Irish debut. The addition of these two machines to the entry is sure to further heighten interest in the rally, which is already set to attract 70,000 people to the south-west of Ireland.
Boland has taken the Irish rallying fraternity by surprise with the newsthat he is to switch to Mitsubishi. The Wexford driver, who took hisfirst International victory on the Cork '20' International Rally last October,has exclusively driven Subaru products in recent times, and previously usedFords for many years.
The Lancer, which is currently being converted to right-hand drive at DomBuckley Motor Sport in Scotland, is identical to the version campaigned byMitsubishi Motors Ralliart team drivers, Francois Delecour, Alister McRae and Jani Passonen during the latter part of the 2002 World RallyChampionship.
Boland will be guided by his regular co-driver, Damien Morrissey, on theRally of the Lakes.
The news that George Tracey is to drive the Peugeot 206WRC was alsounexpected. Although Tracey is a vastly experienced competitor inrallying, circuit racing and rallycross, his move to the ranks of the World Rally Car drivers was not anticipated. In the past few years, he has piloted Group N and Historic cars, and is a regular competitor in the Killarney Historic Stages Rally each December. He will be navigated on this occasion by local man, Jakes Kelly.
The 206WRC in question is an ex-works example, most recently used byKronos Team drivers, Bruno Thiry and Freddy Loix, in the Belgian RallyChampionship.
The arrival of the 206WRC and the Lancer WRC2 adds further variety to the Pirelli Tarmac Championship, which has already seen an influx of new cars over the past couple of years. Ford, Hyundai, Subaru and Toyota arealready represented at the top levels of Irish rallying, and as of the May Bank Holiday Weekend and the Ordnance Survey Ireland Rally of the Lakes, Mitsubishi and Peugeot will also join the fray.
