Motors: Josh Moffet and Keith Moriarty top seeds for Circuit of Kerry
Monaghan's Josh Moffett and his Abbeyfeale co-driver Keith Moriarty (Citroen C3 Rally2) are the top seeds for Sunday's Rose Hotel Circuit of Kerry, the second round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship and the opening round of the Top Part West Coast Rally Championship. Pic: Martin Walsh.
Celebrating a half century in existence, the Circuit of Kerry Rally has established itself as a top national event. Once a round of the popular Motoring News (now Motorsport News) Championship, it attracted several overseas crews and while that aspect has changed, the popularity of the rally has never dwindled - illustrated by a capacity entry for Sunday's Tralee based nine-stage encounter.
With a varied choice of terrain through the decades, where club member Richard Talbot has been involved in all but seven of the events to date, the latest instalment is over a loop of three stages (repeated three times) along the Dingle Peninsula. The Camp Mountain and Minard Castle stages, the latter with spectacular views of Inch beach, haven't been used for seven years and Flemmingstown, a stage not rallied since 2006, are all certain to provide huge challenges.
For Monaghan’s Josh Moffett, the defending champion and current leader of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship there will be no time to savour the scenery as he pushes his Citroen C3 Rally2 close to, if not, to its limits.
Third place in the opening round in Longford where he finished behind Josh McErlean (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and Matt Edwards (Hyundai i20 Rally2) was enough for Moffett to gleam the top twenty points as neither of the aforementioned duo registered for the championship, instead, using the rally to sharpen up for their respective ERC and ITRC bids.
Their presence however gave Moffett the barometer of pace. " Yes, I think it's great when the likes of Josh (McErlean) and Matt (Edwards) are there (competing). You are pushing for the lead from the start of the event, but then with different things happening like say if you have a moment, you just concentrate on getting maximum championship points rather than the lead of the rally on the day."
On Sunday, Moffett himself will be the target for his rivals within the national campaign. "The likes of Eddie (Doherty), Daniel (Cronin) or Sam (Moffett) are not going to make it easy by any measure. The competition has really been stepping up. If we are not on the pace in that first loop, you could be back as far as sixth or seventh, just because Matt or Josh won't be there, it's not going to be an easy weekend."
Those likely to push Moffett include Derry’s Desi Henry in a similar Citroen C3 Rally2, who is concentrating on a national bid and the constantly improving Kilkenny driver Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabia R5) - a former Kilkenny minor hurling defender, who is showing the kind of form that is associated with winning drivers. Third place in the recent West Cork Rally has provided that extra sharpness as he edges closer to what will be a first national rally victory.
However, there are plenty of other drivers that are also capable of winning this special Rose Hotel Circuit of Kerry, an event that, through the years, has been decided on a tie-break more than any other Irish rally. Donegal’s Declan Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), Monaghan's Sam Moffett (Hyundai i20 Rally2) and Ballylickey’s Daniel Cronin (Citroen C3 Rally2) all have the potential to be amongst the pacesetters. Both Boyle and Cronin should benefit from their seat time at the recent West Cork Rally in Clonakilty.
Others in the top ten are Donegal’s Michael Boyle (VW Polo GTI R5), Swords Robert Barrable (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2), Louth’s Brendan Cumiskey (VW Polo GTI R5) and Tyrone's Jason Dickson (Ford Fiesta Rally2).
In the modified category, Killarney’s Tadhg O'Sullivan (Ford Escort) is the top seed with the Darrian T90 GTR duo of Donegal’s Kevin Gallagher and Tyrone’s Barry Morris and Escorts of Johno Doogan, Chris Armstrong, Gary McPhillips and Michael Carbin as opposition.
There's been no official announcement from Motorsport Ireland since March 10 on the fuel situation and it appears that self-refuelling will be in operation on Sunday, the service park is at the MTU complex in Tralee.
