John Kenny's Motorsport Blog
With Ireland's Kris Meeke and co driver Paul Nagle winning the 2009 Intercontental Rally Challenge (IRC) for Peugeot this season, will Rally Ireland now look to make the switch from being part of the World Rally Championship (WRC) and bid for inclusion in the IRC? Asks RTÉ Sport's John Kenny.
The WRC is the official world rally series and Rally Ireland was the opening round of the 2009 championship last January, a series that was won for the sixth straight time by the Peugeot of Sebastian Loeb.
However despite being the officially sanctioned world rally championship, the WRC series has been hemorrhaging manufacturers over the past few seasons with only Peugeot and Ford still competing while the rest of the competitors have been made up of independent teams and drivers.
In contrast the Eurosport backed IRC has attracted the likes of Fiat, Peugeot, Skoda and Proton all running S2000 or group N cars which is unlike the WRC which still has the world rally cars at the head of the field.
It's also telling that the IRC has managed to retain the Monte Carlo rally as part of its 2010 calendar.
The famous old rally was dropped by the WRC as part of its rotation policy, but when it came time for its inclusion back into the WRC fold, the organisers of the Monte decided to stick with the IRC.
Indeed the Monte Carlo rally will be joined by the likes of the San Remo Rally, Cyprus and Rally Argentina for the 2010 season.
Rally Ireland has hopes of being back on the WRC calendar in 2011 and every two years after that according to Motorsport Ireland president John Naylor, who ran the event this year.
But the WRC is looking increasingly under threat from the IRC and the election of Jean Todt as new FIA president may also signal further problems for the world championship, despite the fact that Todt is a former rally-man himself.
So with the speculation now surrounding the WRC should Ireland now look to become part of the IRC in 2011?
There is no doubt that the S2000 or the group N route is the way to go with the economic situation worldwide suggesting that consumers are looking for cheaper and more fuel efficient cars, which the IRC has accommodated in its opening two seasons.
Naylor was in Catalonia recently to speak with ISC, the organisers of the WRC about Rally Irelands possible inclusion in the 2011 championship, but has yet to receive any correspondence as regards his hopes for the future of Ireland on the WRC calendar.
Meanwhile From a final list of three, Motorsport Ireland have announced that the winner of the 2009 Billy Coleman Award for the Young Rally Driver of the Year is Craig Breen.
Craig, from Kilmurry, County Waterford is just 19 years old and made his debut in Rallying in August 2007, having graduated from a successful career in Kart Racing. The other two finalists were Jonathan Cunningham from Claregalway and Kevin O'Connor from Askeaton.
In winning four separate Rally championships in 2009 Craig has shown himself to be an outstanding talent in all respects of the sport
The highlights of the year included winning the National Junior Rally Championship and finishing 3rd overall in the Birr Forestry Stages Rally, beating many 4 wheel drive turbo charged cars in the process.
Breen also clinched the International Fiesta ST Trophy at the final British round of the World Rally Championship on 25th October.
The next step on this journey begins next season when he competes for the British Rally Championship. Craig will also take in a number of World Rally Championship events as a precursor to hopefully switching full time to the World Championship.
The Billy Coleman Award is presented annually to the most outstanding young Rally driver during the current year. The award consists of a support package for Rally competition in 2010 to the value of €50,000.
Funding for the award is provided jointly by Motorsport Ireland through its affiliated clubs and the Irish Sports Council.
