The 2025 PartsForCars.ie IRX Championship comes to a conclusion at Mondello Park this weekend with Rounds 7 and 8, which are also two counting rounds of the British series.
Some of the top home competitors will include the former British and multiple Irish champion Derek Tohill in his Ford Fiesta and Naas driver Michael Leonard who is also aboard a Fiesta Supercar.
The man to beat though will be England's Patrick O'Donovan, the reigning British champion in his Proton Iriz and also the current leader in the 2025 Five Nations series.
Julian Godfrey and Tristan Ovenden (both Citroen DS3) will also be in the shake up, but there is no doubt that O’Donovan is the driver to beat. He was on those shores recently, taking part in an Irish Rallycross round to sharpen up for this weekend's action at Mondello.
The County Kildare track will not only witness the supercars roar around the circuit on a mix of tarmac and gravel, but there will also be a number of other classes competing.
In the modified section, the Coyne brothers, Willie and Michael, will hope to make local knowledge count in their respective Opel Corsa and Vauxhall Nova.
The ultra-quick buggies will also be one of the other class attractions on view over the weekend
Mondello will also feature for a second time in the 5 Nations BRX schedule, once again aligning with the Irish Rallycross Championship on 4-5 October, with Supercar, Junior, Swift Sport and the Retro Rallycross Championship making the journey across the Irish sea.
Meanwhile, the 2025 Probite British Rally Championship (BRC) moves to Scotland for round three of the season this weekend for the Jim Clark Rally at the halfway point of the season.
The BRC can be considered to be a bit of a hidden sport at times as most of their events take place in British forests, unlike Ireland as both the tarmac and national series here take place on open roads.
Can't make it down to watch? We’ll be live throughout the weekend for you to follow along no matter where you are. pic.twitter.com/on5OEUvOI9
— Borders Competitions Jim Clark Rally (@jim_clark_rally) May 23, 2025
The Jim Clark, named after the legendary Scottish F1 driver, is one of the few events in the UK that also uses closed public roads for its two day event.
Just three Irish drivers, Billy Coleman, Keith Cronin and Daniel McKenna have ever won the BRC with Cronin the most successful having won it four times, most recently in 2017.
Sadly Cronin, who is still in his "drive for five" won't be competing after sustaining damage in a heavy crash at the Killarney Rally of the Lakes.
The current points leader is Ireland's William Creighton, the former world junior rally champion, but he too will miss the Jim Clark due to family commitments.
It leaves M-Sport driver Romet Jürgenson well placed to capitalise on Creighton's absence having won the Carlisle Stages in the Kielder forest in his Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Jonny Greer and co driver Niall Burns [Toyota Yaris GR Rally2] are also set to make their first BRC appearance of the season and are the leading Irish crew at the Jim Clark. With no Creighton or Cronin in sight, a new winner may also emerge from the shadows.
There are three BRC rounds remaining after this weekend and some 100-stage miles lie ahead for the competitors including a leg after dark on Friday night.
Demanding stages, narrow margins for error, and the possibility of changeable Scottish weather, promise a rollercoaster weekend that could reshape the 2025 title hunt yet again.
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy co-drivers Darragh Mullen and Killian McArdle will compete in both Scotland's Jim Clark Rally and Ireland’s Cavan Stages Rally this weekend.
The Jim Clark Rally starts with six stages on Friday evening. A further eight tests on Saturday bring the competitive distance to 162 kilometres for the third round of this year’s British Rally Championship.
Mullen and McArdle will then travel across the Irish Sea overnight to make the start of the Cavan Stages Rally, round three of the National Rally Championship.
The duo will be in direct competition on the Jim Clark Rally, as they go for glory in Junior BRC - Mullen co-driving for MI Rally Academy driver Kyle McBride and McArdle navigating Joseph Kelly through the Scottish Borders’ iconic asphalt stages.
Mullen steps up into four-wheel-drive machinery on Sunday, sitting alongside Brendan Cumiskey in the Volkswagen Polo R5 while McArdle returns to action with Ford Escort Mk2 ace Michael Cahill.
Meanwhile Cork’s Spike Island will play host to an unusual event when Red Bull Drift Pursuit takes over the former military base on Saturday, 5 July.
With storied prison walls as their backdrop, 16 of the country’s top drifters will face off in a fierce 1v1 knockout format, which will include Ireland's top WRC rally driver Josh McErlane in a Ford Puma.
Drivers are judged on two key criteria: course time and clipping points, with penalties for any infringements.
Conor Shanahan (above), Ireland's top drifter and also a rally driver and his brother Jack, are competing alongside McErlane’s M-Sport World Rally Ford Puma with the drifting precision of Conor’s Toyota GT86.
"it is incredible to see a drift event like this take place at such an iconic location like Spike Island," said Conor Shanahan
"Some of the best drifters in Ireland will be competing, and I know Jack and I are looking forward to putting on a show."
There are four other Cork drivers among those set to compete at the Red Bull Drift Pursuit, with Aidan Dennehy, Owen Magner, Trevor Healy and Alan Hynes, the 2024 Red Bull Drift Pursuit champion all in action on the day.
