The 2026 NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship returns to Kerry this bank holiday weekend for the Rally of the Lakes, where crews will tackle two days of rallying around Killarney on Saturday and Sunday.
The fourth round of the series arrives in the Kingdom with four crews in championship contention after there were three different winners on the first three rounds.
The reigning ITRC champion Callum Devine and co-driver Noel O'Sullivan lead the entry list as they return to defend their Rally of the Lakes title, and the Skoda Fabia Rally2 crew have won Killarney for the past four years.
Should he do so, Devine would equal the late Bertie Fisher's record of five Rally of the Lakes crowns in a row in the early 1990s.
Derry's Devine will have more than enough incentive to continue his dominance on the event as he looks to reclaim the ITRC lead after an overshoot on the Circuit of Ireland cost him vital points.
As a result, the lead has moved to Josh Moffett and Andy Haye, who won round two at the West Cork Rally, and they will be eyeing up their first ever Killarney victory this weekend.
Moffett, who hails from Monaghan, won the series in 2018 and 2022 and is currently competing in a Toyota Yaris Rally2 machine and has shown strong speed on both asphalt and gravel this year.
Kilkenny’s Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy, the current national champions, sit third on the entry list and fourth in the championship after three consecutive podium finishes.
Circuit of Ireland winners David Kelly and Shane Buckley start fourth in their Skoda Fabia Rally2.
The Donegal driver’s maiden ITRC victory came by just half a second from Moffett and has thrown them right into championship contention.
The top five in the standings is completed by Sam Touzel from the Channel Island and his navigator Max Freeman in their Ford Fiesta
Junior WRC event winners Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan make a welcome return to the ITRC in their Toyota Yaris Rally2 and are seeded at number five in the Killarney start list.
The Boyle family also renew their Irish Tarmac campaigns in Killarney, with Michael, Declan (the 2014 ITRC winner) and Matthew all entered in Skoda Fabias.
Ryan Loughran, Kevin Eves, and Daniel Cronin will also be in the mix, alongside overseas visitors Max McRae and Mark Kelly.
Robert Duggan brings his vast Killarney experience to the modified battle in his Ford Escort Mk2, starting just ahead of familiar foe Conor Murphy.
The two Mk2 aces will set a searing pace, while Darrian T90 pilot Vincent O’Shea makes it three Kerry drivers at the front of the modified field.
The weekend kicks off with the ceremonial start in Killarney, followed by two days of exhilarating rally stages through some of the finest scenery in the world, with eight stages on Saturday and the final six on Sunday.
