MOTOR SPORT 2004 review: Irish drivers were particularly successful in international motor sport in 2004. Niall McShea (Enniskillen) won the Production Car World Rally Championship and his partner Michael Orr, from Bangor, won the co-drivers' championship.

In fact, Orr and fellow Irish competitors Chris Patterson and Killian Duffy took the first three co-drivers' awards in the Middle East Rally Championship.

Austin McHale of Rathcoole was second in the British Rally Championship and his Tyrone-born navigator Brian Murphy was the overall winning co-driver. The Irish trio of Dermot Carnegie, Lawrence Gibson and John McCluskey were the first three in the British Rallycross Championship.

Dessie Nutt of Castlerock, Co Derry, and his co-driver Geraldine McBride won the British Historic Rally Championship. Andrew Nesbitt (Armagh) scored a hat-trick of wins in the Jim Clark Rally in Scotland. Rory Galligan, Oldcastle, won the British Mitsubishi Evolution Challenge, and Cork's Brendan Murphy won Group N in the Welsh Rally Championship.

The new FIA European Road Rally Championship for classic car events was won by Dublin driver Frank Fennell. The Republic of Ireland team of Eamonn Byrne, Chris Grimes, James Pringle and Christopher Evans won the Ken Wharton International Autotest in England.

In motor racing, Richard Lyons (Hillsborough) won two prestigious Japanese Championships - Formula Nippon and GT. And Portadown's Adam Carroll was second in the British Formula 3 Championship, scoring two impressive wins on the Spa Francorchamps, Belgian GP circuit. Fellow Ulstermen Tim Mullen and Colin Turkington had a race win in the British GT Championship and British Touring Car Championship, respectively.

John O'Hara (Kildare) was nominated Asian Formula 3 Driver of The Year and may be awarded the championship pending the outcome of official enquiries regarding his controversial disqualification after winning in Beijing, China.