Usually at this time of the year, Irish motorsport would be in a virtual shut down mode, apart from some smaller events. That's certainly not the case on Sunday when several star drivers lead the 60 plus field in the Wexford Motor Club's Rally, round four of the National Forestry Stages Championship.

Kenny McKinstry and Eamonn Boland will be the pace-setters in their Subaru Imprezas, particularly British championship winner McKinstry, who is an expert on the forest stages. Run out of Courtown Harbour, with three runs of the opening stage at Askamore, plus two runs each over stages at Gibbet Hill, Kiltrannish Hill and Mount Leinster. Kevin O'Kane is the current championship leader, who also leads Class 5. The other class leaders are Michael Moore, Michael Nevin, Sean Benskin and Michael Tynan.

Irish successes in international sport are well documented, but one of the unsung stars is rally co-driver Ronan Morgan. The Dubliner does most of his rallying in the Middle East, as co-driver to Mohammed Ben Sulayem. Driving a Ford Focus WRC they recently dominated the Dubai Rally to win the Middle East Championship, a 12th time for Sulayem and sixth for Morgan. James Murphy will represent Ireland in kart racing in the famous Elf Masters at Bercy, Paris this weekend, in which he will compete against several Formula One drivers. Murphy recently celebrated his 19th birthday, in a year in which he won the Irish Formula Ford Zetec Championship. The Irish Motorcycle Trials Championship reaches the halfway mark with round four tomorrow at Castlewellan, Co Down. Wicklow riders Paul McLoughlin (Bray) and Michael Burton (Enniskerry) are joint overall leaders on 41 points each, ahead of Robert Crawford (40 points).