Irish Tarmac Rally Championship

The ITRC was created following the establishment of TROA in late 1977, when the organisers of the five Irish International rallies and the Manx International Rally came together with the idea of forming a championship. The inaugural Championship began in 1978 and consisted of six events: the Galway International Rally; Circuit of Ireland Rally; Donegal International Rally; Ulster Rally; Cork 20 International Rally; and the Manx International Rally.

The first major change to the series came in 1983, when the Rally of the Lakes attained International status and was installed as the final event in that year's championship.[4] The addition of the Killarney-based round made up for the loss of the Galway International Rally, which did not run. The following year, the Galway International Rally returned and the Rally of the Lakes was retained, expanding the Championship to seven rounds from 1984 on.[5]

The next significant change took place in 2002, when the Jim Clark Rally was added to the series,[6][7] taking the Championship to eight rounds overall. The Jim Clark Rally was the first Scottish event to form part of the Championship, until it was dropped in 2010, along with the Manx International Rally,[8] mainly due to a decline in the number of ITRC competitors entering both events.

The Championship reverted to seven rounds in 2015, when the West Cork Rally joined the ITRC as a full round, having previously been part the Modified Tarmac Championship calendar in 2014.[9]

The Irish Tarmac Championship consists of seven rounds:[10]

• Galway International Rally
• West Cork Rally
• Easter Stages Rally
• Killarney Rally of the Lakes
• Donegal International Rally
• Ulster Rally
• Cork 20 International Rally

Competitors best scores in 5 out of 7 rounds are used to calculate the final Championship standings. Every driver and co-driver finishing each round in the top 10 are awarded championship points, with the winner receiving 17 points. Each finisher outside of the top 10 receives 1.5 points.

A bonus system normally operates during the final round, with additional points on offer to the winners of each leg of the event, as well as for final positions.[12][13][14][15]

In July 2021, TROA released a statement regarding their intention to run a full championship in 2022.[16]

Killarney & District Motor Club announced that the Killarney Historic Rally will take place on 27 November 2021. This rally will count as the opening round of the ITRC Historic Championship.[17][18]

With COVID-19 restrictions effectively coming to an end, a full 2022 calendar was announced by Motorsport Ireland and TROA.[19][20]

In February 2021, the TROA decided to cancel the 2021 Championship. [21] Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were still subject to restrictions designed to curb the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the TROA announcement cited the uncertainty surrounding the running of championship events during 2021.[22] At the point the decision was taken to cancel the Championship, the opening three rounds of the Championship had already been called off.[23]

The 2020 season commenced with the opening round in Galway in February 2020.[24][25][26] The West Cork Rally was cancelled on 12 March 2020, due to the global COVID-19 outbreak.[27][28] On 20 March, Motorsport Ireland issued a statement that all motorsport events were suspended until 1 June 2020, which led to the postponement of the following rounds.[29] Amidst on-going restrictions aimed at curbing the effects of the pandemic, the board of directors and executive of TROA made the unanimous decision to cancel the 2020 Championship on 28 April 2020.[30][31][32]

Galway International Rally returned to the calendar in 2019, following the cancellation of the 2018 event. The Easter Stages Rally replaced the Circuit of Ireland Rally event for the third year in a row.

The overall champion was Craig Breen, co-driven by Paul Nagle, after winning five rounds.[33][34]

Top 10 ITRC drivers overall: [35] [36]

Pos Driver Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7  Points 1 Craig Breen Ford Fiesta R5 Hyundai i20 R5 17 17 17 17 0 17 0 85 2 Alastair Fisher Ford Fiesta R5 14 14 8 14 12 10 0 72 3 Callum Devine Ford Fiesta R5 0 8 10 12 17 14 0 61 4 Meirion Evans Hyundai i20 R5 Škoda Fabia R5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 10 12 25.5 52 5 Jonathan Greer Ford Fiesta R5 7 1.5 12 DNF 0 DNF 21 41.5 6 Josh Moffett Ford Fiesta R5 Hyundai i20 R5 12 7 1.5 DNF 14 DNF 0 34.5 7 Desi Henry Škoda Fabia R5 Ford Fiesta R5 8 DNF 14 10 0 0 0 32 8 Martyn England Ford Fiesta R5 0 DNF 1.5 0 0 0 18 19.5 9 Sam Moffett Ford Fiesta R5 DNF 10 7 DNF 0 0 0 17 10 Keith Lyons Ford Fiesta R5 1.5 DNF 0 DNF 0 0 15 16.5 Irish Tarmac Rally Champions Season Driver Co-driver Car 1978 John Taylor John Jensen Ford Escort RS1800 1979 Brian Nelson Rodney Cole Ford Escort RS1800 1980 Jimmy McRae Frank Main Vauxhall Chevette HSR 1981 Jimmy McRae Ian Grindrod Opel Ascona 400 1982 John Coyne Christy Farrell Lotus Sunbeam 1983 Austin McHale Christy Farrell Vauxhall Chevette HSR 1984 Billy Coleman Ronan Morgan Opel Manta 400 1985 Austin McHale Christy Farrell Opel Manta 400 1986 Austin McHale Christy Farrell Opel Manta 400 1987 Mark Lovell Roger Freeman Ford Sierra Cosworth 1988 Mark Lovell Terry Harryman Ford Sierra Cosworth 1989 Russell Brookes Diekman/Wilson/Brown Ford Sierra Cosworth 1990 Bertie Fisher Rory Kennedy BMW M3 1991 Kenny McKinstry Robbie Philpott Ford Sierra Cosworth 1992 Bertie Fisher Rory Kennedy Subaru Legacy RS 1993 Bertie Fisher Rory Kennedy Subaru Legacy RS 1994 Kenny McKinstry Robbie Philpott Subaru Legacy RS 1995 Frank Meagher Pat Moloughney Ford Escort RS Cosworth 1996 Bertie Fisher Rory Kennedy Subaru Impreza 555 1997 Austin McHale Brian Murphy Toyota Celica GT-Four ST185 1998 Austin McHale Brian Murphy Toyota Celica GT-Four ST185 1999 Ian Greer Dean Beckett Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 2000 Andrew Nesbitt James O'Brien Subaru Impreza S5 WRC 99 2001 Cancelled due to foot-and-mouth disease outbreak 2002 Andrew Nesbitt James O'Brien Subaru Impreza S6 WRC 2000 2003 Derek McGarrity Dermot O'Gorman Subaru Impreza S8 WRC 2002 2004 Derek McGarrity Dermot O'Gorman Subaru Impreza S9 WRC 2003 Eugene Donnelly Paul Kiely Toyota Corolla WRC 2005 Eugene Donnelly Paul Kiely Toyota Corolla WRC 2006 Eugene Donnelly Paul Kiely Toyota Corolla WRC 2007 Eugene Donnelly Paul Kiely Subaru Impreza S12 WRC 2006 2008 Eamonn Boland Damien Morrisey Subaru Impreza S12B WRC 2007 2009 Eugene Donnelly Paddy Toner Škoda Fabia WRC 2010 Gareth MacHale Brian Murphy Ford Focus RS WRC 06 2011 Tim McNulty Paul Kiely Subaru Impreza S12B WRC 2007 2012 Darren Gass Enda Sherry Subaru Impreza S10 WRC 2004 2013 Garry Jennings Kevin Flanagan (co-driving for Donagh Kelly) Subaru Impreza S12B WRC '07 2014 Declan Boyle Brian Boyle Subaru Impreza S12B WRC 2015 Donagh Kelly Ciaran Geaney (co-driving for Joe McGonigle) Ford Focus WRC 2016 Keith Cronin Mikie Galvin Citroën DS3 R5 2016 2017 Sam Moffett Karl Atkinson Ford Fiesta R5 2018 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Ford Fiesta R5 2019 Craig Breen Paul Nagle Ford Fiesta R5 2020 Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2021 2022 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Hyundai i20 R5

Coverage of events has been provided by On the Limit Sports since 2003.[37] The ITRC is available to view on a variety of platforms, including television (TG4, BT Sport) and on demand via internet streaming services.

• Official website