Motoring
Motorsport weekly roundup

Killarney Historic Rally
Killarney and District Motor Club is expected to announce details of this year’s Rentokil-Initial Killarney Historic Rally in the coming days.
Rallying has been given the green light to return by Motorsport Ireland and Sport Ireland. Already, the Tralee-based Kerry Motor Club has revealed details of its November 7, Banna Beach Resort Kerry Winter Rally. The Historic Rally is scheduled to run two weeks after the Kerry event and an announcement to this effect is expected to be made early next week.
World Rally Championship
Craig Breen and Paul Nagle have been selected to tackle Rally Finland next month by the Hyundai Motorsport World Rally team.
It will be their fifth World Championship start this year, but more importantly, it presents another chance for the Irish crew to impress team bosses before the 2022 team lineups are fully announced.
Breen and Nagle are chasing a full-time seat in the WRC, their current arrangement with Hyundai means they share a car with Spaniard Dani Sordo and he has been given the nod for the Acropolis Rally Greece this month.
Belgian Rallying
Dublin-based Kilcummin co-driver Damian Fleming is contesting this weekend’s Tour of Flanders in Belgium alongside Stephen McCann. Considered one of the classic events of Belgian rallying the ‘Omloop’ gets underway tomorrow night (Friday). The Cavan/Kerry crew, former winners of the Kerry Winter Rally, will use their usual Ford Fiesta R5 for the two-day, 19-stage rally.
Sidecar racing
Killarney sidecar racer Siobhan Ardener only managed to finish one of her three races at last weekend’s Dunlop Masters Irish Superbike Championship meeting at Mondello Park.
Hampered by a pre-event hand injury, her weekend went from bad to worse. A suspension issue forced retirement in race one, a small crash ended race two.
Despite all the trials and tribulations she and her driver Fergus Woodlock finished the third race of the weekend and left the County Kildare venue in fourth place in the championship standings. Two rounds remain, one each in September and October.
Motorcycle racing volunteer
Killarney man, Mike Kissane, better known for his role as a racer and coach within the ranks of Killarney Cycling, has become a member of the highly respected ‘Orange Army’ at Mondello Park.
The ‘Orange Army’ are a group of motorcycle racing fans who volunteer to keep events going.
Last weekend marked the third Dunlop Irish Masters Superbike Championship meeting of the year and it was Mike’s third time helping out behind the scenes.
UK Motorcycle racing
Kevin Coyne is returning to the British Superbike Championship (BSB) this weekend after an injury-enforced lay-off.
Coyne hurt his shoulder during a crash at Brands Hatch on July 24.
He did not race in August as a result of his injuries.
He is entered in the National Superstock 600cc class in this weekend’s BSB round at Snetterton.
Depending on how this weekend goes in terms of fitness, Coyne hopes to contest the remaining four rounds of the BSB.
News
International Rally of the Lakes and Assess Ireland team up!
Killarney & District Motor Club are delighted to announce Assess Ireland as the new title sponsor for the 2023 International Rally of the Lakes. The Rally of the Lakes is […]

Killarney & District Motor Club are delighted to announce Assess Ireland as the new title sponsor for the 2023 International Rally of the Lakes.
The Rally of the Lakes is the leading motorsport event in Ireland and attracts huge crowds to Killarney over the May Bank Holiday Weekend, April 29 and 30.
“Killarney and District Motor Club are delighted to welcome Assess Ireland on board as the title sponsor for the 2023 International Rally of the Lakes,” KDMC Chairman, Thomas Randles, said.
“We are honoured to have such a blue-chip company, together with our associated sponsor, the Gleneagle Hotel Killarney supporting this year’s Clerk of the Course Dermot Healy and KDMC in running the 2023 Rally of the Lakes making it another successful event for all involved.”
Conor Deasy, Managing Director of Assess Ireland added that “Assess Ireland provides Automotive and Engineering inspections services nationally which makes the Rally of the Lakes an ideal event for our company to be associated with”.
“We are delighted to be supporting one of the most famous annual motorsport events,” Mr Deasy said. “It is our intention to continue as the main sponsor for a minimum of three years.”
Established in 1999 with its head office in Kerry, Assess Ireland are the front runners in the Motor Assessing and Engineering Inspection Services, providing a wide range of vehicle inspections and plant/engineering GA1 certs through its national network.
The Gleneagle Hotel will again be the Rally Headquarters, an unbroken association dating back to the event’s first running.
“The Gleneagle Hotel is delighted to welcome Assess Ireland on board as title sponsor of Killarney International Rally of the Lakes,” Patrick O’Donoghue, Managing Director of the Gleneagle Hotel, said.
“We look forward to working with Assess Ireland, KDMC and other associate sponsors to deliver a successful and safe Rally in 2023.”
Dermot Healy, returning to the role of Clerk of the Course said, “I am delighted to welcome Assess Ireland on board as title sponsor for this year’s event, and beyond. I look forward to working with Conor and all the team.
“Assess Ireland and motorsport is a perfect fit, and I am delighted that they chose our event to be a partner with. We are particularly delighted with a multi-year option as from experience we can grow and develop together. This year’s event promises to be exciting with a total of 238km of competitive driving taking in some of the classic stages while including a new 18km test.”
Dermot promises more exciting news over the coming weeks.
Killarney is the place to be this May Bank Holiday weekend, see you there!
Keep up to date with the build-up to the event on Facebook.
News
McElligotts named best Kia dealer in Europe
McElligotts Tralee have been awarded the inaugural Kia European Dealer of the Year award for 2023. This prestigious award was given exclusively to the best Kia dealers across Europe, as […]

McElligotts Tralee have been awarded the inaugural Kia European Dealer of the Year award for 2023.
This prestigious award was given exclusively to the best Kia dealers across Europe, as part of Kia’s distinctive global dealer excellence recognition programme.Dealers are recognised for the previous year’s performance in delivering outstanding standards, customer service, customer facilities, staff training and development, sales performance and local market share.McElligotts were among just 28 European recipients from 1,640 dealerships and the sole Irish representative to receive the accreditation.“McElligotts have been in business in Kerry since 1870 thanks to our customer centric approach that is always supported by great staff. This award is testament to the entire team and I would like to thank everyone here at McElligotts for their hard work and dedication to our customers,” Declan O’Hara, Managing Director of McElligotts, said.Kia finished 2022 as Ireland’s fourth best-selling car brand and offers nine models including Picanto, Rio, Stonic, Ceed, XCeed, Niro, Sportage, Sorento and EV6, which was voted the Irish and European Car of the Year in 2022.