Competitors line up for Circuit

His dad, Austin, won it in 1993 and again in 1998 and now 29-year-old Gareth attempts to add the MacHale name to the select list of father and son Circuit of Ireland winners, joining Jimmy and Colin McRae.

In the past six months Gareth has repeated the successes of his father in the eighties and nineties by winning the Donegal, Cork and Galway Internationals and now he will start at No.1 in his 06 M-Sport Ford Focus when the UTV Drive-sponsored event begins from Dundalk on Easter Saturday (12.30pm).

Gareth, however, will be challenged by a driver even more successful on the Circuit than MacHale senior. Derek McGarrity has won three times, putting him on a par with Roger Clark and Billy Coleman and behind only Paddy Hopkirk, who won five times, and Jimmy McRae, the only seven-time winner.

McGarrity, the reigning Northern Ireland champion, has his sights set on a fourth victory and will start at No.2 in a Subaru Impreza S12C. At No.3 in another S12 Subaru is Tim McNulty who finalised his Circuit preparations by winning the West Cork Rally last weekend.

They are followed by Aaron MacHale, Gareth’s elder brother, in another Ford Focus, with Irish national championship front runner Kevin Barrett at No.5 in his S11 Subaru.

The spotlight will also be on Craig Breen and his Super 2000 Ford Fiesta at No.6. The 20-year-old from Waterford was second behind Gareth MacHale on his debut in the car in Galway and has gone on to take third place on the Mayo national rally as he gears up for Easter and round two of the Citroen Irish Tarmac Championship.

The entry list also contains one of Ulster’s brightest young rising stars, 21-year-old Alistair Fisher, who was third in the British championship last year and heads up the entry list in the Group N production category.

With the entry list, including the national rally, approaching the 100 mark despite the economic downturn, the new organising team led by Rally Director Bobby Willis and Clerk of the Course Gordon Noble, have described it as “encouraging”.

A full entry list and precise maps for the locations of each of the 15 stages are available in the Circuit of Ireland programmes which can be purchased online at www.circuitofireland.net and from retailers in the area before and during the event.