Reigning Mayo Autocross champion Peter McCullagh carried on from where he finished 2012, with victory on Mayo & District Motorsport Club’s Loose Surface Autocross on Sunday. The Maynooth driver was the class of the field in his Mitsubishi Evo 9, recording a comfortable winning margin of over two seconds over his rivals after a fine final run over the challenging 4.6 kilometre circuit at Harrington’s Quarry, The Valley, Swinford.

Kiltimagh co-driver John Higgins lost out on success on Sunday’s Kerry Stages Rally by the narrowest of margins, after he and driver Brian O’Mahony finished the eight stage event in a dead heat with the similar Subaru WRC of Thomas Fitzmaurice and Fionn Foley from Kerry. It was the local crew though who were to claim victory on tie-break rules, after setting a time one second faster than their rivals on the final stage.

Fresh from a successful stage rallying debut two weeks ago on the Mayo Stages Rally, Foxford's Alan Moran continued his learning curve with a battling run to eighth in the Junior category on Sunday's Midland Stages Rally. Co-driven by Trevor O'Connell from Ballina, Moran revelled in the fast flowing stages on the Roscommon based event, setting very competitive times in his Opel Astra, and gaining valuable experience in the process.

Armagh driver Darren Gass claimed his first international rally victory by the narrowest of margins on Sunday’s Galway International Rally, with a number of Mayo competitors also recording strong results on the opening round of the 2012 Tarmac Rally Championship. The top Mayo finisher was David Carney from Aughagower who, with co-driver Ray Fitzpatrick, finished 15th overall in the International Rally, and the leading competitor in a Citroen C2 R2.

The 2012 rally season is about to move into gear and Westport’s David Carney looks set for an another exciting season as he prepares for the 2012 Galway International Rally. Last year, David, and co-driver Ray Fitzpatrick from Portarlington, took part in the Citroen Racing Trophy Ireland, finishing an amazing 3rd overall in the the Championship.

One Mayo team will be at the starting line this weekend (June 17th – 19th) when the 40th anniversary of the Topaz Donegal International Rally takes off in Letterkenny. Over 170 teams will participate in three categories over the weekend, the only 3-day event of its kind in the country.

Ciarán Walsh and Aidan Gannon have started their motorsport year in some style. The Ballinrobe/Tubbercurry pairing claimed overall victory on the Junior section of the Galway International Rally at the weekend. It was a superb result for the Honda Civic crew who finished 9.7 seconds ahead of their nearest challengers after six challenging stages.

With the motorsport year drawing to a close, members of Mayo & District Motorsport Club gathered at the Gateway Hotel in Swinford on Friday last to commemorate another successful year, and to present club members with awards for their achievements throughout the season.

A busy 2010 saw the club run the highly successful Mayo Stages Rally in March, as well as five Autocross events between May and October.