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.

David Carney claimed one of the biggest victories of his career to date by winning the Citroen Racing Trophy section of the Killarney Rally of the Lakes at the weekend. In the process, the Aughagower driver finished a highly creditable sixth overall on the International category of this prestigious rally. Despite early brake problems on his Citroen C2R2 Max, Carney held a comfortable second in category from the start, initially behind championship leader Kevin O'Connor, with Kieran Daly then taking over the lead.

A road safety campaign targeting holiday makers is been launched before a busy bank holiday with a view to enhancing their awareness of road safety and enlightening them on the importance of complying with the rules of the road. Parents holiday making are also been warned not to break the law when travelling– by booking a child seat for their hire car.

A group of 30 motorbike enthusiasts will take to the roads next Thursday (26th April) to raise funds for life-saving equipment for Neo-Natal Intensive Care Units and Special Care Baby Units in hospitals from Letterkenny to Limerick, including Mayo General Hospital in Castlebar. The four-day ‘Ride Out For Prems Motor Bike Road Trip Challenge’ will raise funding for vital equipment for babies who have been born premature and may have developed complications or need extra support in the early stages of their lives.

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.

Students from St. Louis Community School in Kiltimagh saw their Formula 1™ dreams brought to life when they received their model of a Formula  1™ car design. They drew their design on Solid Works, sent off their design idea to be manufactured and received the fully finished racer a few days later.

The stage is set for a week-end of high-octane motorsport action, as the McWilliam Park Hotel and Fleet Transport Magazine Mayo Stages Rally arrives into town this Friday. With many of the best rally drivers and state-of-the-art rally cars set to do battle over 120 kilometres of special stages to the north of Claremorris, there promises to be spills and thrills aplenty before the action concludes back at rally headquarters The McWilliam Park Hotel on Sunday evening.