It doesn't seem that long ago since Keith Cronin took a dramatic late victory in the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally that marked the beginning of the NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

This weekend the series (which was reduced to six rounds after the Galway International Rally was dropped from the series by the TROA after difficulties in trying to reschedule the rally following Storm Éowyn) will conclude with the O'Connell Group Cork 20 Rally. 

In the interim, there was drama aplenty. Keith Cronin withdrew from the series and continues his sabbatical from the sport, while another title contender, Matt Edwards, also withdrew from the championship. Meanwhile, last year's Cork 20 winner, Derry's Callum Devine, who missed the West Cork, took a late victory on the Circuit of Ireland, won in Killarney and Donegal, and clinched his second championship in three years on the Ulster Rally.

All of which denied the Munster Car Club of a title decider, and that's a difficult position.

Some 100 crews will line up for this final ITRC encounter this Saturday and Sunday, and it appears that the event will have a new winner – and unless Donegal's Declan Boyle (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) takes victory, the ITRC will have its 69th different winner of a series that began in 1979.

Four local drivers are amongst the top 10 seeds – Daniel Cronin, David Guest, Owen Murphy and Cal McCarthy – and they have outlined their plans, as seen elsewhere on the page.

Cronin will be buoyed by his performance on the Wexford Rally as he delivered a season best third place, and that will serve as a confidence booster this weekend. Prior to the Wexford event, he didn't have the best of seasons. He's also switched co-drivers, with Castlemartyr's Padraig O’Donovan returning after some three years.

Guest and more so Murphy don't have that much seat time in 2025, and there's no doubt that is now a pre-requisite. For McCarthy, he's probably in between those two zones but his outing in Wexford and a ninth place finish is a better platform to begin this 15-stage event.

Declan Boyle is the top seed along with his sons Michael (seeded at three and also in a Skoda) and Matthew (in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 at number six), and they are certainly not short of seat time given their outings not just in the ITRC, but also in the Triton National series and more recently the Wexford Rally, where Michael secured his first ever rally win.

Derry's Desi Henry has the talent to take what would be a first ITRC event win, while the remaining drivers in the top 10 are Tyrone's Ryan Loughran (Ford Fiesta Rally2) and British driver Mark Kelly (VW Polo GTi R5).

It’s a significant event for Clonakilty's husband and wife crew, Eamonn and Lisa McCarthy (Honda Civic). At the beginning of the season they had targeted a strong performance in Class M1, and this weekend they can annex a top three overall position in the Modified category.

While Armagh's Damian Toner has already clinched the Drivers' title, the McCarthys could finish as high as second overall, with Lisa in with a shout for the overall co-drivers' award. Their rivals, Derry's Anthony O'Brien/Michael Laverty (Toyota Corolla), are likely to be reseeded from number 67 to be closer to the McCarthys, who are seeded at 49.

The McCarthys remarked: ‘We never thought we would be in contention for an overall award. We would have been delighted to be in the top three in the class, but it is great to be battling for an overall award. We enjoyed the championship but it was tough to do it all, yet, however, it's nice to be able to say we did it.’

Another West Cork competitor that could win an overall award is Ardfield co-driver Anthony O'Sullivan, who is aiming to win back-to-back titles in the Historic section. His Welsh driver Meirion Evans (Ford Escort), whose company Wales Motorsport Fabrication underpin this category, cannot surpass the points total of Donegal's John O'Donnell (BMW M3), but O'Sullivan will battle with Donegal's Paddy Robinson for the co-driver's award.

Elsewhere, there is likely to be great interest in the appearance of Killavullen's Conor Shanahan, the newly crowned Drift Masters European champion, who will drive a Class 14 Ford Escort – a class that also includes Clonakilty's Kevin Kelleher (Ford Escort). Other local drivers in action are Macroom's Barry O'Brien (Honda Civic), Drimoleague's Gary Lordan (Honda Civic), The Pike's Peter Keohane (Peugeot 106 GTi), Lissarda's Philip Cross (Ford Escort) and Lyre's Tim O’Donovan (Toyota Corolla).

Lisavaird’s Michael White co-drives for Donegal's Corey Eves (Toyota Corolla), Bandon's Daniel Seaman partners Fermoy's David Herbert (Peugeot 208 Rally4) and Clondrohid's Eoghan McCarthy reads the notes for British driver Alan Watkins (Ford Escort).

Based at the Cork Marts Centre near Rathcormac, the first of Saturday's nine stages begins at 10.05am with the day's final stage at 4.44pm. Sunday's action is over a loop of three stages repeated twice, the first (SS10) at 10.22am and the final stage at 2.30pm prior to the finish at the Cork Marts Centre at 3.10pm.