The NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, or Irish Tarmac Rally Championship (ITRC) is the premier rallying series in Ireland. It is held annually and is promoted by the Tarmac Rally Organisers’ Association (TROA). The Championship takes place over seven events, based in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland, using special stages, which are run against the clock, on closed public tarmac roads.
The overall Championship title is contested by drivers and co-drivers using cars homologated in FIA classes RC2 (R5/ Rally2), RC3, RC4, RC5 and RG-T. Right Hand Drive Group R5 derivative cars, conforming to Group R5 specification as per Group R5 homologation papers (except for a right-hand drive conversion) can also be used.
Since 2016, WRC cars have not been eligible to score Championship points. However, competitors using WRC cars are able to win events outright.
Three other championships, the ITRC Junior Championship, the ITRC Historic Championship and the ITRC Modified Tarmac Championship, run in parallel with the ITRC, but with different regulations.
History The ITRC was created following the establishment of TROA in late 1977, when the organisers of the five Irish International rallies and the Manx International Rally came together with the idea of forming a championship. The inaugural Championship began in 1978 and consisted of six events: the Galway International Rally; Circuit of Ireland Rally; Donegal International Rally; Ulster Rally; Cork 20 International Rally; and the Manx International Rally.
The first major change to the series came in 1983, when the Rally of the Lakes attained International status and was installed as the final event in that year's championship. The addition of the Killarney-based round made up for the loss of the Galway International Rally, which did not run. The following year, the Galway International Rally returned and the Rally of the Lakes was retained, expanding the Championship to seven rounds from 1984 on.
The next significant change took place in 2002, when the Jim Clark Rally was added to the series, taking the Championship to eight rounds overall. The Jim Clark Rally was the first Scottish event to form part of the Championship, until it was dropped in 2010, along with the Manx International Rally, mainly due to a decline in the number of ITRC competitors entering both events.
The Championship reverted to seven rounds in 2015, when the West Cork Rally joined the ITRC as a full round, having previously been part the Modified Tarmac Championship calendar in 2014.
Current Format and Event Calendar The Irish Tarmac Championship consists of seven rounds:
Galway International Rally West Cork Rally Easter Stages Rally Killarney Rally of the Lakes Donegal International Rally Ulster Rally Cork 20 International Rally
Previous Events The following events have also been included in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in the past:
Circuit of Ireland Rally Jim Clark Rally Manx International Rally Summit 2000 Rally - a one-off event, organised by Enniskillen Motor Club, that took place in May 2000, following the cancelation of three key rounds from that year's calendar. The Ulster Rally was undergoing organisational restructuring and was not part of the Championship; the Galway International Rally had suffered from adverse public relations after a series of incidents relating to anti-social behaviour and decided to sit the year out; while the Circuit of Ireland organisers faced a lack of entries and a date clash with the Rally of the Lakes and as a result cancelled the event.
Points System Competitors best scores in 6 out of 7 rounds are used to calculate the final Championship standings. Every driver and co-driver finishing each round in the top 10 are awarded championship points, with the winner receiving 21 points. Each finisher outside of the top 10 receives 1.5 points. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points 21 16 12 10 8 7 6 5 4 3
Each crew who enters and starts a respective event will be eligible for scoring 1 bonus point per event for starting an event.
For the 2026 season the final round of the championship will award points and a half 2026 Season Calendar Round Dates Event Rally HQ Organizer 1 31 January–1 February Galway International Rally Galway Galway Motor Club 2 13–15 March West Cork International Rally Clonakilty Cork Motor Club 3 3–4 April Easter Stages / Circuit of Ireland Rally Dungannon Ulster Automobile Club 4 2–3 May Killarney International Rally of the Lakes Killarney Killarney Motor Club 5 29–21 June Donegal International Rally Letterkenny Donegal Motor Club 6 7–8 August Ulster Rally Ballymena Northern Ireland Motor Club 7 26–27 September Cork 20 International Rally Macroom Munster Motor Club
Season Summary +ResultsRoundWinning driverWinning co-driverWinning carWinning timeRef. 1 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 1:45:24.7 2 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Toyota GR Yaris Rally21:57:15.6 3 David Kelly Shane Buckley Skoda Fabia RS Rally21:55:43.8 4 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 1:26:58.9 5 Stages 13 to 20 were cancelled after a fatal crash involving a spectator during stage 12. Overall winner was Kris Meeke in a time of 1:22:01.8 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Toyota GR Yaris Rally21:23:06.6 6 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Toyota GR Yaris Rally21:20:09.3 7 Eddie Doherty Tom Murphy Skoda Fabia RS Rally21:53:49.6
Notes
+ Drivers' Standings Pos Driver 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Points Best 6 1 Josh Moffett 13 22 17 11 22 22 107 107 2 Eddie Doherty 17 13 13 17 17 17 94 94 3 Callum Devine 22 17 9 22 Ret 71 71 4 David Kelly 11 11 22 13 Ret 58 58 5 Sam Touzel 5 9 11 2.5 6 13 46.5 46.5 6 Declan Boyle 9 8 7 2.5 26.5 26.5 7 Ryan Loughran 8 7 Ret Ret 8 25 25 8 Matthew Boyle 2.5 2.5 9 11 25 25 9 Michael Boyle Ret Ret 8 13 23 23 10 Keelan Grogan 6 5 5 16 16
2025 Season
The first round of the 2025 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship set to take place at the Galway International Rally was cancelled due to Storm Éowyn causing infrastructural damage along the rally route
Callum Devine won the 2025 championship, his 2nd in 3 seasons, after winning all 4 rounds in which he participated
Round Dates Event Rally HQ Organizer 1–2 February (Cancelled) Galway International Rally Galway Galway Motor Club 1 14–16 March West Cork International Rally Clonakilty Cork Motor Club 2 18–19 April Easter Stages / Circuit of Ireland Rally Dungannon Ulster Automobile Club 3 3–4 May Killarney International Rally of the Lakes Killarney Killarney Motor Club 4 20–22 June Donegal International Rally Letterkenny Donegal Motor Club 5 15–16 August Ulster Rally Newry Northern Ireland Motor Club 6 4–5 October Cork 20 International Rally Cork Munster Motor Club
+Results Round Driver Co-driver Car 1 Keith Cronin Mikie Galvin Citroën C3 Rally2 2 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 3 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 4 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 5 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 6 Michael Boyle Dermot McCafferty Skoda Fabia RS Rally2
+Drivers ChampionshipPositionDriverCarOverall Points Final Points 1 Callum Devine Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 88 88 2 Declan Boyle Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 74 66 3 Michael Boyle Volkswagen Polo GTI R5Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 60 60 4 David Kelly Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 46 46 5 Kevin Eves Ford Fiesta Rally2 36 36
2024 Season
Round Dates Event Rally HQ Organizer 1 3–4 February Galway International Rally Galway Galway Motor Club 2 15–17 March West Cork International Rally Clonakilty Cork Motor Club 3 30 April Easter Stages / Circuit of Ireland Rally Dungannon Ulster Automobile Club 4 4–5 May Killarney International Rally of the Lakes Killarney Killarney Motor Club 5 21–23 June Donegal International Rally Letterkenny Donegal Motor Club 6 17 August Ulster Rally Newry Northern Ireland Motor Club 7 29 September Cork 20 International Rally Cork Munster Motor Club
+Results Round Driver Co-driver Car 1 Keith Cronin Mikie Galvin Ford Fiesta Rally2 2 Keith Cronin Mikie Galvin Ford Fiesta Rally2 3 Matt Edwards David Moynihan Ford Fiesta Rally2 4 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 5 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 6 Keith Cronin Mikie Galvin Ford Fiesta Rally2 7 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Škoda Fabia RS Rally2
+Drivers ChampionshipPositionDriverCarOverall Points Final Points 1 Keith Cronin Ford Fiesta Rally2 112 100 2 Callum Devine Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 102 100 3 Matt Edwards Ford Fiesta Rally2 85.5 82 4 Josh Moffett Citroën C3 Rally2 63 63 5 David Kelly Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 44 44
2023 Season
Round Dates Event Rally HQ Organizer 1 4–5 February Galway International Rally Galway Galway Motor Club 2 18–19 March West Cork International Rally Clonakilty Cork Motor Club 3 8 April Easter Stages / Circuit of Ireland Rally Cookstown Ulster Automobile Club 4 29–30 April Killarney International Rally of the Lakes Killarney Killarney Motor Club 5 16–18 June Donegal International Rally Letterkenny Donegal Motor Club 6 5–6 August Cork 20 International Rally Cork Munster Motor Club 7 18–19 August Ulster Rally Newry Northern Ireland Motor Club
+Results Round Driver Co-driver Car 1 Meirion Evans Johnathan Jackson Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 2 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Hyundai i20 R5 3 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 4 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 5 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 6 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 7 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Volkswagen Polo GTI R5
+Drivers ChampionshipPositionDriverCar Points 1 Callum Devine Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 117 2 Josh Moffett Hyundai i20 N Rally2 86 3 Meirion Evans Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 83 4 Robert Barrable Citroën C3 Rally2 76 5 Jonny Greer Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 69
2022 Season In July 2021, TROA released a statement regarding their intention to run a full championship in 2022.
Killarney & District Motor Club announced that the Killarney Historic Rally will take place on 27 November 2021. This rally will count as the opening round of the ITRC Historic Championship.
With COVID-19 restrictions effectively coming to an end, a full 2022 calendar was announced by Motorsport Ireland and TROA.
Round Dates Event Rally HQ Organizer 1 5–6 February Galway International Rally Galway Galway Motor Club 2 19–20 March West Cork International Rally Clonakilty Cork Motor Club 3 15–16 April Easter Stages / Circuit of Ireland Rally Dundrod Ulster Automobile Club 4 30 April–1 May Killarney International Rally of the Lakes Killarney Killarney Motor Club 5 17–19 June Donegal International Rally Letterkenny Donegal Motor Club 6 30–31 July Cork 20 International Rally Cork Munster Motor Club 7 19–20 August Ulster International Rally Newry Northern Ireland Motor Club 8 26 November Killarney Historic Rally Killarney Killarney & District Motor Club
+Results Round Driver Co-driver Car 1 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Hyundai i20 R5 2 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Hyundai i20 R5 3 Alastair Fisher Gordon Noble Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 4 Callum Devine Noel O'Sullivan Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 5 Josh Moffett Andy Hayes Hyundai i20 R5
2021 Season In February 2021, the TROA decided to cancel the 2021 Championship. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland were still subject to restrictions designed to curb the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the TROA announcement cited the uncertainty surrounding the running of championship events during 2021. At the point the decision was taken to cancel the Championship, the opening three rounds of the Championship had already been called off.
2020 Season