Tight at the top of Kingdom of Kerry Championship as Summer Rally entries open

Tight at the top of Kingdom of Kerry Championship as Summer Rally entries open

The race for the 2026 Moriarty Central Car Sales Kingdom of Kerry Rally Championship features several ties following the opening two rounds, which ran across the Saturday and Sunday legs of the Assess Ireland Rally of the Lakes.

Drivers’ Standings

Defending champion Rob Duggan shares the top spot with Darren Young.

Duggan, who is competing this year on a free entry to Kerry events courtesy of championship sponsor Mike Moriarty, earned his maximum points haul after a Class 14 performance across both days in Killarney.

Matching him point-for-point is Darren Young, who secured a pair of maximum scores with two class victories in his Honda.

Both drivers sit tied on 22 points, which includes two bonus points for starting each day.

Behind the leading duo, Dave Slattery sits in third place overall with 18 points. Slattery’s progress was hampered by a gearbox issue over the weekend, but he fought back to claim two third-in-class finishes to remain in the title hunt.

He is joined in joint third by Fergus O’Meara, who holds 18 points and also leads the Historic category overall.

Sitting right next in the standings is Mark Falvey, who holds fifth overall and second in the Historic class on 16 points following his performance over the two days.

Co-Drivers’ Standings

The co-drivers’ championship features a three-way tie for the lead on 22 points. Pa Lawlor shares the top alongside his driver Darren Young, sharing the spoils with Rob Duggan’s navigator, John McCarthy.

They are joined on maximum points by Killarney’s Noel O’Sullivan, who guided Callum Devine to class victories on both days.

While Devine does not qualify for the local Kingdom of Kerry Championship due to his Derry address, O’Sullivan scores full points as a Kerry resident.

Denis Coffey, navigating for Slattery, and Shane Buckley, who co-drove Donegal’s David Kelly to two third-place finishes, are tied for third place overall on 18 points, alongside Historic navigator Brian Duggan.

In the Women’s Championship, which is contested as a single category based on class results over each day of the rally, co-drivers Tara Looney and Elaine Ní Shé are currently joint leaders of the standings on 8 points apiece.

The 2026 champion will receive a free entry to a Killarney and District Motor Club event, with the Killarney Historic Rally in late 2027 the next free entry on the roster.

Entries open for the Rose Hotel Kerry Summer Rally

Entries are y now open for round three of the championship, the Rose Hotel Kerry Summer Mini Stages Rally.

Clerk of the Course Eoin Duffin and the team have designed a compact event tailored for club drivers. Priced at €650, the rally offers nearly 90 kilometres of stages, with the Rose Hotel in Tralee serving as rally headquarters and central service based in Castleisland.

The event acts as a counting round for the Moriarty’s Central Car Sales Kingdom of Kerry Rally Championship, the Top Part West Coast Rally Championship, and the Southern 4 Rally Championship. The Sportity password for the event is Kerry26.

Moriarty Central Car Sales Kingdom of Kerry Championship Standings

Please study the points allocation in the regs document – downloadable below – it saves answering queries 🙂

Top 5 Drivers

Position	Driver	Hometown / Class	Total Points
1	Rob Duggan	Killarney (Class 14)	22
=	Darren Young	Kerry (Honda)	22
3	Dave Slattery	Kerry	18
=	Fergus O’Meara	Kerry (Historic Lead)	18
5	Mark Falvey	Kerry (Historic)	16

Top 5 Co-Drivers

Position	Co-Driver	Connected Driver / Category	Total Points
1	Pa Lawlor	Darren Young	22
=	John McCarthy	Rob Duggan	22
=	Noel O’Sullivan	Callum Devine	22
4	Denis Coffey	Dave Slattery	18
=	Shane Buckley	David Kelly	18
=	Brian Duggan	Fergus O’Meara (Historic)	18

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