Kerry motorsport competitors enjoyed a stellar weekend of action both at home and across the Irish Sea, securing major victories and impressive results on the lanes of Donegal and the closed roads of the Isle of Mull in Scotland.
Rockfield co-driver Shane Buckley tasted overall victory on Saturday, navigating Donegal driver David Kelly to a flawless win on the An Grianán Hotel Donegal Harvest Stages Rally. The pair, competing in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, led the penultimate round of the Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship from start to finish. Overcoming tricky, mud-splattered conditions across nine demanding stages, Kelly and Buckley crossed the finish line 20 seconds ahead of Michael Boyle and Dermot McCafferty.
The victory marked Kelly and Buckley’s second overall triumph of 2026, adding to their prestigious Circuit of Ireland victory at Easter. It kicks off a busy fortnight for the Rockfield man, as fresh off his Donegal win, Buckley travels to Italy this weekend for the iconic Rallye Sanremo Storico, the final round of the FIA European Historic Rally Championship, where he will partner Welsh driver Tomas Davies.
Also on the Italian entry list is Killarney’s Alan Ring, who can secure the FIA European Historic title for Pre-2000 cars in his Subaru Impreza 555 alongside Cork co-driver Adrian Deasy.
Further down the field in Donegal, Killarney co-driver Niall Myers secured a strong result, guiding Oisin McShane to second in Class 2A aboard a Peugeot 208 R2, finishing just 4.8 seconds off the class win.
The only all-Kerry crew in action in Donegal were Tim Enright and Stephen Buckley, but they were forced to retire their Ford Escort Mk2 at the second service halt due to reoccurring electrical issues. Meanwhile, co-driver Elaine Ní Shé received a late call-up off the reserve list to partner local driver Alan Sweeney in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, successfully making the finish of a treacherously difficult rally.
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