The Citroën Irish Tarmac Rally Championship returns to County Kerry this weekend with round three of the 2010 series, the Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes!
 
The Killarney based event will see current championship leader, Gareth MacHale, attempt to extend his advantage at the top of the tables.
 
The last time the MacHale name topped the Rally of the Lakes leaderboard was back in 1997 when Gareth's father, Austin, claimed victory.
 
Gareth will be hoping to follow in his father's footsteps in 2010, and secure his maiden Rally of the Lakes win, but will face stiff opposition from number one seed, Tim McNulty.
 
It is McNulty who heads the first-class field of more than 100 crews in his Subaru Impreza WRC. He has won the event on two occasions (2006 and 2009), and after failing to score points at the opening rounds of the 2010 Citroën sponsored series, a third Killarney win would be the perfect consolation.
 
With Gareth MacHale starting at number two, Craig Breen is next in line with his Ford Fiesta S2000, ahead of Circuit of Ireland Rally sensation, Alastair Fisher, who is second in the Championship standings.
 
Local driver Denis Cronin is seed at number five ahead of English visitor, Paul Bird, who brings his Ford Focus WRC to the Emerald Isle.
 
The Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes is also round three of the Citroën Racing Trophy. Martin McCormack is the current championship leader, and he heads the standings by four points from both Mark Donnelly and Adrian McElhinney, who are tied for second position. No less than 13 crews will tackle the Killarney stages.
 
The tussle will also be fierce among the Fiesta Sport Trophy crews, as well as the Modified Trophy and Historic competitors.
 
The event starts at 9am on Saturday 01 May, with competitors tackling seven stages during leg one and seven stages during leg two. The winner will be crowned at Killarney's Gleneagle Hotel finish ramp at 5pm on Sunday 02 May. More details can be found online at www.irishtarmac.com.
 

2010 Cartell.ie Killarney International Rally of the Lakes - top 10 entrants
 
1 Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Subaru Impreza WRC)
2 Gareth MacHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC)
3 Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts (Ford Fiesta S2000)
4 Alastair Fisher/Marshall Clarke (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
5 Denis Cronin/Helen O'Sullivan (Subaru Impreza WRC)
6 Paul Bird/Kirsty Riddick (Ford Focus WRC)
7 Aaron MacHale/Eugene O'Donnell (Ford Focus WRC)
8 Daragh O'Riordan/Tony McDaid (Subaru Impreza WRC)
9 Alan Ring/Adrian Deasy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9)
10 Colm Murphy/TBA (Subaru Impreza N12)