Click here to view the embedded video.

For those that aren’t all that familiar with the Irish Rally Scene , Kevin Lynch (KPL Contracts) is a rally driver who has a couple of WRC cars, his son Sean set up a production company and has created this video of his aul lad in action, so on an August day in 2009 the Nutts Corner area was covered in tyre scree and filled with the sounds of Rally Cars doing what they do best.

This video is based off the Ken Block Videos (Gymkhana and Gymkhana 2.1), which are all about Gymkhana a form of motorsport started in Japan but spreading firmly across the US and the rest of the world. It’s good to see an Irish Driver have a go at it.. Here’s hoping for more of this sort ..

The Finn, 64, was a frequent top-line competitor in the 1970s and 1980s, and tackled a total of 36 WRC events, mostly driving rear-wheel drive Vauxhall/Opel cars like the Chevette HS and Magnum Coupe.

A former Finnish and Scandinavian rally champion, longtime UK resident Airikkala also won the British title in 1979.

He is probably best remembered though, when he drove a Vauxhall Chevette HS for the DTV team in the late ’70s. In winning the 1979 Circuit of Ireland Rally (the year he won the British championship), Airikkala became the first and only ‘foreign’ driver to do so and later regarded this win as the finest of his long distinguished career.

“The Circuit of Ireland is a very special rally – very long, very hard, very competitive. I am proud to be the first European to win,” Pentti said at the time.

Since retiring from full-time competition, Airikkala established a driving school to teach the art of left-foot braking to race and rally drivers. His list of ex pupils includes WRC star names like Colin McRae, Richard Burns, and Jari-Matti Latvala.

On the eve of Rally de Espana, Ford rally team manager Malcolm Wilson paid tribute to his former team-mate and rival.

“My first memories of Pentti were of battling against him in 1979 and 1980 when he was driving for Vauxhall and I was in the Escorts. We later joined forces in 1981, along with Ari Vatanen, at the Rothmans team when we drove the Mk2 Escorts. He joined Ford again in 1990 for three rallies in the Sierra Cosworths. He was one of these guys with an incredible talent, and although he never got to challenge for the world title, his win on the RAC really stood out – it was a fantastic drive.”

The 23 year old West Cork driver, the 2007 winner of the Billy Coleman Award for Young Rally Driver of the Year, won three of the six rounds in his Cremins Coaches Mitsubishi Evo 9 and finished second in two more behind three times champion Mark Higgins.

Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle won Rally San Remo in Italy in their Peugeot 207 to take the Intercontinental Rally Challenge even though one round remains next month. Their title rival, Czech ace Jan Kopecky, crashed out on the opening day leaving the Tyrone-Kerry combination in an unbeatable position.

In the United States, double Young Racing Driver of the Year Peter Dempsey from Ashbourne, Co Meath, scored his fifth win of the year at Road Atlanta to increase his lead in the Star Mazda Championship as it heads for its final round at Laguna Seca in California in two weeks.

Dempsey qualified in pole position ahead of Conor Daly, son of Ireland’s former Formula 1 driver Derek Daly, and dominated the race, with Daly finishing in second place. Britain’s Adam Christodoulou, who took third place, is the only one who could beat the Irishman to the title but sixth place for Dempsey would be enough to become champion.

Closer to home in Fermoy on Sunday Mike Deane wrapped up the Prodrift Irish Series, the results from the day
1st James Deane
2nd JP McCarthy
3rd Jonny Power
4th Dean Karnage

Congrats to all the lads ! Check out the Motorsport Forum for images from the weekend !