``These are great challenging stages``
Eugene Donnelly took the victory in last weekend`s Rally Ireland, a great result for the local driver. The race – which is bidding for a round of the 2007 World Rally Championship - received a lot of positive comments from the drivers who competed on the Irish stages.

Subaru driver Chris Atkinson won the Group N category and finished in fourth place overall at the wheel of an Impreza. The Australian really enjoyed the race: "These are great challenging stages. I`d love to tackle them in my regular WRC car and hope I get a chance to do just that when Rally Ireland gets into the World Championships."

Despite retiring on day 1, French Champion Nicolas Bernardi was impressed with what he saw: "It is very different tarmac to what I am used to in France but I think Rally Ireland can fit into the WRC calendar very easily as a tarmac round of the championship. The stages are safe and the people are very friendly and crazy about rallying."

Tags: rally,