European & national championships

Irish Tarmac Rally Championship (Group B era)

Photo: Florian Volk from Deutschland via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Ireland’s asphalt rallies — Galway, the Circuit of Ireland, the Rally of the Lakes in Killarney — were fast, narrow and bumpy, and they drew British and international crews as well as local stars. In the Group B years the Irish Tarmac title belonged to the Opel Manta 400 and to Austin McHale.

Champions

Year	Driver	Co-driver	Car
1982	John Coyne	Christy Farrell	Talbot Sunbeam Lotus
1983	Austin McHale	Christy Farrell	Vauxhall Chevette HSR
1984	Billy Coleman	Ronan Morgan	Opel Manta 400
1985	Austin McHale	Christy Farrell	Opel Manta 400
1986	Austin McHale	Christy Farrell	Opel Manta 400

The championship grew in these years: the Rally of the Lakes became an international event in 1983, and from 1984 the series had seven rounds.

Coleman, McHale and the Opel Manta 400 on the narrow asphalt of Galway, the Circuit of Ireland and the Lakes.

Stories

• Galway 1982. Jimmy McRae, the 1981 Irish Tarmac champion, opened the 1982 European season with victory at Galway in his Opel Ascona 400; John Coyne was third in the Sunbeam that took him to the title.
• Billy Coleman, 1984. The Cork driver won the Circuit of Ireland, a round of both the British and Irish series, on his way to the Irish title with Ronan Morgan in a Manta 400.
• The Northern Irish drivers. Bertie Fisher, second on the 1983 Circuit of Ireland in an Ascona 400 and third on the 1985 Manx in a Manta 400, was one of the regulars who took on the British works teams on home roads.
• The Manx. The Isle of Man’s Manx International counted for the Irish Tarmac series as well as for the British and European championships; its Group B-era winners included McRae, Henri Toivonen, Russell Brookes and Tony Pond.

In pictures 1 photos

More from Championships

Portuguese Rally Championship (Group B era)Santos’ Escort and Moutinho’s Renault 5 Turbo, plus the Madeira rally: Portugal’s championship in the Group B years.Read more →Austrian Rally Championship (Group B era)Wittmann, Wiedner and the Audi Quattro on the snow of the Jänner Rallye: Austria’s championship from 1982 to 1986.Read more →Swiss Rally Championship (Group B era)Balmer against Ferreux, and the Rallye du Valais: Switzerland’s championship until Group B was banned there.Read more →Finnish Rally Championship (Group B era)A separate Group B class from 1983, won every year by an Audi Quattro: Lampi, Laine and Heinonen on Finnish snow and gravel.Read more →Dutch Rally Championship (Group B era)Van der Marel’s Manta 400 and Andervang’s RS200: the Dutch championship, most of it raced in Belgium and Germany.Read more →Spanish Rally Championship (Group B era)Zanini, Ortiz and Servià — and the young Carlos Sainz — in the Spanish championship from 1982 to 1986.Read more →

Sources

1. Wikipedia (EN), Irish Tarmac Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Tarmac_Rally_Championship
2. Wikipedia (EN), 1984 British Rally Championship — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_British_Rally_Championship
3. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1982 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1982/6-erc/
4. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1983 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1983/6-erc/
5. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1984 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1984/6-erc/
6. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1985 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1985/6-erc/
7. eWRC-results.com, FIA European Rally Championship 1986 (event results) — https://www.ewrc-results.com/season/1986/6-erc/

All text is original writing for Grouve Sports Management Group, based on the sources above. Facts checked on 21 October 2026.

Thumbnail photos on this page: _morgado (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0); Eddi Laumanns aka RX-Guru (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); BWard 1997 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0); Calreyn88 (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0); Andrew Bone from Weymouth, England (Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0).