Three of Ireland's top rally crews head across the Irish Sea this week to contest in the final round of the World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB.

Peugeot Rally Academy driver Craig Breen and his co-driver Scott Martin this year using the SAINTéLOC Racing run Peugeot 208T16 pop across to an event Craig has had huge success on in the past, success he will be very much hoping to replicate as the curtain drops on his 2015 season. So far deprived of a WRC2 win this year Craig has battled with unbelievably bad luck but is determined to end the year spraying champagne in a place he regards as his second home.

Billy Coleman Award winner Dean Raftery will also return to the wheel of his Citroen DS3R3 MAX this week as he tackles the final round of the FIA Junior World Rally Championship, Wales Rally GB. After registering for this year’s FIA Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC), the 23 year old Galway man will contest season finale’ in a bid to secure a decent result in the series after just one outing at Rallye Portugal. After a successful season in the British Rally Championship in 2014 and an impressive one-off outing in a MINI WRC at the Galway Rally, Raftery has endured a tough remainder of the season.

Raftery is keen to make an impression during the three day gravel event of Wales Rally GB, often marked as one of the toughest in the 13 event World Rally Championship. Joined by co-driver and 2014 British Rally Champion Arthur Kierans, Raftery is once again backed by the Motorsport Ireland and Irish Sport Council and has set his sights high on achieving a notable result in the Welsh forests.

The third Irish pairing of Rob Duggan and Ger Conway make their Wales Rally GB debut this week – their reward for coming out top in the 2015 Carryduff Forklift Road To Wales competition. They beat off stiff opposition in the seven round series to bag the drive of a lifetime on the World Rally Championship finale, which kicks off with a ceremonial start this Thursday night. Duggan and team-mate Conway will tackle the three-day, nineteen stage rally, in the same car that conquered the British Rally Championship, albeit running in Max specification. That means they will be on a level par with the very best crews from WRC-3, formerly the Junior World Rally Championship.

They got their first taste of the David Greer Motorsport-run Citroën DS3 R3 during a recent test in County Antrim and covered some forty miles. While gravel is not a surface Duggan has much experience of, he said he felt at ease with the car. The event is based near Chester and provides over 310km of special stages across Wales. After a ceremonial start on Thursday 12th, the action kicks off with six mid Wales stages on Friday. Saturday is the longest day, providing just under half of the stage mileage including the spectator stage at Chirk Castle. Sunday 15th has just four stages, culminating in the live for TV power stage, Brenig.