They were third fastest on the opening stage of the three-day Belgian event, their Taranto de Pol Toyota a mere fraction of a second behind joint leaders, Rocco Theunissen and Peter Tsjoen, also in Toyota Corolla WRC's.

Meanwhile, another Irish crew, Derek McGarrity/Chris Patterson (Subaru Impreza WRC) were 8.36 seconds off the lead. They spun on the second stage and dropped down to tenth in overall classification.

Tsjoen took the outright lead on S.S. 2 with the Peugeot 206 WRC of Gregoire de Mevius some five seconds behind.

Theunissen and Greer followed ever so closely. Greer - 6. 2 seconds off the lead pace - was ahead of the fancied Patrick Snijers (Subaru WRC). The order was unchanged through stage three.

Eamonn Boland/Anthony Nestor (Subaru WRC) were in the top twenty after the opening stages with Roy White/Michael Patterson (Mitsubishi), who are second in the Group N Belgian Championship, also close to the top twenty.

At the end of the first leg, the positions of the Irish drivers were:

Ian Greer 4th; Derek McGarrity 7th; Eamonn Boland 16th.; Roy White 23rd. Dick Curran 42nd. and John O'Leary 62nd.

Qualifying for the latest round of the British Formula Renault Championship, involving Cork drivers, Matt Griffin and Robbie Coleman, takes place at Donington Park today.

Down in Thruxton, Cork motorcycle racer, Declan Swanton, currently third in the British Stock Sport Junior Championship, heads into his qualifying session around 4pm.

On the home front, the Dundalk Motor Cycle Road Races is the first competitive action of the year on the road-racing scene.

Practice starts at noon with two races later this evening. In Karting, the "O" Plate Irish Championships take place in Kartworld, Watergrasshill - three qualifying heats are down for decision this afternoon.

In Mondello Park, the Dunlop RT2000's and two Formula Palmer Audi Championship races are the main attraction.