The late 2006-specification WRC Impreza, in which triple Irish Tarmac champion Donnelly has already won in Scotland and the Isle of Man this year, is listed in the 'cars for sale' section of the official website of Subaru's World championship constructors Prodrive.

But Donnelly, who heads the Ulster entry list announced today, said: "There is no question of me not doing the rally in the S12.

"Yes, it is for sale - but not until after the Ulster Rally. Prodrive have a potential buyer for it and have suggested we could upgrade to the newer S12B car that the World Championship team used in the early part of this year.

"But nothing's been decided yet and I will drive my S12 on the Ulster and then we'll see what happens for the Cork '20' and Rally Ireland."

The entry list for the two-day event which incorporates both the Irish Tarmac and British championships, also includes young Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen at two and former Junior World Championship ace Kris Meeke at three.

Meeke, who won his first Tarmac Championship round in Killarney earlier this year, has been drafted in to replace Mark Higgins in the Pirelli Subaru S11 - a car which is also for sale on the Prodrive site - because for this round the Manxman must revert to a production Impreza in order to qualify for British championship points.

But Higgins is also second in the Irish series and Meeke's task will be to try and prevent Donnelly from taking a victory which would all but guarantee him a fourth Tarmac title in a row.

The Armagh-based event also sees the return of former winner and two-time Tarmac champion Andrew Nesbitt at No.4 for his first appearance after retiring on the first day of the Donegal International in June.

Intriguingly, he, too, has been linked to an S12 Subaru.

Eamonn Boland switches from his Ford Focus on an S12 Subaru to start at No.5 and Tim McNulty makes his first appearance since Donegal at No.6 with the Ford Focus of four-time Lurgan Park Rally winner Kevin Lynch at seven.

Guy Wilks heads the British Championship contenders at eight in the first of the two official Mitsubishi team Lancers - Gwyndaf Evans is at 10 in the second - with Higgins sandwiched between in the Stobart team Subaru N12.

The first of the Irish production runners is Seamus Leonard at 12 in his Mitsubishi with current champion Colm Murphy at 14 in his Subaru.

Phillip Morrow, leader of the UK Mitsubishi Evo Challenge series, is at 18 as he seeks his fifth win of the season and a place in the Mitsubishi team next season.

The Philip White Tyres sponsored event, which is fully-subscribed, takes place on Friday and Saturday (Aug 31/Sep 1) and the organisers are appealing for volunteers to join the 700-strong marshalling team needed to keep the rally on the road. Anyone interested can contact Simon MacRory on 078 3139 9428.

Top of entry list: 1 Eugene Donnelly and Paul Kiely (Subaru Impreza); 2 Andreas Mikkelsen and Ola Floene (Ford Focus); 3 Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle (Subaru Impreza); 4 Andrew Nesbitt and James O'Brien (Subaru Impreza); 5 Eamonn Boland and Francis Regan (Subaru Impreza); 6 Tim McNulty and TBA (Subaru Impreza); 7 Kevin Lynch and David Moynihan (Ford Focus); 8 Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh (Mitsubishi Lancer); 9 Mark Higgins and Rory Kennedy (Subaru Impreza N); 10 Gwyndaf Evans and Huw Lewis (Mitsubishi Lancer N); 11 Hugh-Martin Doherty and Michael McBride (Subaru Impreza); 12 Seamus Leonard and Gerry McVeigh (Mitsubishi Lancer N); 14 Colm Murphy and Ger Loughrey (Subaru Impreza N); 15 David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas (Toyota Corolla S2000); 16 Wyn Humphreys and Ally Mackay (Subaru Impreza N); 17 Philip Morrow and Simon Morrow (Mitsubishi Lancer N); 18 Denis Biggerstaff and Paul McGee (Subaru Impreza); 19 Maurice Gass and Kenny Gass (Subaru Impreza); 20 Sean McArdle and Damian Garvey (Toyota Corolla).