It is the obvious omission from Kevin Lynch's rally CV - the lack of an Irish Tarmac international victory.

In just six years he has strung together a long list of wins at national level, including a record 16 in a row on his way to a hat-trick of Northern Ireland championships. But the big ones, the major internationals, have always eluded him.

True, Lynch has not contested as many as he might have liked and when he has appeared he is, invariably, in the thick of the action at the front. He just hasn't made it all the way to the finish line in pole position.

But that may change when the burly, utilities contractor from Dungiven lines up for the toddsleap.com Ulster Rally which starts from the Mall in Armagh tomorrow afternoon (3pm).

With a starting list missing the likes of Eugene Donnelly, Tim McNulty and last year's winner Kris Meeke, and other potential front runners such as Mark Higgins and Guy Wilks restricted to production cars in this joint Irish and British championship event, the door is wide open for Lynch to step up to the plate.

He claims tarmac is not his primary surface but says he is feeling good about the Ulster Rally.

The feelgood factor is partly attributable to his latest win, a fifth in a row on the Lurgan Park Rally, and partly to his new KPL Subaru S12B which has got him fizzing with enthusiasm.

"The car is superb, the best I've driven, especially on the gravel. It just bites and goes.

"We'll have to see how that transfers to tarmac but I feel comfortable in it and it suits my driving style, far more so than my (Ford) Focus."

Even so, in the largely unloved M-Sport Focus he was in second place and closing hard on leader Donnelly when the Donegal International was prematurely halted back in June.

"Yes, I think I could have won Donegal if it had run the distance," says Lynch, "but we'll never know for sure. But it gives me great heart for the Ulster. I'm happy with the Subaru - more than happy - and I think we'll be fit to fight for the win."

Donnelly may be missing this time but Lynch still has to face established international winners like Tarmac champion-elect Eamonn Boland and former champion Derek McGarrity in similar S12B Subarus plus a resurgent Kenny McKinstry and the in-form Peadar Hurson.

That won't phase him in the slightest nor will it affect his strategy. "I'll just get out there and get on with it, pushing from the first stage to the last like I always do, and we'll see what happens," he says.

"If someone can go quicker they'll beat me - but they'll have to go some to do it!"

McGarrity, returning after a recent operation on his injured arm and shoulder, and Hurson, a winner of two NI championship rounds in recent weeks, may pose the biggest threat but Lynch is a man who rarely lets opportunities slip especially on a rally where last weekend's torrential rain has left the stages in the Armagh-Tyrone region awash with mud and gravel.

That's right up Lynch's street.