Galway gears up for Safety Direct Galway International Rally

Thousands of spectators are expected to descend on Galway this weekend for the 2012 Safety Direct Galway International Rally.

The rally has this year been granted 50 per cent bonus points towards the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, thus guaranteeing a quality field of top class cars and drivers.

Victor Farrell, Clerk of the Course, said he is delighted with the fantastic level of entries, the best for many years.

However, he appealed to all spectators to obey marshals at all times and to respect private property.

Mr Farrell has also paid tribute to Galway County and City Councils, An Gardaí and the residents along the closed road sections for their help in ensuring that the event runs safely.

The public are advised to expect traffic delays in Headford between 12noon and 4pm on Sunday, particularly near the Trading Post.

Diversions will also be in place in Eyre Square on Saturday from 7pm to 9pm and on Sunday between 4.30pm and 7pm.

Additional traffic will also be experienced in the area of the Dyke Road on Sunday between 9am and 12noon during the running of the Spectator Stage, and in the vicinity of Motorpark in Terryland between 2pm and 7pm on Saturday.

The number one seed for this year’s rally is double champion Tim McNulty from Meath, with Sligo co-driver Paul Kiely, in a Subaru World Rally Car. Tim is no stranger to Galway, having won both the International Rally and the Galway Summer Rally last year.

The rally also sees the return of 2010 winner Gareth MacHale from Dublin, co-driven by Brian Murphy in his Focus WRC. The number three seed is another Tarmac Rally champion, Derek McGarrity from Antrim, in another Focus WRC.

However, the car and driver combination that is attracting most interest is the number four seed of Eugene Donnelly from Maghera. Eugene, a five times champion, who will drive the latest Mini John Cooper Works WRC.

Darragh O’Riordan from Cork makes up the top five seeds. Darragh drives a Subaru WRC and was the winner of the Cork 20 Rally last October.

The battle for the Group N (production) cars will also be intense, with Enniskillen’s Gary Jennings, Munster Joinery team driver Alan Ring, Airtricity’s Donagh Kelly and Sam Moffett from Monaghan all driving Mitsubishi Evos.

The top modified entrants are Daniel McKenna and Gary McPhillips, two of Ireland’s best clubman drivers, in highly modified Escort Mk 2s.

There are over 40 local drivers entered, including Tom Flaherty at 15, Oranmore’s Richard Burke in a Subaru at 18, and Pat Kelly, with his son Jonathan co-driving, in another Subaru at number 25.

Safety Direct, in addition to sponsoring the event, will also enter two Honda Civics, for Loughrea’s Neil Pierce and Enda O Leary at 32 and Galway’s Alan Fair and Shane Reidy at 52.

A number of Galway people now resident in Australia have returned to take part in the event, including James Brett from Clarinbridge with Loughrea’s Michelle Crowley co-driving in a Honda Civic. The local crews are competing for the coveted Brian Thornton Memorial Trophy.

The Galway Historic Rally takes place in conjunction with the International Rally. For 2012, the historic cars will run ahead of the main rally. This will give the thousands of spectators that line the route the opportunity to see cars from the 1960s and 1970s while they wait for the top drivers to arrive.

The historic entry includes multiple Historic Champion, Ray Cunningham from Oranmore in the Galway Mini Centre Mini Cooper S, and European Historic Championship regular, Ernie Graham in an Escort Mk2.

Full details of the route, maps, timings, entries, and where to see the cars in action are contained in the Official Rally Programme, which will be available in many city and county filling stations, the Clayton Hotel and from Safety Direct on the Tuam Road. A full list of outlets is available on the rally website on www.galwayinternational rally.com.

ACT for Meningitis is the charity partner for this year’s rally.