The 2020 Corrib Oil Galway International Rally takes place over the coming weekend, 1st & 2nd February.
Once again, a strong quality entry has
been received for the first major rally of the year and as always, the Galway
International Rally is the opening round of the Mainfield Irish Tarmac Rally Championship& the
Second Round of the Historic Irish Tarmac Championship. Entries have been received from all over
Ireland as well as several overseas entries. The competing teams, their
sponsors and crews, and the thousands of spectators that will line the route
will bring a welcome early season boost of visitor numbers to Galway City and County.
The event has retained its full weekend format and is expected to generate over
2,000 bed nights for hotels and guest houses. The rally is estimated to
generate approximately €3m of revenue for the local economy.
Clerk of the Course, Gary Leonard, said
“Galway Motor Club is indebted to the staff of Galway City and County Councils,
An Garda Siochana, Fáilte Ireland, the Road Safety Authority, the Directors and
Staff of Corrib Oil, the 300 volunteer marshals from all over Ireland, and most
of all the residents along the route for their assistance with temporary road
closures to ensure the safe running of the event.”
The
rally will get under way with scrutineering of cars at Motor World, Station Road, Oranmore, from 1.00pm
on Saturday 1stFebruary, followed by a Ceremonial Start in Eyre
Square later that day at 7.00pm.Both are ideal opportunities to see the rally
cars and drivers prior to the start of the competition.
Headquarters
for the event is the Clayton Hotel, Ballybrit,Galway. The rally route will
cover 9 closed road stages on Sunday 2ndFebruary. The rally Service
Park will be in the IDA Loughrea Technology and Business Park, by kind
permission of the IDA. Sunday evening will see the ceremonial finish back at
Clayton Hotel from approximately 4.30pm.
Admission to all events is free over the weekend.
Road Safety:
The Corrib Oil
Galway International Rally is an event that is sanctioned by the FIA under an
official Permit issued by Motorsport Ireland and supported by the RSA – The
Road Safety Authority of Ireland.The ‘Keep the Race in its Place’ campaign is
extremely successful in talking to predominantly young people who follow
motorsport. The Galway Motor Club is eager to remind everyone of the need to
drive safely at all times – hence the message “Keep the Race in its Place’’.
All competing cars will carry this logo and message, and extensive signage to
promote this road safety message will be visible.
Gary Leonard,
Clerk of the Course, encourages fans travelling to the Corrib Oil Galway
International Rally to heed the message from the organisers to ‘Keep the Race in
its Place’, to slow down, never drink and drive and to always wear a seatbelt.
All spectators on the closed road stages must always obey the Marshals , as
they will be implementing a comprehensive Safety Plan. A traffic management
plan has been put in place with the support of the Gardai.
Traffic Diversions:
In
order to facilitate the safe running of the event there will be temporary road
closures on certain roads around East County Galway on Sunday 2ndFebruary.
All road closures will be clearly sign posted and marshalled. All residents
have been informed of the times and temporary road closure arrangements and the
details have been advertised by Galway County Council. There will be additional
traffic in the Eyre Square area from 6.00pm to 9.00pm on Saturday 1stFebruary
to facilitate the Ceremonial Start, in the vicinity of the Old Dublin Road,
Oranmore, on Saturday afternoon and in Loughreaand surrounding areas during
Sunday.
Nominated Galway Charity:
Galway
Motor Club has chosen ACT for Meningitis, as its charity partner for the rally.
The charity’s volunteers will be promoting awareness at various locations along
the rally route and all support will be much appreciated by them.
Rally Programmes:
The Official Rally Programme contains
full listings of stage times, service area times, detailed Ordnance Survey
Route Maps and all the information required to locate the many spectator access
points. The Programme costs €10 and is available from the Clayton Hotel and
from various Corrib Oil filling stations, newsagents and outlets in the city
and county, listed on the Rally.ie & @galwaymc Facebook page.
Leading Entries:
The
entry of more than 70 cars has been seeded by the organisers and the rally
winner is likely to come from one of the top 20 seeds. Top seed is Fermanagh
driver Garry Jennings & Donegal co-driver Rory Kennedy who have won this
event twice in the past, 2016 & 2017, and they will be one of the favorites
to win again in their familiar Subaru Impreza WRC.
They are followed at 2 by another Fermanagh driver Alastair Fisher, nephew of the late Bertie Fisher, and he will be co-driven by Gordon Noble. 2014 Galway winner Donagh Kelly with Conor Foley co-driving are third seeds in a VW Polo R5. The Moffett siblings Sam and Josh, Tarmac Champions in 2017 & 2018 respectively have moved from Ford Fiestas to Hyundai i20 R5s for the coming season, while Welsh driver Meirion Evans who put in some very impressive performances last year rounds off the top six in his VW Polo R5.
Leading Local Entries:
Members of Galway Motor Club taking part in the event will be seeking to put their name on the prestigious Brian G. Thornton Memorial Cup. The top seeded Galway competitors are:
Media
Coverage:
Results,
regular updates and more detailed information will be available on the Galway International
Facebook page.
Galway
Bay FM will be reporting from all 9 stages throughout the day with regular
updates and driver interviews.
