Preparations are well advanced for the 2017 Lady Gregory Hotel Galway Summer Stages Rally. It will take place on the 27thAugust next, and will be a counting round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship, the TopPart West Coast Championship, and also the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship. A full entry of top line rally drivers from Ireland and the UK and beyond is therefore guaranteed.
For the second year, the associate sponsors of the event will be Athenry Company Bluebird Care,and DHKN, Chartered Accountants, Galway, both companies being long-time supporters of motorsport in Galway.
The Clerk of the Course is Mark Parsons, an experienced organiser and rally competitor. The rally headquarters will be the Lady Gregory Hotel, Gort from where competitors will cover a loop of three stages three times, providing 120 kilometres of classic Galway stages never run in this format before. The 2017 event will run to a full weekend format with Scrutiny, Ceremonial Startand entertainment on Saturday 26thAugust. Sundays compact route will have a leisurely 10.00am start, and the rally will finish at 5.00pm.
The rally format will bring a welcome boost to visitor numbers to Galway County as the event generates a requirement for up to 1000 bed nights in the area over the rally weekend.
The 2016 Lady Gregory Hotel Galway Summer Rally had a grandstand finish, with Monaghan’s Niall Maquire / James O Reilly in the Subaru WRC just pipping Gary Kiernan/Ryan Moore in their Escort Mk2 by 5 seconds at the finish. The coveted Conroy Cup, for the best Galway Motor Club crew was won by Paul Curley/Jason Ollernshaw on that occasion. With the 2017 event counting for 3 major championships, competition will be intense in all classes.
Regulations and Entry Forms for the 2017 rally will be available from the Galway Motor Club website when finalised and prospective competitors are advised to get entries in early to guarantee a start.
For the first time, Galway Motor Club will run a SHAKEDOWN STAGE on Saturday evening prior to competition on Sunday
