With 16 special stages and over 200km of stage miles, it will be a tough rally. Some 151 cars are allowed to start the main event on Saturday morning, and these will be led away by top seed and 2009 winners Liam McCarthy and Kieran Murphy in their Toyota Corolla WRC.
The Historics will begin their rally on stage 5, led by Denis Moynihans Escort, followed by Todd Falvey and Rikki Proffitts Porsche 911s. Ed Murphy and Martin Sheahan's Escorts should also be in the hunt. The Juniors Rally will consist of the final four stages of the event, and the top three seeds here are David Fleming, Billy McCarthy & Andrew Lehane.
Another attraction this year is the return of Slowly Sideways Ireland. Nostalgic Group B and Group 4 cars will be on display here during the event in the shape of a Manta 400, Renault 5 Turbo, Fiat 131 etc. Two cars that will create special interest are the fire breathing Audi Quattro S1 driven by Dermott Simpson, and the Vauxhall Chevette HSR of Andrew & Alan Bushe. The Chevette is the original car as driven by Jimmy McRae on his way to 2nd place on the West Cork Rally in 1980 behind Billy Coleman.
The ceremonial start on Friday night 19th March will take place at 7pm. The Slowly Sideways cars and top ten from the main rally will parade through the town, to finish up in Deasys car park where Dougie Hughes will introduce each driver as he passes under the start ramp. It will be a great chance to see some of these cars and drivers close up and should add to the atmosphere in the town for rally weekend.
The action begins at 10am and finishes at 4pm both days.
Accomodation may still be sourced by contacting the Quality Hotel on 023 8836400, (00 353 23 8836400 from the UK) or logging onto their website at www.qualityclonakiltyhotel.com. For more rally details please log onto www.corkmotorclub.com or www.westcorkrally.com.
Kevin O’Driscoll
Press & Media Officer.
