McC Rally Reports

01/09/2024

Stay safe on the stages in Galway.
Let's have a SAFE event.
Always respect the Marshalls and Directions of officials.
Keep the speed down, and never ever drink and drive.

25/08/2024

THE DOGLEAP IS BACK! ! ! ! ! PLEASE SHARE!

Entries will open soon for the Premier Car Parts Dogleap Forestry Rally on the 19th Oct 2024
Thanks to Paul Hone of Premier Car Parts, we're delighted to have you on board as title sponsor!

We've been working hard behind the scenes to revive the Dogleap rally.
Our team selected 2 iconic stages, Cam and Springwell, which will both be run 3 times.
We're very excited to return to the forests again after nearly 15 years.
We will provide nearly 40 miles of legendary stages for £595.

Spread the word, and get your entries in early.
It's been a struggle of a lot of clubs running forestry events here and across the water, a few being cancelled due to lack of entries and rising costs, after the clubs put in a massive amount of work to run it for the competitors.
We need a good entry for this rally to revive it and also sustain the future of the event.
People have been asking us for years to return to the forest, this is an opportunity for the younger competitors to give these stages a go for the first time, and a chance for those who loved it in the past, to give it another go.
More details to follow, but let's get the word out there and give it a share for us.

ANICC - Association of Northern Ireland Car Clubs
McGrady Insurance Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Rally Championship

25/08/2024

On this day, 2012, Declan Boyle with his navigating cousin, Brian, took victory in the Galway Summer Rally.

24/08/2024

02/08/2024

Cleared for take off ✈️🏁👍

24/07/2024

Galway Motor Club

07/07/2024

Shout out to my newest followers.
Excited to have you on board Stephen Molloy, Bob Mailey, Shane O Connor, Chrissy Mc Candless, Mary Mulvaney, Richard Lynam, Pat Conway

29/06/2024

⚠️ Marshalls Required ⚠️

💯Also static car show on the day ➡️

Marshals needed .
PRM Loughgall Stages rally Sat 6th July ,marshals still needed for 2 stages - park stage & road stage .
Sign on 7-7.30am at latest for breakfast at Loughgall football club BT61 8HU. Lunchpack & sponsor gift provided . Please get in contact with chief marshal Caroline 07792037441
Park Stage Commander Trevor Maxwell
Road Stage Commander Sean Meehan
Thank you

28/06/2024

WRC – Ott Tänak's Poland curse continues after an unavoidable deer strike incident

27/06/2024

That famous junction and overshot....

Rally – In 2006 the Scot finished eighth in Donegal. Nobody remembers that. Everybody remembers this…

24/06/2024

We were joined by Onthepacenote Andy, and John along with Highland Radio News and Sport Oisin Kelly, and special Guest 6 time Donegal Winner Andrew Nesbitt.

24/06/2024

The Manus Kelly Trophy given to a worthy competitor who goes out and marshalls.
A Beautiful Trophy. 🏆

24/06/2024

How to explain The Donegal Attraction to a government minister.
Great read from the DirtFish guys,
who I met on Friday at the End Of Malin Head Stage.

Rally – DirtFish was happy to do the Irish government’s homework in the country's stunning northwest last week

23/06/2024

Tommy O'Connell, wins the 2024 Donegal International Rally Historics.

FOLLOW UP
Unfortunately, due to a technical issue Tommy was DQ'd and Struck from the Official Results.

Picture Kevin Glendinning.

23/06/2024

Cars coming off fanad for the run to Letterkenny and the finish ramp including the Winner of the Donegal National Rally Declan The Milkman Gallagher.

23/06/2024

Winner of the Double, and 2024 Donegal International Rally Callum Devine Runner up Meirion Evans and in 3rd David Kelly.

Wasn't expecting Callum to stop, but, Fair play to him for stopping and having a word.

23/06/2024

At the end of Fanad Head 2, last stage of the 2024 Donegal International Rally.
Awaiting the winners

23/06/2024

Unfortunately, ATLANTIC DRIVE 2 (2ND run over Atlantic drive)has been cancelled due to a bereavement on the stage.

23/06/2024

Leader board after first 3 stages on Rally Sunday.
Attaching the overall picture

23/06/2024

High drama in the national rally where Kevin Gallagher has stopped in fanad head 1

23/06/2024

Drama as Rally Leader Matt Edwards limps out of Atlantic Drive. Lost over a minute.
Got going again for Fanad.
Only time will tell if he he makes to start of fanad. Head stage.

23/06/2024

Guys and gals we have 2 x Wilton Recycling Donegal International Rally hats to give away in conjuncuntion with Onthepacenote .

1st person to come up to end of Stage 17/20 Fanad Head and tell us your favourite Donegal Rally memory gets a hat!!!

23/06/2024

Today, Rally Sunday in Donegal, makes me proud and Emotional at the same time,
5 years ago fate took a man away from the Rallying community, that will never be replaced.
That man was Manus 'mandy' Kelly.
I stood at the end of the purt lake stage in creeslough, only to be told to stand down, as there had been an incident on the fanad stage.
Tears flowed when we found out what happened, AND who was involved.
Not for the first time i commented Rallying is such a cruel sport when something goes wrong.
Memories will never fade of the man who always had a smile for me, and NEVER refused to give us a word, or 50 😁
Mandy, you will never be replaced, and your memory will last in many people's mind forever, even those who didn't know you personally, you had touched their lives.
Bernie and the family and all the Rallying family, now have a place in Fanad they can visit.
Rest easy a chara.
Paul.

Caption for the photo that was taken at the end of High Glen was
" we did it Paul, 3 in a row, and it hasn't sank in - 3 in a row sir - 3 in a row"

22/06/2024

22/06/2024

Bad data coverage on knockalla meant we tried, but failed to update all day.
Here's the Top 3 in the Donegal International Rally and the modifieds after day 2.

21/06/2024

Championship shake-up as Edwards takes early Donegal lead

Samdec Security International ITRC

Matt Edwards and David Moynihan have a brilliant opportunity to move to the top of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship standings as the Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew end day one of the 2024 Donegal International Rally with a 12-second lead.
Edwards set his first of four fastest times on Donegal’s Malin Head opener, 0.7 seconds quicker than Irish Tarmac Rally Championship leaders Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin.
A hat-trick of stage wins on Donegal’s opening loop only gave him a 2.1-second lead over fellow Ford pilot Cronin. An overshoot on stage four’s first junction cost Edwards a chunk of time as he conceded his top spot to Cronin.
Cronin’s lead was short-lived when an accident on stage five put his Fiesta out of the rally with rear suspension damage. The Ballylickey man’s rare mistake, which had his Fiesta collide with a stone wall, puts his ITRC lead at risk with two rounds remaining.
Meanwhile, Callum Devine was finding form behind the wheel of his recently acquired Skoda Fabia Rally2, setting the fastest time on Mamore Gap. The defending Donegal Rally winner made a steady start to the rally, trying to stay within touching distance of the leaders as he began understanding how his Fabia handled on the slippery Irish stages.
Devine’s set-up tweaks seemed to work as he finished Friday in second position, 12 seconds behind rally leader Edwards.
A series of competitive times penciled Cathan McCourt’s name into third on Donegal’s overnight leaderboard, 12.8 seconds behind Devine. The Tyrone challenger was making only his third rally start of the year.
It was a difficult day for 2022 Donegal International Rally winners, Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes. Pop-off valve issues hindered their opening stage while power steering failure on stage four cost them at least 15 seconds, putting them in a battle with Meirion Evans and David Kelly.
Kelly, who is fifth in the Irish Tarmac Championship, started the rally with a rapid fourth-fastest time on Malin Head, less than three seconds off Edwards’ benchmark. The 28-year-old’s hard tyres may have suited stage one’s dry road surface but it was less than ideal on Mamore Gap and Coolcross.
Friday’s race for fourth ended with Moffett on top, three seconds ahead of Evans’ Toyota Yaris Rally2, and 4.8 seconds ahead of Kelly’s Volkswagen Polo R5.
Stage one knocked out several Donegal contenders with Desi Henry proving the first Malin Head victim. The Citroen pilot hit a stone that was pulled out from the side of a road and lost three minutes with a puncture.
Top five after SS6/20
1 Edwards / Moynihan (Ford Fiesta Rally2) 42:26.6s
2 Devine / O’Sullivan (Skoda Fabia Rally2) +12.0s
3 McCourt / Hoy (Fiesta) +24.8
4 Moffett / Hayes (Citroen C3 Rally2) +52.8
5 Evans / Conway (Toyota Yaris Rally2) +55.8

Rally4
Championship leaders, Ryan McHugh and Declan Boyle, ended a dazzling day of Rally4 action with a 5.7-second advantage over Donegal compatriot Kyle McBride.
McBride had set the front-wheel-drive pace throughout the day and was unfortunate to lose his 12.1-second lead on the final stage after picking up a puncture two kilometres into the 12.1-kilometre test.
Ioan Lloyd rounded out Rally4’s top three, 10.3 seconds behind McBride.
Keelan Grogan dropped 19 seconds after a big moment on stage one and had an overshoot on the next pass of Malin Head but finished the day on a high with the second-fastest time on stage six. Grogan is fourth in Rally4, 36.4 seconds behind Lloyd.
Rally4 standings after SS6/20
1 MacHugh / Boyle (Ford Fiesta Rally4) 46:35.3s
2 McBride / Mullen (Peugeot 208 Rally4) +5.7s
3 Lloyd / Williams (208) +16.0
4 Grogan / Sherlock (208) +52.4
5 Kelly / McArdle (208) +1:50.1

McEvoy Motorsport Modified ITRC
Donegal’s Malin Head opener proved to be an attritional curtain-raiser for a blockbuster entry of modified rally cars.
Many people’s pre-rally favourite, Mark Alcorn, suffered a rally-ending impact when his Ford Es**rt Mk2 collided with a wall on the exit of a blind left-hander while Kevin Eves retired his Toyota Corolla with mechanical trouble before the end of the same stage. Home hopeful Damien Tourish punctured his Es**rt on stage one, losing one and a half minutes.
Kevin Gallagher was fastest in two-wheel-drive on stage one but fell behind Gary McPhillips on the next test. A brace of fastest times for Gallagher’s Darrian T90 put him back in a 16.7-second lead over the hard-charging Toyota Starlet of Declan Gallagher.
Declan Gallagher posted a fantastic fastest time on Friday’s penultimate test to claw back 8.5 seconds on his namesake. The duel ended with Kevin holding a 10.5-second overnight advantage over Declan with McPhillips a further 22.4 seconds back in third after taking a more cautious approach to Friday’s final rain-soaked stage.
Frank Kelly has paced himself in challenging conditions to sit within modified’s top ten, sitting in a prime position to take top Modified ITRC points from round five.
Chris O’Callaghan had been fourth in two-wheel-drive before losing his brakes on stage six and falling off the road. The recent Circuit of Ireland modified winner managed to complete the stage but lost two and a half minutes in the process.
Modified standings after SS6/20
1 Gallagher / Moore (Darrian T90) 44:54.3s
2 Gallagher / McCarthy (Toyota Starlet) +10.5s
3 McPhillips / Sheridan (Ford Es**rt Mk2) +32.9
4 Harvey / Doherty (Es**rt) +1:11.3
5 O’Donoghue / O’Donoghue (Es**rt) +1:12.0

Photo: Matt Edwards and David Moynihan
D. HARRIGAN IMAGES

21/06/2024

2nd loop of stages ready to go.
SS4, 5, and 6 in the wet inishowen peninsula.
On the pacenote and Highland radio to my left.

Matt Edwards leads the way ahead of Keith Cronin by 2.1secs.
Top 2wd is last years champion Kevin Gallagher after ss3

21/06/2024

So, that's the first loop of three stages completed in Donegal.

01/06/2024

Loads and loads of Rally merchandise,
Test day experiences, and other valuable prizes galore, all up for auction at this very worthy fundraiser.
Keep SUNDAY 16th June Free folks.
Venue is the Voodoo in Letterkenny.
Keep the revs up.

30/05/2024