Champion Fisher top seed for Galway’s big rally

THE Corrib Oil Galway International Rally is going ahead on this Saturday and Sunday and marks the 51st anniversary of the event which began in 1971.

The two-day, fifteen stage event will have just short of 240km of competitive driving of closed road stages around the town of Loughrea.

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 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship & the Second Round of the Irish Tarmac Historic Rally Championship.

Entries have come 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,

Clerk of the Course, Aiden Connolly, said “Galway Motor Club is indebted to the staff of Galway City and County Councils, An Garda Siochana, Fáilte Ireland, the Road Safety Authority and the HSE, 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 Galway Racecourse from 1pm on Friday, followed by a Ceremonial Start in Eyre Square later that day at 8pm. Both are ideal opportunities to see the rally cars and drivers prior to the start of the competition. Headquarters for the event is the Connacht Hotel on the Dublin Road.

The rally route will cover nine closed road stages on Saturday, February 5, and a further six closed road stages on Sunday. The stages are all based around the town of Loughrea with the action getting under way at 8:50am on Saturday.

The rally Service Park will be in the IDA Loughrea Technology and Business Park, Loughrea, by kind permission of the IDA.  Sunday evening will see the ceremonial finish back at Connacht Hotel from approximately 4.30pm.  Admission to all events is free over the weekend.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.

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