Galway gears-up for the 2014 International Rally

Preparations are well advanced for the Colm Quinn BMW Galway International Rally, which will take place over the weekend of Friday to Sunday, February 7 to 9 – the rally will be the opening round of the 2014 Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

The Galway rally will return to a full weekend format, having been run as a one-day event for the past two years. This year’s rally will have a total of 13 stages over the two days, mainly in the Gort and south Galway areas. The Saturday route will cover five stages and a further eight stages will be covered on the Sunday. The event Headquarters will be the Clayton Hotel in Ballybrit.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to sponsor the first major sporting event in Galway as it coincides with the opening of my new BMW dealership in a brand new facility on the Tuam Road, Galway in 2014,” said Colm Quinn, managing director of Colm Quinn BMW, who had been involved in the previous two Galway rallies through his support of the Colm Quinn MINI WRC driven by Eugene Donnelly.

Galway Motor Club President, Mark Parsons, said the new format will bring an additional early season boost to visitor numbers to Galway City and County. The event generates over 2,000 bed nights annually as most teams spend two weekends in the area between making their route notes and taking part in the event itself.

The rally will contain three main sections – the International Rally being the main event, attracting both World Rally Cars and the best of the Modified drivers in Ireland.

There is also an Historic Rally for cars built in the 1970’s and 1980’s, but fully rebuilt with modern safety features. Finally, on the Sunday route there will be a Junior Rally for drivers under the age of 26. Entries are now being accepted, with the official closing date being Monday January 20 next. In total an entry of over 100 teams is expected.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.