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Reigning champ Boyle heads record entry for Galway Rally

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ON receipt of the biggest entry for any Irish rally this year, the Galway Motor Club hosts their Galway Summer Rally, the penultimate round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship on Sunday next.
With some 240 crews submitting entries for the nine stage event, the Galway organisers will, due to the rally regulations, only be allowed to start 141 crews in the main field and twenty more in the popular Junior category.
The massive entry is, aside from its location, attributed to its inclusion in the hugely popular Triton series along with being rounds of the regional based Border Championship and the Top Part West Coast Championship. Outgoing national champion Donegal’s Declan Boyle heads the list in his state of the art Ford Fiesta WRC and is favourite to take event victory.
He won last year’s Galway Summer Rally in a Subaru WRC while his bid to become the first ever driver to record a straight hat trick of National titles was destroyed early this season with punctures on the opening rounds in Abbeyleix and Roscommon – at the time he led both events.
In Sligo, Boyle took a fine victory on his first national outing in his new car as fellow Donegal driver Donagh Kelly went on to clinch the title and capture the Vard Memorial Trophy.
The battle for second and third is still very much in the balance, former triple national champion Monaghan’s Niall Maguire (Subaru WRC) holds the advantage at present, although with dropped scores taken into consideration there is just five points separating the trio.
Maguire best haul of points (19) was in the Midland Rally, but since then he has switched to the ex-Boyle S12B Subaru WRC and is still adapting to his new acquisition.
For Roy White – third overall in 2013 and runner-up to Boyle (by a single point) last year – another top three finish for the Clonmel driver will be a fine achievement in his MG ZR. The bonus points from the Power Stage could play a deciding role.
Kerry’s Alan Ring (Subaru WRC) missed the last round in Sligo, his best performance was in the Midland Rally where he annexed twenty points – a similar performance in Galway would boost his bid to finish second in the Triton series.
Meanwhile, Welsh driver Steve Wood, a regular in last year’s series, netted third in the recent non-championship round, the Clonmel based Tipperary Stonethrowers Rally. Kevin Barrett in the Triton Showers liveried Subaru WRC will be aiming to secure a top five championship finish.
The top ten also includes Tyrone’s Paddy McVeigh in the ex-Patrick Elliott Subaru WRC, he has made only sporadic outings this season; former national champion Peadar Hurson (Subaru WRC), whilst seeded at number eight, could be amongst the main contenders for event victory; Monaghan’s Daniel McKenna will campaign a Ford Fiesta R5 as Motorsport Safety Group N leader Aidan Wray edges closer to claiming the showroom category of the Triton series.
For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.

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