Following the safety briefing in the An Granian Theatre this morning, the crews will head to service and then on up to the opening stage, Brenagh, at lunchtime. Only then will we start to get the answers as to which drivers are going to be ‘the heroes’ on this Donegal International Rally. Rarely in recent years has the entry been so competitive, nor so open. The opening stage certainly won’t provide all the answers of course, but should give us a fair indication. Over the course of the rally’s three days there are twenty stages, the character of the roads is ever changing, the pressure of the competition will build all the time, and we could, hopefully, witness an epic rally battle unfold. Throw in the social delights of Letterkenny and surrounding satellite towns, the beautifully dramatic countryside, allied to hopefully a bit of decent weather, and it should be a memorable weekend.
Last year’s winner Sam Moffett and his co-driver James O’Reilly in their state of the art Fiesta WRC will head the convoy up to the Brenagh stage. Sam recently won the Killarney Lakes as well as his home Monaghan and Munster rallies. Sam said before the start. `I feel there are no expectations on me. People think it will be a 2-litre race and my 1600 will follow. I will pick and choose my stages. The first stage is very fast and may not suit me. I was very nervous before the Circuit, but not here. I don`t know if that is a good thing. I actually ate some breakfast this morning!`
Declan Boyle and his co-driver Brian Boyle in their Subaru, current Tarmac Championship points leaders, should be next up. Declan has had some last minute worries about an electronic circuit board in his Impreza, so hopefully he will have a clean run and get a bit further than last year when he was forced, although leading, to retire after one stage when his Impreza encountered brake troubles. Then at three is one of the great heroes of the Donegal Rally, Garry Jennings, with the evergreen Rory Kennedy reading the notes in his Subaru. Garry is the current Tarmac Champion, has won the rally outright in 2012 and his Subaru has been rebuilt since the Circuit. His ‘man on the notes’ Rory Kennedy is perhaps the most successful co-driver since the inception of the event as the Rally of the Rosses back in the early ‘70s.
A formidable pair, Garry and Rory. But then all the top runners are special people, and it sure looks like it could be a great battle for supremacy. Even young Josh Moffett, just 21 years old and recently nominated for the Billy Coleman Award, could be right in the hunt and certainly the benchmark for the plethora of other GpN crews further back. Then there are the Escorts running in the National section. What a line up – as good as there has ever been, headed by Gary McPhillips, Daniel McKenna and Manus Kelly. Behind them is the ‘flying milkman’ Declan Gallagher in his Starlet. He could well spoil the Escort men’s happiness if he puts on the type of show that sees him heading the National section of the Clonakiltyblackpudding Tarmac series. There are so many top drivers in Escorts it is impossible to list them here. Well, just one more – the North West 200 and Isle of man TT winner Michael Dunlop is on his first proper rally here, driving an Escort. His exploits this weekend, and no doubt there will be many, will create world- wide interest and, with James McNulty co-driving, we wish him well.
As usual with this Donegal Rally, there is a certain amount of entry list reshuffling in the run-up to the start. Michael Dunlop will run with No.5 on his Escort and will start 39th on the road, behind Joe McGonigle in his Clio. Shane Maguire is No.164 and starts 23rd in the order. Richard Moffett carries 160 on his Starlet and starts around 30th.
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