The rally will get under way on Friday
morning at 11:20 am when the competitors will be waved off of the
start line at An Grianán Theatre. Last year, World Rally legend
Markku Alén waved the crews off, before taking off to watch the
stages.
After the start ramp, the crews will
head off into the stages. The Gortree stage begins the rally, and
with fast straights followed by treacherously sharp corners, the
crews had better be wide awake and on full alert. 8 stages will run
on Friday, interspersed with 2 service stops.
Day 2 of the rally begins on Saturday
at 9:53 am. The surviving competitors will head north, towards Fanad
Head. Today sees the infamous and terrifying Fanad and Knockalla
stages being run. Running alongside the coast, the route makes for
spectacular scenery for the spectators to indulge in between cars.
However, the equally spectacular roads will require the drivers' full
attention, unless they wish to get a closer look at the scenery. The
Historic Section joins the rally today, and will run on the final
day, too.
The final day, run on Father's Day,
sees a shorter but no less testing six stages facing the crews who
have survived both days. The beautiful Atlantic Drive stage is
Sunday's biggest stage (notoriety wise), with the second run closing
the rally. The Junior Section will join the rally on the Sunday. The
cars that have survived the tough, demanding 22 Donegal stages are
expected back to the Finish Ramp outside the Mount Errigal Hotel,
also Rally HQ, at 5:01 pm.
Darren Gass will lead the 130-strong
entry away at No. 1 seed from the ramp on Friday morning in his
Subaru Impreza S10. He will be followed by Darragh O'Riordan, Garry
Jennings, the returning Mark Higgins, Derek McGarrity, Niall Maguire,
Donagh Kelly, Seamus Leonard (a former Group N winner here in
Donegal) and Aaron MacHale in one of the family Ford Focus WRC's.
Some drivers have different than usual
machinery for the rally, with Garry Jennings having rented out Peter
Lloyds Subaru Impreza S14 for the rally, Joe McGonigle has bought
Tommy Doyle's Renault Clio, Manus Kelly is out in Gary McPhillips'
MK2 Escort and Derek McGarrity having bought Tim McNulty's Impreza
S12B. Rumours suggest that 'Big Tim' has called a halt to his
rallying exploits after having sold the car. Speculation also
suggests that Mark Higgins, the man who lead the legend that is
Sebastian Loeb by over 40 secs at one point 5 years ago, is driving
McGarrity's MINI John Cooper Works WRC, but he is down on on the
entry list as driving a Subaru. Only scrutiny on Thursday evening
will tell what everyone is driving.
David Bogie is back this year in the
glorious MG Metro 6R4, and will face stiff opposition from the usual
brigade of MK2 Escort's. Top Escort seed is Daniel McKenna, but he is
chased by over 20 other MK2's. Over from Britain is tarmac
specialist, Simon Mauger, who is up against it in his MK2. Calum
Duffy is also over from the Isle of Mull.
Sam Moffett heads the scrap over Group
N honours, chased by Conor Harvey, Pat Kirk and Trevor Bustard.
A 15 entry-strong Historic Rally kicks
in on Saturday, as well as the 11-strong Junior Rally which comes in
on the Sunday. Gary Owens, sporting Global Rally News logos, will
start at H6 in his historic-spec MK2. We wish him all the luck and
hope to see the Global Rally News logos on the finish ramp on Sunday
evening in first place!
Even with the recession that has all
but crippled the country, the rally is expected to take in over €25m
into the local economy, as well as taking in over 50,000 rally
spectators. With these figures, it isn't hard to see why the Donegal
International Rally is still seen as the biggest attraction in the
North West.
No comments:
Post a Comment