The Galway Rally, Galway International Rally is an annual

motorsport Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of two ...

tarmac

rallying Rally is a wide-ranging form of motorsport with various competitive motoring elements such as speed tests (often called ''rally racing),'' navigation tests, or the ability to reach waypoints or a destination at a prescribed time or average speed. ...

event held in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a City status in Ireland, city in the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lo ...

, Ireland. Promoted and organised by Galway Motor Club, the rally was first ran in 1971. The Galway International Rally is the oldest International rally in Ireland. It has hosted the

European Rally Championship The European Rally Championship (officially FIA European Rally Championship) is an rallying, automobile rally competition held annually on the European continent and organized by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The champions ...

stage every year between 1975 and 1982. In 1978 the Galway International Rally hosted the opening stage of the first

Irish Tarmac Rally Championship The Irish Tarmac Rally Championship (ITRC) is the premier rallying series in Ireland. It is held annually and is promoted by the Tarmac Rally Organisers’ Association (TROA). The Championship takes place over seven events, based in the Republic o ...

History

The rally ran annually as an International event from its inception in 1971, with only few exceptions. In 2002 it was run under West International Rally name. For various reasons, the events did not run in 1983, 1987, 2003 and 2018. Galway Rally boasts as the first ever International Rally run in Ireland (1971), the first round of the European Rally Championship run in Ireland (1975), the first computer-generated result system (1975), the first round of the new Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in (1978), the first female Clerk of the Course, Bridget Brophy (1982), the youngest Clerk of the Course of an any International Rally, Mike Smith (1988).

2022 event

The season opening rally consisting of over 150 starters ran over two days, 15 stages and 194.4 kilometres around

Loughrea Loughrea ( ; ) is a town in County Galway, Ireland. The town lies to the north of a range of wooded hills, the Slieve Aughty Mountains, and the lake from which it takes its name. The town's cathedral, St Brendan's, dominates the town's skyline ...

area. Scrutiny and Parc Ferme were located at

Galway Racecourse Ballybrit Race Track, also known as Galway Racecourse, is a horse race course in County Galway, Ireland. It is located in the townland of Ballybrit, in the environs of Castlegar, County Galway, Castlegar, just north of the N6 road (Ireland), N6 B ...

, the start/finish podium was setup in the Eyre Square in Galway. The entry fee this year was €1195.

2021 event

The 50th anniversary event was cancelled due to ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. As restrictions eased off in the second half of the year, the 2022 was expected to take place on the usual first weekend of February.

2020 event

Due to low entries the rally launch on 17 January was cancelled, and there was a risk that the event will not go ahead. On 20 January it was announced that the 2020 Corrib Oil Galway International Rally is going to take place as planned on Sunday 2 February with a repeat of the racing format which made the previous year's event a success. The event, managed by Clerk of the Course Gary Leonard, consisted of 9 stages, totaling . The event was the opening round of the 2020 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, and was run a week earlier than 2019 in order to avoid a clash with the opening

British Rally Championship The British Rally Championship is a rallying series based in the United Kingdom. The first championship was run in 1958 and it has been licensed by the Motor Sports Association (MSA) since 1999. MSA has opted not to run the series in 2015, in ...

round, the Cambrian Rally. The participant entry fee for the event remained same as last year at €875. The event started with 65 entries, 47 of them reached the finish, with

Alastair Fisher Alastair Fisher was a Scottish rugby union player.Bath, p. 139 He was capped twice in 1947 for . He also played for Waterloo R.F.C. He was the father of Colin Fisher Colin Douglas Fisher (born 27 December 1949) is a Scottish Rugby union ...

as the overall winner. This was the only 2020 championship round that took place before the outbreak of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. On 28 April the Tarmac Rally Organisers' Association announced that the 2020 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship is cancelled.

2019 event

Originally planned as two day event, it was reduced to one day, 10 stage event after a consultation with participants. The rally hosted Round 1 of 2019 ITRC and Round 2 of 2019 ITRC Historic championships.

Craig Breen Craig Breen (born 2 February 1990) is an Irish rally driver, who competes part time in the Hyundai team in the WRC (World Rally Championship). He was the 2012 WRC Super 2000 world rally champion, scoring class wins in the Monte Carlo Rally, ...

finished first overall, 14.4s ahead of

2018 event

The event was planned to go ahead in February, however, in November 2017 it was announced that the event is being cancelled due lack of "the necessary financial certainty that is required at this time". Event organisers Galway Motor Club also quoted logistical issues as a reason for cancellation.

2017 event

The event planning was counteracted by efforts to stop the rally. One local resident claimed that application for road closures was not properly dealt with. There were very strict conditions attached to the temporary road closure permission. After consultation with local politicians and the Galway County Council it was ruled that the organisers have complied with all of the procedures relating to a temporary road closure, and that the event is cleared to go ahead.

2016 event

Roll of Honor

Top drivers with most wins (>1) / most starts (>11). ''(As of 2022)''

External links

Official Event website

The old official website

Official Facebook page

Galway Motor Club website

Galway Motor Club Facebook page

References

{{Reflist Rally competitions in Ireland Sport in Galway (city) Sport in County Galway