The Cork 20 Rally or Cork 20 International Rally is an annual motorsport rallying event run by the Munster Car Club and held in the vicinity of Cork in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The Cork 20 Rally was first held in 1912, with the original event named because it spanned 20 hours. It is run as a round within the

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 ...

, and draws competitors from Ireland North and South, Britain, and continental Europe. The rally was part of the National Rally Championship between 1966 and 1976. It became a full international rally in 1977.

History

The event has been run in different parts of County Cork since the 1960s, with

Kinsale Kinsale ( ; ) is a historic port and fishing town in County Cork, Ireland. Located approximately south of Cork City on the southeast coast near the Old Head of Kinsale, it sits at the mouth of the River Bandon, and has a population of 5,281 (a ...

acting as the main hub throughout the 1970s, and Cork city being home to the event a few times also. The final stage of the 1980 event started on

Patrick Street Patrick Street is an Irish folk group founded by Kevin Burke (formerly of The Bothy Band) on fiddle, Andy Irvine (Sweeney's Men, Planxty) on mandolin, bouzouki, harmonica and vocals, Jackie Daly ( De Dannan) on button accordion, and Art ...

and went through Grand Parade and the South Mall in front of thousands of spectators. In later years, the event was run in the north and east Cork regions, with some sections run in mid Cork also. The event returned to

West Cork West Cork ( ga, Iarthar Chorcaí) is a tourist region and municipal district in County Cork, Ireland. As a municipal district, West Cork falls within the administrative area of Cork County Council, and includes the towns of Bantry, Castletownber ...

in 2010. The format of the original rally was similar to the Monte Carlo Rally, in that there were several starting points; Cork,

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

. The cars would then meet at a designated town (for example Clonmel). The final leg would then run from that town into Cork city. The roads were not officially closed for these early events. The event has been run by various organisers since 1912. In the 1950s, the Cork and Munster Motorcycle Club, based at the neo-classical building

Vernon Mount Vernon Mount (sometimes Vernon Mount House or Mount Vernon) is a ruined Georgian manor house in Cork, Ireland. It was built between the 1780s and early 1790s to designs attributed to Abraham Hargrave. Originally built for the merchant Hayes fam ...

, gave their support to the Cork 20 Rally. With various affiliations, the Cork Motor Club became active in motorsport in the Cork area from 1976 onwards. As of 2019, the event was run by the Munster Car Club.

2007

In 2007, WRC drivers

Sébastien Loeb Sébastien Loeb (; born 26 February 1974) is a French professional rallying, rally, auto racing, racing and rallycross driver. He is the most successful driver in the World Rally Championship (WRC), having won the world championship a record nin ...

( C4 WRC), Daniel Sordo ( Xsara WRC), and

Mikko Hirvonen Mikko Hirvonen (born 31 July 1980) is a Finnish former rally driver, and a current Rally-Raid driver, who drove in the World Rally Championship. He placed third in the drivers' championship and helped Ford to the manufacturers' title in both 2 ...

(Ford Focus WRC, Focus RS WRC 06/07) all started the rally, heading a field of 130 of which 17 were World Rally Cars.

won the competition after two days and 14 stages.

2019

The 2019 CB Toolhire Cork 20 International Rally event took place on 28 and 29 September 2019. The rally was the final counting round of the

, a counting round of the ERT Celtic Rally Trophy, Southern 4 Rally Championship & South East Stages Rally Championship. The rally consisted of 13 special stages, totaling to , and of liaison. A total of 187 entries were enlisted to the event. The overall winners were the International Class entrants Marty McCormack and Barney Mitchell in a Volkswagen Polo R5. The 'national section' of the rally was won by Damian Toner & Michael Coady competing in the Modified Class. The Junior Class winners were Kieran Reen & Mark O'Leary.

2020

The rally was scheduled to take place on 26 and 27 September 2020. Because of the on-going restrictions to address the COVID-19 pandemic in the Republic of Ireland, COVID-19 pandemic in Ireland, on 25 June 2020 the Munster Car Club board of directors took a decision to cancel the 2020 rally. The Irish Tarmac Rally Championship had already been cancelled in late April.

2021

The event was provisionally planned as a stage of the FIA European Rally Trophy, ERT Celtic Rally Trophy on 25-26 September 2021. However, as the COVID-19 pandemic continued into 2021 and all motorsports events in Ireland remained suspended, the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, which traditionally featured Cork 20 Rally, was cancelled. At the end of May 2021, as the vaccinations were progressing, Motorsport Ireland announced that motorsports events could resume from 7 June 2021, subject to local restrictions. There was no championship, but some event dates were announced. Cork 20 Rally was moved to 19 September, and took place as a one-day event, consisting of in 9 stages (3×3 format). The organisers also featured a 4km Saturday shakedown stage at the Kartworld complex, Watergrasshill. This was the first rally event in Ireland in the 18 months since the first COVID-19 lockdown. The event attracted 165 entries, with 151 starting on the day. The overall winners were Callum Devine and Brian Hoy in a Ford Fiesta R5.

References

{{Reflist Sports competitions in County Cork Rally competitions in Ireland