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RELEASE STARTS TOPAZ DONEGAL RALLY – RALLY GUIDE LAUNCH Donegal Motor Club and its premier Topaz Donegal International Rally Ireland tonight launched it’s Rally Guide 1, available for the first time on it webpage, www.donegalinternationalrally.com Donegal Motor Club PRO, Darragh Kelly announced the new guide, a valuable source of information for all competitors, officials and other interested parties. “This is the first time we have produced such a guide, and I am pleased that we have produced it in time for the competitors to plan for their participation in the 2010 event. Valuable time/distance information is available, allowing crews to calculate fuel, and work out service times for support crews who form part of the important task of getting the car and crew back on the road, especially if there is a problem.” Darragh went on to illustrate how simple it was to navigate round the webpage, along with information for crews who are on reserve and want to see their progress towards the entry list over the next number of days before TOPAZ sponsored event starts on Friday 18th June. He added, “Competitors, spectators and Press have been looking at a rate of almost 4500 page views per day since the week-end and we are expecting a high download traffic flow for the remainder of the week.” Clerk of the Course for the event, Danny Gormley, said he was pleased that the Rally Guide was another important milestone in the development of the Topaz Donegal Rally Ireland, and he hoped it would be seen as a great aid for the competitor, spectator and press alike. In addition to the information provided directly for the competitors, important local contact information for business providers in Letterkenny is also available in the guide, and he hopes that it will provide an important economic stimulus for the local economy, during the reconnaissance this week-end and on the weekend of the event itself, 18th – 20th June. For more information on the rally visit the rally website; www.donegalinternationalrally.com RELEASE ENDS RELEASE STARTS TOP CLASS ENTRY FOR TOPAZ DONEGAL RALLY Last year’s winner Gareth MacHale and his co-driver Brian Murphy in their Focus WRC head a star studded entry on this 18th – 20th June Topaz Donegal International Rally. With drivers such as Tim McNulty and Derek McGarrity in their Subaru Impreza WRC’s seeded just behind Gareth, there promises to be quite a rally in store. Perhaps just as heartening is the presence of several brilliant young drivers in the top ten, up and coming stars who will give the ‘old hands’ a real run for their money over the course of the promised three days of high speed competition on this Topaz Donegal Rally. The rally is about more than the top drivers of course. 151 cars plus reserves are entered in the main field. Also there are over 20 juniors as well as 14 historic crews. Once again the rally, in this it’s 38th year, promises to be a huge and enjoyable event for locals and visitors alike. This year the inclusion of a town special stage, a blast through the streets of Buncrana just after 5 o’clock on Friday afternoon of the 18th should prove an extra attraction. This adds to the burden of organisation of course, but the Donegal Motor Club under the direction of Clerk of the Course Danny Gormley, along with the hundreds of experienced volunteers who make the rally happen, are well up to the job. Detailed plans have been drawn up as regards the safety and comfort of spectators and competitors alike, not just regarding the new Buncrana town stage, but for all of the 20 special stages. Safety is very much on the mind of sponsors Topaz also, and as well emphasising the importance of the rally to the region, Topaz CEO Eddie O’Brien, who is from Buncrana, commented, “A huge amount of work goes into making this rally run smoothly every year and great credit is due to the club and all the volunteers for their commitment. For example I know the club puts a huge emphasis on safety every year and works in close co-operation with An Garda Siochana and the other emergency services. Ensuring the safety of the drivers and spectators is our number one priority. Driver safety is also a priority for Topaz and the company is working closely with the Road Safety Authority on a number of initiatives. Topaz is delighted to support this fantastic event and we are looking forward to another highly successful rally again this year.” For all the drivers on the rally success is the key. For the top seeds especially the chance of going into the history books as a Donegal Rally winner is a huge driving force, while for the class contestants, winning an award is just as important. There will be a special flair to the rally this year as legendary Monte Carlo Rally winner Paddy Hopkirk and world famous song writer and musician Phil Coulter will help to flag the cars over the start ramp outside Letterkenny’s An Grianan Theatre at 10.15 on Friday morning the 18th. All the cars will go over the ramp and the first 10 seeds are:- Gareth MacHale/Brian Murphy (Focus WRC) Tim McNulty/Paul Kiely (Subaru Impreza WRC) Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Subaru Impreza WRC) Keith Cronin/Barry McNulty (Lancer Evo 10) Sean Devine/Robert McDaid (Subaru Impreza WRC) Aaron MacHale/Eugene O’Donnell (Focus WRC) Alastair Fisher/Rory Kennedy (Lancer Evo 9) Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts (Fiesta S2000) Daragh O’Riordan/Tony McDaid Subaru Impreza WRC) 10. PJ McDermott/Francis Regan (Subaru Impreza WRC) Since winning the Topaz Donegal International this time last year Gareth MacHale has had some great rally success. However a dominant start for Gareth this season with a win in Galway has been tempered by an electrical gremlin in his Focus on the Circuit of Ireland and then a blown engine on the Killarney Rally of the Lakes. As Gareth prepares for this Donegal Rally he commented, “I’m looking forward to it. The engine in my Focus is all sorted. I think Donegal is raising the bar again with a town stage and the strength of the entry shows the popularity of the event.” Tim McNulty has also had mechanical disappointments with his car this season and although he has had wins in West Cork and Cavan this year, the No.2 seed is trebling his efforts and determination to win in Donegal. Derek McGarrity at No.3 seems to have found his second wind this season as witnessed by his performance in winning the Circuit of Ireland, and he would dearly love to put his name on the Topaz Donegal winner’s Trophy. British Rally Champion Keith Cronin starts at 4 in a GpN Lancer Evo 10. This will be his first run in this Lancer, so Keith will be in at the deep end a little, but this young West Cork man is just so talented, so world class, that he could surprise many of the established stars. Sean Devine is at 5 in his Impreza WRC, and Sean doesn’t exactly hang around either when he gets behind the wheel of his Subaru. Interestingly Sean has former Donegal Rally Results Officer, Robert McDaid, co-driving, while Robert’s son Tony is co-driving for Cork man Daragh O’Riordan, also in an Impreza WRC, at 9. That little needle match should make for some interesting light conversation in the McDaid household! Aaron MacHale, in an older model Focus WRC to his brother Gareth, starts at 6 just one place on the road ahead of Alastair Fisher. Now there’s a name – the Fisher name – synonymous with the legendary annals of this Donegal Rally. Alastair even has Rory Kennedy, the most successful co-driver in Donegal, reading the notes. Alastair will be driving his usual GpN Lancer and leads the Citroen backed Tarmac Championship points table, so will be anxious both to get to the finish on Sunday evening, as well as score as many points as he can. It probably really is too much to expect that Alastair, in a GpN car, could possibly emulate his uncle, the late Bertie Fisher, with a win. But then in Donegal, you never know. Another driver who could really shake the Donegal equation is young Craig Breen. In his Fiesta Super 2000 Craig led the recent Jim Clark International Rally until his Fiesta’s engine gave up. The car handles superbly, will have a new engine fitted for Donegal, and Craig now has great experience with this new breed of rally car. He has a great opportunity here. Daragh O’Riordan at 9 has been a breath of fresh air this year as he has settled in to ‘WRC motoring’ with his Subaru, and PJ McDermott at 10 is the local man with the knowledge and experience of the Donegal roads and has fantastic motivation to do well here. That’s just a taster of the expected competition on rally weekend. A big part of the event as well will be the fight for modified honours, under the National banner. Scottish Champion David Bogie is seeded at No.18 in his Metro 6R4, sandwiched between the Escorts of Wesley Patterson and Manus Kelly with the Mk2 Escort of Phil Collins in close attendance. There are so many top Mk2 Escort drivers in the line-up they could make a brilliant rally all of their own! The rally HQ hotel is the Mount Errigal and the start is from Letterkenny on Friday morning. The rally returns to Letterkenny after 6 stages for an overnight halt with the first car back at 19.57. Saturday restarts at 08.30 for 8 stages out towards Milford returning to Letterkenny at 19.08. The Sunday leg has 6 stages in the Downings region and the first cars leave parc ferme at 10.00 hrs, returning to the Mount Errigal Hotel finish ramp at 17.14. The Historic cars will slot in behind the main field on the Saturday morning and then the Juniors on the Sunday morning. The top seed in the Historics is John Keatley/James McKeefry in their Porsche 911. The top seed in the Juniors is Anthony Hand/Aidan Boyle (Escort). The rally is also a round of the Citroen Racing Trophy and Michael Barrable/Damien Connolly in their C2R2 Max are the top Citroen seeds and start at No.49. The Citroens compete over all the stages. At the press reception in Letterkenny’s Hegarty’s Ford Garage Clerk of the Course Danny Gormley made special mention of the huge number of volunteers, public and private bodies, the press, and many organisations who lend their weight and support to the event. The rally just couldn’t happen without all of their assistance. Even on the day of the press conference the Garda Siochana were on hand to help with a special bit of filming by an RTE outside broadcast crew as four of the young star drivers - the ‘Four Musketeers’ – Keith Cronin, Alastair Fisher, Craig Breen and Jonny Greer, put on a show for the cameras as a rally preview. It was typical of the goodwill behind the rally that John Wolseley of Pro Motion even made a special trip from Dungannon to fit on-board cameras simply as a goodwill gesture. For more information on the rally visit the rally website; www.donegalinternationalrally.com RELEASE ENDS Dear Members of the Press, Just to make you aware, if anyone is going to cover the Topaz Donegal Rally out on the stages, and wants to get to the Press locations, they would need to register with Motorsport Ireland using the form attached. With this you can sign-on the official Press Registration sheet with the Topaz Donegal rally Press Office. This covers you officially, and Press Bibs will be supplied by MotorSport Ireland directly. For local members of the Press who want to take photographs at the event away from stages, i.e. at scrutiny, in Service Areas, etc, that will not require such an official Press Bib. The change this year is that the Topaz Donegal Rally will not be supplying these bibs this year. RELEASE BEGINS BUNCRANA TOWN STAGE THE HEADLINE ACT OF THE TOPAZ DONEGAL INTERNATIONAL RALLY 2010 FIRST TOWN STAGE SINCE 1982 EXPECTED TO ATTRACT UP TO 20,000 EXTRA SPECTATORS TWO PART BBC TV SERIES TO FOCUS ON RALLY AS DONEGAL MOTOR CLUB CELEBRATES 40TH BIRTHDAY Wednesday May 19th 2010. Organisers of next month’s Topaz Donegal International Rally have confirmed that this year’s rally will feature a stage around the town of Buncrana. It’s the first time in nearly 30 years that the Topaz Donegal International Rally has had a town stage and it’s expected the move will draw record crowds to the opening day of the event. Organisers expect the spectacle of the town stage to push overall spectator numbers up by another 20,000 thousand to 70,000. The 39th Topaz Donegal International Rally, the only remaining three day rally in the country and a key part of the Citroen Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, takes place from Friday the 18th of June to Sunday the 20th . Over 150 drivers will do battle for the title – which was won last year by Gareth MacHale - over the 275 kilometre long course. The event will also incorporate a Historic Rally competition and the Fiesta Challenge on Saturday the 19th followed by a Junior Rally on Sunday the 20th. Evidence of the higher profile that the Rally is gaining is recognised by the decision of the BBC to commission a two part series about the event. The documentaries will focus on the preparations and organisation of the Rally while they will also follow the journey of the rally drivers, safety marshals, hotel staff and the supporters throughout the event. Produced for the BBC by The Picturehouse Belfast, the producers of the programme Gavin Halpin and Gráinne McGuinness said they knew the passion which existed for the sport in the region and wanted to capture that on film. ‘‘Being from Letterkenny ourselves, and with the director Sonia Nic Giolla Easbuig a native of Gaoth Dobhair, we know how important the Rally is to people across the region. This is a huge annual sporting occasion and we want to show what this event means to the drivers, the organisers, and the fans, who support it in such huge numbers.’’ The documentaries are due to be aired this autumn. The Clerk of the Course, Danny Gormley believes the excitement generated by the spectacle of the Buncrana stage will ensure this year’s rally gets off to a flying start. “We are very excited by this move and I really believe this stage will make for a truly memorable opening day to this year’s event. But this is a tough three day event and the winner will be the one who negotiates the particular challenges this rally throws up over the three days. I want to thank Topaz for their very generous sponsorship of this event and all the people – including some 500 stewards - who help organize it. I’d also like to give a special word of thanks to the authorities in Buncrana for making the town stage possible. Organising a town stage requires a huge amount of work, co-operation not to mention good will from so many people and organizations and we are extremely grateful for all that’ Gormley said. The Chief Executive of Topaz, Eddie O’Brien, who is from Buncrana said the organizers and the local authorities deserved praise for the innovative move. “Bringing the thrills of rallying to the people in this way will raise the profile of the sport and indeed of this lovely town. As a local, I’m probably a little bit biased but I know from firsthand experience the importance of the Rally to the region and the support it enjoys from the people of the county. The Donegal Motor Club is 40 years old this year and the organization deserves great credit for all it has achieved in that time. This is the third year of our sponsorship arrangement and as a fully Irish owned and managed company, Topaz is delighted to support this fantastic event and we are looking forward to another highly successful rally again this year’ O’Brien concluded. The Mayor of Buncrana, Lee Tedstone said the Rally had a huge economic significance for the whole region and he was delighted that Buncrana would host a special stage of this year’s rally. ‘This rally attracts 50,000 spectators every year and this year we hope to push that on by another 20,000. So we are issuing an open invitation to people to come along and enjoy the rally and everything else that Buncrana and Donegal has to offer. In the current economic climate the importance of the Rally to the economy of Donegal and the northwest region as a whole is more important than ever. It is worth up to €25 million to the local economy and we believe this year Buncrana will reap the benefits of playing a central role in the Rally’ Tedstone concluded. RELEASE ENDS RELEASE BEGINS TOPAZ DONEGAL INTERNATIONAL RALLY 2010: THAT’S BETTER! The Clerk of the Course of the Topaz Donegal International Rally today released the Regulations and outline details of the 2010 Rally, and said that major developments will be announced in the coming weeks. Donegal is a crucial round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, which is now finely balanced between the WRC and new-generation Group N cars, and it includes a National Rally for modified cars, the sheer spectacle of which is unrivalled. With separate competitions for the Ford Fiesta Challenge, the evergreen Historics and the Junior Rally for up and coming talent, as well as being a counting round of the hugely popular Citroen C2R2 Championship, the weekend of June 18th – 20th promises another mouth-watering array of the best cars and drivers in Irish motorsport. Danny Gormley, Clerk of the Course said: “Thanks to the fantastic support from Topaz we will have major innovations in place for 2010 to boost the Rally’s profile and underpin its importance to Donegal. The County is a major sports tourism destination and our stages include the daunting coast roads that make it such a special driving challenge, and form the backdrop for so many other sporting events. Topaz have supported the Rally at so many levels and, being an Irish company, understands exactly what the rally means to the region, the local economy and local communities.” “2010 is the 40th Anniversary of the foundation of Donegal Motor Club and this will be reflected in the Topaz Donegal International Rally as we salute those who formed the Club, and who continue to push it forward. We try every year to match the standards they set and to deliver the “Donegal Experience” they invented to a new audience.” “There are a number of route changes planned and I am confident that whoever wins the Rally, or any of the classes, will have earned it. Our first priority is always safety for competitor and spectator alike, but the challenge of winning in Donegal is undiminished. “ “I say a particular thanks to Motorsport Ireland who, through it’s Rallies Committee has engaged with us on a number of proposals, whether to keep costs down for competitors, or increase the spectacle for spectators. “Rally Restart” will feature once again so that, circumstances permitting, competitors who break down may be allowed return to the rally the following day. Other developments will be announced in due course.” “I would appeal to competitors to study the entry selection criteria in the Regulations carefully and to provide full results and information. We would invite all available Marshals to make contact with us as early as possible through the Chief Marshal Eamonn McGee, or via our website.” “Once again we have provided secure accomodation, for competitors only, beside Rally HQ. This has proven to be very popular with competitors and sells out early. The contact details for our Accomodation Officer are also on the website.” “Entry Forms and Regulations for the Topaz Donegal International Rally, the Topaz National Rally, the Topaz Historic and Junior Rallies, the Ford Fiesta Challenge and Rally Competitor Accomodation details are now available on the Rally website at: donegalinternationalrally.com.” RELEASE ENDS STATEMENT BEGINS: STATEMENT BY DONEGAL MOTOR CLUB AND THE TECHNICAL ADVISORY GROUP OF MOTORSPORT IRELAND. Representatives of Donegal Motor Club and the Technical Advisory Group of Motorsport Ireland met recently in Sligo at the invitation of the President of the Commission of Motorsport Ireland Mr. Joe Corcoran, and discussed the issues arising from the 2009 running of the Topaz Donegal International Rally. New protocols for co-operation were agreed and Donegal Motor Club expressed its happiness that all outstanding matters were resolved and said it regretted that the scrutineers involved felt slighted by Donegal Motor Club’s correspondence with Motorsport Ireland arising from the 2009 Rally. The Technical Advisory Group expressed its support and respect for Donegal Motor Club, in particular Clerk of the Course Danny Gormley, and said it looked forward to working with the Club in future at all its events. Derek Heena - Donegal Motor Club Joe Corcoran – Motorsport Ireland James O’Brien – TAG MI Brecan McBreen – TAG MI STATEMENT ENDS: |