Killarney Historic Rally is launched
Sean Moriarty
CRAIG Breen and Paul Nagle will contest two more rallies before the end of the season, one on their doorstep and one as far away as possible.
They will compete on the final round of the World Rally Championship, Rally Australia two weeks before contesting the Killarney Historic Rally.
The Australian event marks their third outing for Hyundai Motorsport but it appears their hopes of a full-time return to the championship with the Korean outfit has taken a nosedive.
Hyundai can win the manufacturers title Down Under and employing the Irish pair is a tactical move as they will be one of the last crews to start on the opening day of the rally. Running further down the order on a gravel rally like Australia is considered the optimum as the first cars clear the gravel for the remaining cars.
Breen and Nagle replaced Andreas Mikkelsen for the event, the Norwegian is currently fourth in the championship and would start in that position. However, the pair are well outside the top ten and it would be more advantageous to start there as Hyundai pull out all the stops in an effort to seal the world title over rivals Toyota.
Toyota is reeling over the loss of their star driver Ott Tanak. The newly crowned world champion will defect to Hyundai next season in a move that has all but scuppered Breen and Nagle’s hopes of a fulltime drive with Hyundai next season. Indeed, they had a tenround deal almost in the bag until Tanka delivered his bombshell at Rally Spain two weeks ago, a deal that was since confirmed last Thursday.
Killarney Historic Rally
Killarney and District Motor Club launched its Rentokil-Initial Killarney Historic Rally in front of a huge crowd on Sunday afternoon at the Gleneagle Hotel.
Among the main attractions of this year’s event will be Breen and Nagel who will be debuting a newly acquired Viking Motorsport prepared Ford Escort RS 1800.
Leading entries in the Historic section include Local man Robert Duggan and Dublin’s Robert Barrable both who are hiring Ford Escort BDA rally cars from the UK.
Last year’s winner Owen Murphy has also made the move from his reliable Talbot Sunbeam to the more powerful Ford Escort BDA.
The 2019 Irish Forestry Champion Cathan McCourt returns, along with the extremely popular Adrian Hetherington. Martin Doherty makes to long trip from Donegal to take on the best of both British and Irish Historic Rallying.
Rally Legend Jimmy McRae returns to Killarney, the five-time British Rally Champion and seven-time winner of The Circuit of Ireland is looking forward to the event driving his Vauxhall Firenza Can-Am.
Irish Historic Rally Champion Duncan Williams will be match fit and well in the running for overall honours. Multiple British Historic Champion Jason Pritchard will make his Killarney debut in his 2.5Litre Modified Escort. Other top names include Andy Johnston, John Keatley and Neill Williams.
Maurice Nagle Cup
The late, great Maurice Nagle will be forever remembered on the Killarney Historic Rally. Maurice, one of the leading lights of Killarney and District Motor Club, passed away last year after an illness.
He was one of the greatest workers within the club but his true legacy is the Killarney Historic Rally. Back in 1996, a few years after the Rally of the Lakes switched from its early December date to it’s now traditional May Bank Holiday slot, Maurice identified a gap in the rally calendar and set about running the first Killarney Historic Rally.
The event has grown in stature, the only rally of its kind in Ireland regularly attracts a capacity entry and is now a central piece of Irish Motorsport and the Christmas in Killarney Festival.
Shortly after Maurice’s passing, his friends, led by well-known rally preparation expert Dan Cashman set about fundraising for the creation of the Maurice Nagle Perpetual Trophy. It will be presented to the overall winner of the Historic Rally.
The trophy was unveiled for the first time last Friday night, when Dan and his group of supporters presented the trophy to the Nagle family at a special function in Charlie Foley’s Bar in Killarney.
“There is nothing more appropriate than having a perpetual trophy named for the man who created the historic rally,” said deputy clerk of the course Mike Marshal who was a life-long friend of Maurice.
Paul Nagle would love to win the trophy named after his father. It was confirmed at Sunday’s launch that he and Craig Breen will tackle the event in a Viking Motorsport Ford Escort but they will face opposition from the likes of Rob Duggan, Mark Falvey and Alan Ring and many more local and not so local drivers who would like to get their hands on the coveted trophy.
“I am pretty confident the cup will stay in Killarney,” said Nagle, with one eye on the trophy and one eye on the opposition he will face on the last Saturday in November. “I am proud to be a Nagle man and it’s going to be a big weekend for everyone.”
Such was the support for the trophy, Dan raised over 3,500 Euro in surplus funds and this extra cash was presented to the Cork-Kerry Cancer Bus.
RUSSELL BROOKES RIP
THERE was sadness in the Kerry motorsport community last week when news spread that legendary British Rally driver Russell Brookes has passed way.
He was a popular competitor in Kerry, winning the 1989 Rally of the Lakes in a Sierra Cosworth, the same year he won the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.
He also won the 1983 Circuit of Ireland, in a Vauxhall Chevette HSR, the last time the five-day rally visited Kerry.
In more recent years he contested the Killarney Historic Rally in his period Talbot Sunbeam.