Galway International goes ahead after entry concern

The 2020 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship will begin this weekend at the Galway International Rally with 18 R5s on the entry list.

The traditional ITRC opener was at risk of cancellation due to a low number of paid entries earlier this month but event organisers confirmed the rally would go ahead despite only receiving 71 entries.

Last year’s winner Craig Breen will not return to defend his title so it will be a battle between ITRC regulars for glory in Galway. Alastair Fisher had to settle for second behind Breen last year and will be hoping for the perfect start to his campaign as he chases his first Tarmac title after finishing runner-up on two occasions in the past three years.

Brothers Sam and Josh Moffett have swapped their Ford Fiesta R5s for Hyundai’s equivalent and, while both have won the Tarmac title, neither have won the Galway Rally.

Other Tarmac champions due to start in Galway are Donagh Kelly (VW Polo R5), Garry Jennings (Subaru Impreza WRC) and

Eugene Donnelly (Proton Iriz R5).

Joseph Mcgonigle is quietly confident ahead the event despite getting the briefest of introductions to his Fiesta R5 Mk2.

Having driven Super 2000 and R5 versions of Skoda Motorsport’s Fabia, Mcgonigle is making the switch to the Blue Oval supermini for this season’s ITRC.

The Fiesta R5 Mk2 is the very first example to arrive in Ireland, although it has already won in the hands of an Irish driver when Josh Moffett won the Jim Clark Rally.

“We won’t have much of a chance to test, but we don’t expect to be too far away in Galway,” he said. “I think that we have the best possible car for the job in this year’s Irish Tarmac Championship. Saying that, the level of competition in the ITRC is high at the minute.”

The strength in depth of the rally’s international section is overshadowed by the poor Modified entry.

After finishing third on his home rally last year, Richard Whelan has a good opportunity to win the Modified section in his BMW 130i.

Other Modified crews to watch include brothers Jason and Gareth Black in their two Class 13 Toyota Starlets, Gary Mcnamee in his Honda Civic and Ray Breen in his immaculate MG Metro 6R4.