BEST OF LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL TALENT TO COMPETE IN PILOT EVENT FOR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP BID
Rally Ireland has announced that 75 entries in 8 classes have entered Rally Ireland 2005, the pilot event for Ireland’s bid to secure a round in the World Rally Championship (WRC). Rally Ireland 2005 will take place in Sligo, Leitrim and Fermanagh on 14th - 16th October.
Ronan Morgan, co-promoter of Rally Ireland said, “We are delighted by the high standard of entries for Rally Ireland 2005. Having world class competitors such as Swedish star Daniel Carlsson and Belgian Freddy Loix competing with a host of home-grown talent will make this a very exciting and challenging event.”
“We are very confident of Ireland’s professional and infrastructural capacity to secure a round of the WRC for Ireland, despite strong competition from other countries. Ireland has a long history of rallying and now has the highest number of rally competitions per capita in the world. Should Ireland be successful in its bid this will be the largest annual sporting event in Ireland, attracting 200,000 spectators and 770 million TV viewers in 61 countries,” Mr Morgan concluded.
Along with top international drivers Freddy Loix and Daniel Carlsson, two 18‑year olds will also be competing - Matt Wilson, son of Malcolm Wilson of the Ford Motorsport Team, and Estonian Jaan Molder. This is the fourth time Wilson will compete in Ireland, having already competed twice in the Donegal International Rally and once in the Ulster Rally earlier this year. Molder, who is in his first year of racing, finished 27th overall and 9th in Group N in the recent Wales Rally GB.
Irish talent will include three members of the McHale family, five times tarmc champion, Austin, and his two sons Gareth and Aaron, as well as recently crowned Northern Ireland Rally champion, Kevin Lynch. Former Irish tarmac champion Andrew Nesbitt will also compete.
Rally Ireland is also pleased to announce the only female entrant to the event, Northern Ireland’s top female driver, 22-year old Emma McKinstry. At only 22 years of age, Emma finished 18th overall and 5th in Group N in the EuroCables Championship this year. This is the best ever result for a female in a Northern Ireland Championship. She has been rallying for 4 years.
Rally Ireland is a joint initiative of Fáilte Ireland and the Northern Ireland Events Company (NIEC). This year’s pilot event will be followed by an FIA observed event in the first half of 2006 which will allow the FIA to consider Ireland’s bid for the WRC from 2007.
