Click here for LIVE NEWS

Click here for LIVE TIMES

Topaz Donegal International Rally is Poised   
The wheels are rolling in earnest now for the 19th-21st June Topaz Donegal Rally, and the Donegal Motor Club has again laid out a demanding route and attracted a top class entry for the event, which is round 5 of the Tarmac Championship. Letterkenny again plays host to the rally, and as well as the 151 cars in the main event, there are once more additional categories for Historics and Juniors. Inclusive in the main field are the National Modified cars while the exciting Fiesta Sporting Trophy contenders compete over the Saturday stages. Heading the main field is Gareth MacHale and his co-driver Brian Murphy in their Focus WRC, Gareth heading six of the Tarmac Championship World Rally Car drivers, Eugene Donnelly, Eamonn Boland, Tim McNulty, Derek McGarrity and Aaron MacHale. In reality, any of those top six are capable of spraying the champagne at the Letterkenny finish following the expected three days of high speed rally action. At numbers 7 & 8 are two more World Rally Cars to be driven by Donegal men PJ McDermott and Daniel Doherty, with another local man, Shaun Gallagher at 9 and Seamus Leonard at 10, both in GpN Mitsubishi Lancers.
Both PJ McDermott and Daniel Doherty are capable of springing a big surprise. Although McDermott hasn’t done so much rallying this year he showed in the past couple of seasons that he can set superb times. Daniel Doherty’s P2000 Subaru has languished in Kenny McKinstry’s workshop since last year’s Donegal, so in theory Daniel and his co-driving brother Michael may be rusty. But last year they also came out of rally retirement, and in that same P2000 Impreza shocked the establishment with their speed. An extra spur for the rallying brothers this time will be rallying over the fabulous roads of their home territory on the Inishowen Peninsula. It is seven years since the rally went up there.
Letterkenny’s Shaun Gallagher has concentrated in contesting the Junior section of the World Rally Championship in recent years, so it will be a treat for him to contest his home rally again, this time in his GpN Lancer. However Shaun won’t get it easy as there is a fabulous line-up of 20 GpN competition over and beyond Seamus Leonard seeded immediately behind. Just two we will mention here are Garry Jennings, who starts at 11 and has Rory Kennedy co-driving. For Rory this will be his 30th time competing on the rally and he is just as enthusiastic now as he was then.
Rory co-drove for the late great Bertie Fisher for many years on the Donegal Rally. This year there is another Fisher name in the Donegal entry list, that of Bertie’s nephew Alastair who, judging by his speed on his first season in a GpN Lancer, is a real chip of the old block.
Twelve years have elapsed since there was a MacHale name on the winner’s trophy here in Donegal. That was Gareth’s father Austin and it was his 2nd Donegal International win. Gareth MacHale has been close many times to winning a round of the Tarmac Championship, and he would dearly love to do it here in Donegal, scene of so many epic rally battles. He was lying 3rd on the rally last year until it was stopped prematurely, and he turned in some stunning times on that occasion. Gareth’s preparation team has checked every nut and bolt on his fabulous Focus WRC for this Donegal Rally and he is certainly in with every chance of breaking into the Donegal and indeed the Tarmac Championship honours list.
Speaking from his Dublin base Gareth commented before the rally, “Yes, it would be good to win in Donegal. It is one of my favourite rallies. I love the bumpy and jumpy stages and being over three days it will be a real challenge. When you look at all the top drivers, it took them years before they started winning, building up the experience.”
Five years ago Eugene Donnelly scored his first Donegal Rally win and the Maghera man whooped with joy then, declaring that it has been his dream since as long as he could remember to win Donegal. Eugene went on from there to become multiple Tarmac Champion and one of Ireland’s most prolific rally winners.
Eugene’s sentiments on the Donegal Rally haven’t changed since that first win. He rates it as very special as well as being the toughest of challenges. In theory Eugene’s Skoda Fabia, slightly older than the current crop of World Rally Subarus and Fords, should be outgunned. But Eugene seems to have this magic touch of making underrated cars go faster than everything else. Following his great run in the Skoda at Chatsworth last weekend, Eugene commented: “I’m really looking forward to Donegal. It is a big undertaking, and our thoughts are not going to be totally on outright speed, on winning, but more on our goal for the year, Championship points.”
Preparation and suspension set-up have a lot to do with it as well, nowhere more so than here in Donegal and Eugene’s engineer Derek McGeehan leaves no stone unturned in the preparation of this Fabia. Eugene currently leads the Tarmac points, with 48. This year’s Killarney Rally of the Lakes winner Tim McNulty is 2nd on 36. Current Tarmac Champion Eamonn Boland has 34. Gareth MacHale 30, Aaron MacHale 25 and Alastair Fisher, top GpN exponent in the overall standings, is sixth and has 16 points.
Heading the modified category in this bulging Donegal entry is young Scotsman David Bogie, who drives one of the exciting Metro 6R4s. He will be up against a veritable plethora of the finest Mk2 Escort machinery in the country, with such drivers as Wesley Patterson, Rodney Wilton, Gary McPhillips, Martin McGee, Manus Kelly, Damien Gallagher and Camillus Bradley just some of the top names sure to provide lots of fireworks.
Derek Boyd, to be co-driven by his daughter Roisin, heads the Historic category in his Porsche 911 and young Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts head the Fiesta list. The Historics join the rally on the Saturday afternoon stages.
The main rally starts at Letterkenny, from An Grainan Theatre, at 9.45am. travelling to Inishowen where there are 6.stages on Friday, 8.on Saturday and 6..on Sunday, before the finish at the Mount Errigal Hotel on Sunday evening at 5.54pm.
Clerk of the Course, Danny Gormley. said “I want to thank the many helpers who gave up their time to put this event together, and to Topaz for their commitment to the event. Their dedication to the event was very much appreciated by all in Donegal and to rally fans throughout Ireland.”
 Finally we would like to emphasise that safety is uppermost in the minds of the rally organisers and we would ask everyone involved in the rally, spectators, service crews and competitors to be aware at all times of their safety and the safety of everyone else involved. Our thanks go to all those who are helping with the organisation, the Garda Siochana,  Topaz Energy. Donegal Oil, Inishowen Oil, Ordnance Survey Ireland, Eircom, O2, Mount Errigal Hotel , Donegal County Council & Engineers, Letterkenny Town Council, Health Services Executive, Donegal Tourism, North West Tourism, Tony Kelly Cars, McGinley Motors, Hegarty’s Auto Services, Letterkenny Chevrolet, Medical Officers And Rescue Teams, Diver’s Garage, Letterkenny Institute Of Technology, Local Newspapers, Highland Radio, Brian & Liz Patterson, Derryveagh Crystal, Limavady Printing Co., Hills Of Donegal Tourism, Donegal Road Safety Working Group, Civil Defence.     

Entry List

No Driver /Co Driver (Make Model) [Class]
1 Gareth McHale/Brian Murphy (Ford Focus WRC) [8]
2 Eugene Donnelly/Paddy Toner (Skoda Fabia WRC) [8]
3 Eamon Boland/MJ Morrissey (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8]
4 Tim McNulty/David Moynihan (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8]
5 Derek McGarrity/James McKee (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8]
6 Aaron McHale/Barry Goodman (Ford Focus WRC) [8]
7 PJ McDermott/Paddy Robinson (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8]
8 Daniel Doherty/Michael Doherty (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8]
9 Shaun Gallagher/Charlie McGinty (Mitsubshi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
10 Seamus Leonard/John McCafferty (Mitsibushi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
11 Garry Jennings/Rory Kennedy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
12 Sean Devine/TBA (Subaru Impreza WRC) [8]
14 Glenn Allen/Damien Connolly (Toyota Corolla WRC) [8]
15 Damien Tourish/Domhnall McAliney (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
16 David Bogie/TBA (MG Metro 6R4) [15]
17 Danny MacBride/Rory McBride (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) [4]
18 Wesley Patterson/Martin McGarrity (Ford Escort) [14]
19 Rodney Wilton/Conor McMahon (Ford Escort) [14]
20 Gary Mc Phillips/Mark Tierney (Ford Escort) [14]
21 Martin Magee/Arthar Kierans (Ford Escort) [14]
22 Manus Kelly/Donal Barrett (Ford Escort) [14]
23 Damien Gallagher/Mac Walsh (Ford Escort) [13]
24 Camillus Bradley/Danny Coneill (Ford Escort) [13]
25 Robbie Peoples/Keith Steward (Ford Escort) [14]
26 Alastair Fisher/Barry McNulty (Mitubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
27 Adrian Hetherington/Gary Nolan (Ford Escort) [14]
28 Brian Brogan/Damien McGettigan (Ford Escort) [14]
29 Frank Kelly/Liam Brennan (Ford Escot) [13]
30 Maurice Moffett/Jason McKenna (Toyota Starlet) [14]
31 Eugene Ferry/Derek Henna (Ford Escort) [14]
32 Calum Duffy/Ian Duffy (Ford Escort) [14]
33 Declan McNaughton/Denis O'Mahony (Ford Escort) [14]
34 Paul Barrett/Kevin Bocott (Ford Focus) []
35 Seamus O'Connell/TBA (Ford Escort) [14]
36 Alan Carmichael/Ivor Lamont (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
37 Seamus Heron/Jerry McVeigh ( ) [4]
38 Gavin Harris/David Doherty (Subaru Impreza N12B) [4]
39 Trevor Bustard/Kenny Bustard (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) [4]
40 Ivan Stewart/TBA (Bmw M3) [15]
41 Jack Maguire/Paul Maguire (Ford Cosworth) [15]
42 Conor Curley/Nigel Frazer (Ford Escort) [14]
43 John O'Donnell/Johnny Baird (Ford Escort) [13]
44 Jer O'Donovan/Sean Haydes (Subaru Impreza) [4]
45 Donagh Kelly/Kevin Flanagan (Mitsubishi Evo9) [4]
46 Stanley Ballantine/Andrew Gamble (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9) [4]
47 Rory Byrne/Jeremy Patterson (Mitsubishi Evo9) [4]
48 James McNulty/Karol McBride (Mitsubishi Evo6) [1600]
49 John Gallagher/Brendan McElhinney (Mitsubishi Evo6) [16]
50 Darragh O'Riordan/Sean McCarthy (Renault Clio) [6]
51 Philip Shaw/Derek Branaghan (Bmw M3) [14]
52 Seamus Hegarty/Johnny Gallagher (Ford Escort) [14]
53 Geoffrey Dolan/Conor Murphy (Talbot Sunbeam) [13]
54 Declan Boyle/Brian Bogle (Ford Escort) [14]
55 Gary McElhinney/Tba (Ford Escort) [13]
56 Columba Heena/Ryan Moore (Toyota Corolla) [11]
57 Samuel Kelso/Gareth Doherty (Ford Escort) [13]
58 Mick McQuaid/Paul Kelly (Ford Escort) [14]
59 John Waring/Tba (Ford Escort) [8]
60 Mark Barnett/Vincent Fergus (Ford Escort) [13]
61 James Browne/Terence McGee (Ford Escort) [13]
62 Vivian Hamill/Paul Hamill (Ford Escort RS) [14]
63 Daniel Mc Kenna/Andrew Grennan (Ford Escort) [12]
64 Conor Waters/John Waters (Ford Escort) [14]
65 Shaun Murphy/Tba (Ford Escort) [13]
66 Kevin Gallagher/Gavin Gallagher (Vauxhall Corsa) [11]
67 William McFadden/Clive Aiken (Ford Escort) [13]
68 Thomas Keys/Liam Doherty (Ford Escort) [13]
69 JP Logue/Patrick Durning (Honda Civic) [13]
70 Stephen McFerran/Ellen McFerran (Ford Escort) [13]
71 Bernard McGinley/Sorcha Kelly (Toyota Starlet) [11]
72 John Ward/Gary McNern (Toyota Corolla) [11]
73 Kevin Bradley/Siobhan Cassidy (Ford Escort) [11]
74 Paul Doherty/Hugh Coll (Toyota Corolla) [11]
75 Pat Kirk/Peter Ward (Mitsubishi Evo9) [4]
76 Padraig Neville/Tba (Subaru Impreza) [4]
77 Ciaran Brogan/Dermot McGettigan (Mitsubishi Evo6) [3]
78 Pat Neville/Tba (Subaru Impreza) [4]
79 Seamus Gallagher/Tba (Citroen Saxo) [6]
80 Andrew Connor/Kevin Connor (Honda Civic) [11]
81 Gary Cooney/Martin Costello (Mitsubishi Evo9) [4]
82 Paul Callaghan/Barry Callaghan (Subaru Impreza) [4]
83 Peter Green/Laura Greene (Ford Escort) [14]
84 Patrick Bonner/Anthony Gallagher (Ford Escort) [12]
85 Eamon McCrystal/Kevin Bann (Ford Escort) [13]
86 David Staunton/TBA (Toyota Corolla) [11]
87 Martin O'Donnell/Leona O'Donnell (Honda Civic) [2]
88 Terry McGonagle/Mark Curran (Honda Civic) [11]
89 JP Quigley/Vinnie Boyd (Honda Civic Sr) [2]
90 Connor Harvey/Gerard Callaghan (Honda Civic R3) [a7]
91 Adrian Cannon/Ivan Hernon (Honda Civic) [2]
92 Christopher Boyce/Oran McLaughlin (Honda Civic) [7]
93 Joseph McGonigle/Kim Baker (Honda Civicsr) [2]
94 Toni Kelly/Tony McDaid (Honda Civic Type R) [a7]
95 Eamon Gallagher/Paul Brogan (Ford Escort) [12]
96 Aidan Caldwell/Paul Vaughan (Ford Escort) [7]
97 Alan Sweeney/Timmy Lunn (Ford Escort) [11]
98 Alaistair Hetherington/John Coll (Ford Escort) []
99 Kelvin Keys/Kevin Gallinagh (Ford Escort) [11]
100 Stephen McGurk/Tony McHugh (Ford Escort) []
101 Stuart Rankin/William Coyle (Ford Escort) [12]
102 Kevin Kelly/Paul Hegarty (Ford Escort) [13]
103 Ian Millar/David McLean (Ford Escort) [6?]
104 Roger Donan/Tba (Ford Puma 51600) [6]
105 Paddy Walker/Niall Burns (Peugeot 206 Xsi) [6]
106 Danny Gillespie/Eamon Gillespie (Honda Civic) [2]
107 Aidan Friel/Ciaran O'Donnell (Honda Civic) [3]
108 Niall Donoghue/Shane Greene (Honda Civic) [2]
109 Brendan McDaid/Tba (Ford Escort) [13]
110 Kieran Roarty/James Doherty (Mitsubishi Evo8) [4]
111 John Crumlish/Gerard Mullan (Subaru Impreza Sti) [4]
112 Gerard Sharkey/TBA (Honda Civic) [3]
113 Darren Doherty/Paul Hughes (Subaru Impreza N11) [16]
114 Michael Peoples/Stephen Gallionagh (Ford Escort) [12]
115 Patrick Boyle/Donal McCole (Toyota Corolla) [11]
116 Eamon McGuigan/Michael Moran (Ford Escort) [12]
117 Paul McDermott/Tba (Honda Civic) [3]
118 Paddy O'Reilly/Barry McGill (Ford Escort) [14]
119 PJ Bonner/TBA (Ford Escort) [14]
120 John Dolan/Joe Dolan (Ford Escort) [12]
121 Gareth Morgan/Thornton Tba (Ford Escort) [11]
122 James Culliney/Eddie McLoughlan (Ford Escort) [12]
123 Kevin Bradley/Ollie Harvey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8) [16]
124 Colin McMenamin/Tba (Honda Civic) [2]
125 Andrew Hegarty/Tba (Peugeot 206) [a6]
126 JR McDaid/Ivor Scott ( ) []
127 Hugh Martin Toye/Breeda Toye (Honda Civic) [11]
128 Jonathan McKenna/Greg O'Reilly (Peugeot 106 Si6) [6]
129 Cartha Boyle/Pat Carig (Ford Escort) [11]
130 John Russell/Barry Murphy (Honda Civic) [11]
131 Stephen Furey/Trevor Graham (Toyota Corolla) [11]
132 Ian Hynes/Tba (Honda Civic Typ R) [3]
133 Gavin McMenamin/Tba (Honda Civic Sir) [11]
134 Alistair Glenn/Martin Sharkey (Peugeot 206) [6]
135 Timothy Duggan/Tba (Seat Ibiza) [7]
136 Martin Devine/Joe McNulty (Honda Civic) [2]
137 Damien McVey/Barry McBride (Vauxhall Nova) [9]
138 John Mulholland/Eamon Gorman (Skoda Fabia vrstni) [a8]
139 Andrew Stewart/Tony Gallagher (MG 2r) [6]
140 Peter Gallagher/Keith Murray (Peugeot 206) [6]
141 Derek McGonigle/Edward McGonagle (Ford Mrk2) [12]
142 Grainnia McDaid/Graninne Moore (Peugeot 206) []
143 Glenda Boyle/Kylie Boyle (Honda Civic) [3]
144 Paul Casey/Ken Carmody (Peugeot 205) [10]
145 Darragh Kelly/Gerry Hughes (Peugeot 205) [10]
146 Keith Naughton/Derek Flanagan (Subaru Impreza) [16]
147 Anthony Coyle/Shaun Gallagher (Honda Integra) [7]
148 Michael Carron/Naill McCalliog (Honda Civic Vtec) [16]
149 Declan Cullen/James Cullen (Honda Civic) [16]
150 Danny Cannon/Barry Mailey (Honda Civic) [11]
151 Raymond Scott/Patrick Gallagher (Ford Escort) [11]
152 Conal Hegarty/Shaun O'Hart (Toyota Corolla) [11]

RESERVE LIST
R1 Patrick McElwee/Kevin Connor (Toyota Corolla) [11]
R2 Anthony Neville/TBA Tba (Subaru Impreza) [4]
R3 Shane Orr/Barry McBride (Honda Civic Type R) [3]
R4 Charlie Niland/Ruth O'Kane (Honda Civic) [2]
R5 Johnny Hegarty/Kevin McFadden (Toyota Corolla) [11]
R6 Peter McCarry/Loretta Kelly (Ford Model) [13]
R7 Paul Gallagher/James Gallagher (Ford Escort) [11]
R8 Garry Gallagher/Lee Cullen (Toyota Corolla) []
R9 William Vance/Tom Vance (Mitsubishi Evo8) []
R10 Enda Carr/Paddy Carr (Ford Escort) [10]
R11 Stirling Taylor/Adrian Crawford (Honda Civic) [3]
R12 PJ Gallen/TBA (Ford Escort) [13]
R13 Shane Normoyle/PJ O'Dowd (Peugeot 106) [1]
R14 Jonathan Greer/TBA (Mitsubshi Evo 9) [4]
R15 Martin McPhillips/TBA (Toyota Corolla) [11]
R16 Martin McLaughlin/Owen Feeny (Ford Escort) []
R17 John Hickey/TBA (Ford Fubaru) [15]
R18 Fearghal Allen/TBA (BMW M3) [14]
R19 Kevin O'Donaghue/Denis Coffey (Ford Escort) [14]

FIESTA
No. Driver /Co Driver (Make Model) [Class]
FST1 Craig Breen/Roberts Gareth (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]
FST2 Mark Donnelly/Robinson Paddy (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]
FST3 Paul Quinn/Kelly Sorcha (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]
FST4 Shane Buckley/Maguire Thomas (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]
FST5 Robert Barrable/O'Grady Seamus (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]
FST6 Leonard Leonard/Leonard Dara (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]
FST7 Garrett Loughran/Loughran Philip (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]
FST8 Desmond Henry/Rowan John (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]
FST9 Stephen Wright/McGee Paul (Ford Fiesta ST) [3]

Historics
No. Driver /Co Driver (Car ) [Class]
H1 Derek Boyd/Roisin Boyd (Porsche 911) [C2]
H2 Keith McIvor/David Burns (Porsche 911) [C2]
H3 Donal Connolly/Danny McLaughlin (Ford Escort) []
H4 Brian Pat Doherty/Michael O'Kane (Ford Escort MK1 BDA) []
H5 Rory Tougher/Harry Armour (Morris Minicooper) [B2]
H6 William Todd/Stephen O'Hanlon (Austin Minicoppers) [B2]
H7 Niall Keane/Sean Heneghan (Hillman Avenger Tiger) [C1]
H8 Brian Crawford/Finian Hannigan (Talbot Sunbeam) [D2]
H9 Niall Crighton/Gregory Roberts (Ford Lotus Cortina) [B3]
H10 David Wright/Susanne Wright (Ford Escort) [D5]
H11 Hugh Gibbons/Gavin O'Donnell (Ford Escort M1) [C1]
H12 Gerard McGinley/John Coll (Talbot Sunbeam) [D2]
H13 Gary Madden/ Tba (Ford Escort) []
H14 Andrew Harvey/Darren Harvey (Talbot Sunbeam) [D1]
H15 George Baskin/Jenna Bennett (Ford Escort) [D3]
H16 Aidan O'Connor/Ian Regan (Ford Escort RS2000) [D3]
H17 Karl McDermott/ Tba (Ford Escort) [D3]
H18 Hubert Valkenborghs/David Valkenborghs (Talbot Sunbeam) [D2]

Click here for Entry List in Exel Format

Event Website (Accomodation, Competitors Notes, Scrutiny Times)

Topaz Donegal International Rally worth up to €25 million to local economy
50,000 spectators expected to attend event
Rally makes welcome return to ‘Edge of the World’

Topaz, Ireland’s largest fuel and convenience retailer has announced details of its sponsorship of this year’s Topaz Donegal International Rally Ireland.
This year’s rally is taking place from June 19th to the 21st, and will see 151 drivers from all over the country taking part in the three day event over the 300 kilometre course.
It’s estimated the rally is worth more than €25 million to the Donegal economy. Last year Topaz signed a 3 year deal which secured the future of what is one of Ireland’s oldest annual rally competitions. The company will invest almost a quarter of a million euro in sponsoring and supporting the event over the 3 years.
This year the rally makes a welcome return to the ‘Edge of the World’ aka the Inishowen peninsula for three stages, incorporating dramatic coastal routes. Over 50,000 spectators are expected to line the route of the rally as Ireland’s top drivers compete for championships points as part of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. The event will also incorporate an Historic Rally competition and the Fiesta Challenge on Saturday 20th followed by the Junior Rally on Sunday 21st.
Danny Gormley, Clerk of the Course said “We are delighted with Topaz’s continued support of the Rally, particularly in the current economic climate.  Ireland is known to have the best tarmac stages in world rallying. After a gap of 7 years the Topaz Donegal International Rally is going back to Inishowen for some of the most challenging and spectacular tests to be found anywhere. We have changed the rally route significantly for 2009 with many new stages and only three of those from last year. We believe the route will provide the drivers and indeed the spectators with some truly memorable rallying .”
Eddie O’Brien, the newly appointed CEO of Topaz and a native of Donegal said.  “This is the biggest event in the region - not just for rally enthusiasts - but for the economy of the north west as a whole. Topaz, as a fully Irish owned and managed company, is committed to supporting local entrepreneurs and community initiatives in a practical way. Right now this rally is more important than ever to the economy of the region.”
O’Brien went on to explain what made the Donegal Rally so special. “Given that I grew up in Buncrana I have fond memories of the rally, so I know what it means to the county and the region. The commitment of the organisers – some 500 volunteers work on the rally on a daily basis – and the support of the community, together with the enthusiasm of the spectators make it a unique event. The rally also gives Donegal a wonderful opportunity to showcase its natural beauty to a domestic and international audience in a very dramatic setting. Everyone at Topaz is delighted to be involved and to play our part in helping make it a success.”