Organisers of next month’s Corrib Oil Galway International Rally have announced that a trio of previous winners have entered the event, which takes place on February 1 and 2.
By prioritising the British Rally Championship last year Meirion Evans missed the two-day event — but he intends to travel from Wales for the first Irish Tarmac Championship round.
Evans was victorious on the west coast of Ireland back in 2023, finishing nearly 13 seconds in front of the chasing pack to bank a hard-earned second international triumph.
Over the course of the 15 special stages that produced multiple lead changes and fastest times from a handful of Rally2 competitors, Evans and his co-driving team-mate Jonathan Jackson held on to defeat former Irish Tarmac champion Josh Moffett — another winner of a closed road competition that is traditionally held in wet and windy conditions.
They will renew their rivalries in a month’s time and like Declan Boyle, who last visited the top step of the podium in Galway 11 years ago, are keen to add to their victory count.
“I think some of the stages are similar to last year, so that will go against us a bit but I think we should be okay,” was Evans’ assessment.
“The conditions in Galway normally throw enough variables into the mix that means it is never that straightforward. It will be nice to be back as I missed last year and it would be nice to win again but it’s never an easy task.”
Among those aiming for a first win in the Dual County is Claudy’s Callum Devine. Although he came up short in the defence of his Tarmac title last year to Keith Cronin, he ended the series strongly in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 and is fancied to pick up where he left off.
Interest will also centre around ex-Irish Tarmac Rally Championship Modified title holder Kevin Eves. For 2025, the Donegal native is swapping his Toyota Corolla Twin Cam for the Ford Fiesta Rally2 he steered to third place, first time out, at December’s Turkey Run Rally.
Comprising nine speed tests on the Saturday in the Headford and Tuam areas, and six on the Sunday close to Monive, the 47th running of Galway Motor Club’s blue-ribbon competition is being run under the auspices of new Clerk of the Course, Joe Donoghue.
The Corrib Oil Galway International Rally is the first of seven rounds that crews from the new-look Irish Tarmac Rally Championship will contest in 2025, and one of five, two-day events.