Day two of the Donegal Rally is complete. Here’s a rundown of the action from stages 7-14.
It’s often said that the Donegal rally only really starts on Saturday. Most of the toughest courses run on the middle day of the event. So today was a good indication of who’s doing well: If you’re ahead on Saturday, you can probably win.
The best news of the day is that the sun came out.
There was plenty of action to get through, so let’s get to it.
Rally summary
It was another hot and dry day, with temperatures reaching 80 degrees Fahrenheit in Letterkenny. Grip didn’t appear to be a problem for the teams.
Kevin Eaves, who was the leader of the National section, spun out at Knockalla. His rally appears to be over.
Donagh Kelly and Manus Kelly maintained their places at first and second in the International category. Manus made up several seconds on Donagh, bringing Donagh and co-driver Conor Foley’s lead to 7.2 seconds going into Sunday. It seems like nobody is going to catch the Kellys, with third place driver Garry Jennings is 1:15.5 behind first.
Meanwhile, in the National category which runs simultaneously with the others, three drivers with the last name Gallagher held the top three positions. It also looks like a two horse race: third placed Declan Gallagher is 52 seconds behind the leader.
In the Historic rally, the top eight cars were some form of Ford Escort; either Mk1, Mk2 or RS. The Escort really is a symbol of what most of these drivers would consider rallying’s Golden Age, the late ’70s.
Side shows
While the rally is the main event this weekend, there’s other motoring-related stuff going on. Namely, drift exhibitions.
These are events organized by local businessmen where people drift around a large parking lot. At one of the most popular events, people pay 10 euros to watch enthusiasts burn rubber (and clutch).
It’s viewed by some as a sort of public service in the name of safety. The logic goes that if people do doughnuts and figure-eights in a safe, legal environment, they won’t feel inclined to do it out on the roads.
And this is a regular problem. One local said with a healthy amount of sarcasm: “Oh, I don’t mind the doughnuts. I hear them in my bed at four o’clock in the morning. I says ‘keep it it going boys.”‘ Other people have complained about motorists in souped up cars driving on the hazardous roads, late at night.
The idea is that, with the drift exhibitions, there will be less of that. I don’t know if it works, but I do know that the noise is insane.
Observations
I went down to the rally with my neighbor who has lived here for 10 years but has never been to the rally. He was pretty excited to finally see what it was about
He didn’t to have much to say about it afterwards. “You’re not getting a quote from me,” he said.
Next: 2017 Canadian Grand Prix results: Hamilton dominates
It’s interesting to see the gap between the casual fans and the serious ones. More than anything, it seems like the serious fans are living vicariously through the drivers. Most of them have their own pseudo-rally cars, which they’ve kitted out with body kits and modified exhaust. Almost all of them are Toyota Celicas.
Be sure to come back tomorrow for the final day of the rally.
Helpful Links:
Watch Live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plCZfb02hUI&app=desktop
Official Website: donegalrally.ie