Donegal Rally: Day 3 summary, recap and impressions
The third and final day of the Joule Donegal International Rally has come to a close. Here’s what happened .
The rally saw some dramatic action to end the final day. There was a major lead change in the International category, a costly accident and more.
It was a moody Sunday as the teams took to some of the most scenic stages that the rally has to offer, Fanad Head. This is near where they did some filming on Star Wars Episode VIII.
It’s also one of the most storied courses because it was where Manus Kelly took the lead in last year’s event.
Rally summary
Reigning champion Manus Kelly managed a repeat. He won with a bit of help from Donagh Kelly, who crashed on the second-to-last stage after hitting a bank late in the course. Donagh had been leading for the whole of the event until the accident left his car too damaged to continue.
Manus Kelly and co-driver Donall Barrett ended the event with a 1:54 lead over second placed Alaistair Fisher. It was an extremely dominant performance from the local driver, who had already done admirable work in catching up to the other Kelly before finally taking the lead on the final day.
The Junior rally also saw a dominant performance from Stephen Peoples, who was nine seconds ahead of second place and a minute and a half in ahead of third. He showed a lot of promise in this race.
The National category was also won by locals: Damien Gallagher and Mac Walsh.
Interesting note: the winners of the National, Historic, and Junior sections were all driving Ford Escort Mk2s. If you haven’t heard already, Ford Escorts are extremely popular in this part of the world and a symbol of yesteryear’s rallies.
It’s also interesting how many rear-wheel drive cars there were, including an Opel Ascona (which finished last place in the Nationals).
Observations
The sheer amount of people in town this weekend was insane. Letterkenny isn’t exactly a “destination.” Not that it isn’t beautiful, it just isn’t someplace that tourists often come. It’s more like someplace that people go through on their way to someplace else.
But these past couple of days have seen more visitors than in the last month. It just wasn’t possible to get anywhere in a reasonable amount time because of the traffic.
You begin to understand why this rally matters so much to local business. It brings in so many people that wouldn’t ordinarily come, and they stay for the duration of the rally, all three days. They stay in hotels, drink at pubs, eat at restaurants. The rally brings in genuine consumers.
It also gets people out of the house. It becomes a cultural touchstone as people, both local and not, come out to watch the cars race by. It’s sort of reminiscent of a minor league baseball game: few people are very invested in the result, so they watch passively and out of curiosity.
Helpful links
Official website: donegalrally.ie