BY MARTIN WALSH
THE 2024 Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally will be a three-day event with the opening leg on Friday (March 15th) consisting of four stages, two of which will be under the cover of darkness.
Ahead of an announcement on Thursday, The Southern Star can exclusively reveal that the move was rubber-stamped at a meeting of the Cork Motor Club late last week. It's certainly an exciting time for the Clonakilty-based rally where there’s always been an ambition to be innovative coupled with a desire to continue to progress standards and ideas.
The latest move is expected to generate an additional financial boost to the region and once again highlights the unique synergy between event organisers Cork Motor Club and the local West Cork Rally Committee.
Indeed, since its inception in 1977 the local involvement has been the key to its success and it’s a template that has been the envy of many motor clubs around the country, some of whom have adopted key parts of the West Cork Rally format.
From rounds of the then Motoring News Championship, to the National Rally Championship and in 2015 a full counting round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and subsequently a round of the British Rally Championship, its stock continues an upward spiral, yet it remains true to its core – a clubman rally.
Currently, the Donegal International Rally is the only three-day rally in Ireland. In times past, the rally season opener Galway International Rally was also a three-day event until 1984.
At the ratification of the 2024 motorsport calendar during the recent Motorsport Ireland (MI) Congress in Athlone, the West Cork Rally was listed for March 15th-17th next and it was endorsed without objection from any of the other MI affiliated clubs.
Club representatives have discussed the matter with the local Clonakilty West Cork Rally committee while competitors polled by a representative of the organisers yielded a very positive response.
Recently, the directors of the Cork Motor Club gave the proposal the green light subject to an ordinary club meeting. Last week, that particular meeting resulted in the relevant approval.
The move to a three-day event brings automatic comparisons with the Donegal International Rally, while the decision to include two night stages will bring a very different spectacle and should spark great interest.
‘The 2024 running of the West Cork Rally is set to be an incredibly exciting event as for the first time in the history of the event it will form part of a three-day festival of motorsport based in Clonakilty,’ Clerk of the course Steve Davis said.
‘Since its inception, the local West Cork Rally committee has played a pivotal role in its development and while their initial focus was based on providing financial support, their role now intertwines so many other strands. As rally organisers, we are delighted that we have their full support, indeed, their endorsement continues that synergy.’
Davis added: ‘While the West Cork Rally is highly regarded, not just in the 32 counties but also overseas, this new concept will ensure continued collaboration. The decision (to make it a three-day event) has been endorsed both by the directors and members of the Cork Motor Club and has also received the overwhelming support of the competitors. The four stages on the Friday, that include two stages in darkness, will be close to Clonakilty.’
There’s no doubt that the involvement of the Clonakilty West Cork Rally Committee has developed well beyond its original role. Record five-time winner Donegal’s Donagh Kelly previously remarked on the unique relationship between the local committee and the Cork Motor Club. Of course, there were and will be times that agreement may not always be reached on some ideas or suggestions but compromise has always been found and everyone works towards the one goal – keeping the West Cork Rally as the primary focus.
Newly-elected chairperson of the Clonakilty West Cork Rally Committee, Ed Twomey told The Southern Star, ‘Following discussions with the Cork Motor Club and as a committee, we are very excited to take on the challenge of three days of the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally. We have a long history here in West Cork of being innovative and we are not afraid to try something new. Ever since the rally began we have enjoyed the unstinting support of the local businesses and residents of Clonakilty and the wider West Cork area.
‘Traditionally, the West Cork Rally kick-starts our tourist season and we are famous for our warm welcome to competitors, crews and spectators from all over Ireland and overseas. We look forward to meeting old friends and new on St Patrick’s weekend in 2024 where the journey will now start a day earlier.’
Organisational elements of the rally are already well underway and the rally is just 92 days away from this exclusive announcement this morning, Thursday December 14th.
