Moriarty’s Central Car Sales Kingdon of Kerry Rally Championship
The Towers Hotel Killarney Historic Rally is the final round of the 2023 Moriarty’s Centra Kingdom of Kerry Rally Championship.
The championship is unique – it is the only dedicated County Rally Championship in the country.
Founded in 2018, the series goes from strength to strength, and the overall county medals( Gold for first, silver for second, and bronze for third) are now highly sought after by Kerry-based competitors.
The rules are simple, each competitor must have a Kerry address, and must be a member of either Kerry Motor Club or Killarney and District Motor Club. Points are distributed based on the finishing position in class on each event and are wared pro-rata against the number of starters in that class.
All rally events in Kerry County towards the championship but each day of the Rally of the Lakes is counted as a separate round. Bonus points are offered for each round started – the championship aims to encourage more Kerry competitors to enter more Kerry events.
The five-round championship started at the Killarney Forestry Rally in February. The Circuit of Kerry followed in April and just a short few weeks ahead of the two-day Rally of the Lakes.
In the absence of the Kerry Winter Rally this year, as a result of the calendar rotation system, there was a huge break from the Spring Bank Holiday weekend until the Historic Rally.
Leading the fray in the Driver’s Category is David Slattery.
His closest rival is Jason Farrell but the Killarney-based driver campaigns a Honda Civic and will not be able to enter that car in the Historic Rally.
This leaves New York-based Ken Quirke in a strong position but championship rules may apply and if his rally licence is registered to his United States address he may just be out of luck!!!
John McCarthy, Shane Doyle and Mike Nelligan could all move into podium positions after the last round.
A total of 35 points is the maximum possible, that would be three class wins, a dropped score and five points for starting each round. No one, in the drivers’ or co-drivers’ title race can achieve this magic figure so anyone currently on 22 points or more can take either title.
In the co-drivers’ section Noel O’Sullivan looks to be in the …ahem … driver’s seat. He sits on 32 points but will he start the final round? He certainly would love to add the Kingdom of Kerry title to the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship title he has already secured this year.
Slattery’s map man Denis Coffey might just steal the title on the Historic Rally but he would have to win Class 13 and hope that ten or more cars start the event.
Donagh Crowley remains in the running too.
Sean Hegarty and Kieran O’Donoghue are also in the running and the same scenario applies to them.
The prizegiving for the championship takes place in The Anvil Bar in Keel on December 27.
It is always a great night’s entertainment – mark your diary.
Top five drivers
1` Dave Slattery 27
2 Jason Farrell 22
3 Ken Quirke 22
4 John McCarthy 22
5 Shane Doyle 20
Top five co-drivers
1 Noel O’Sullivan 32
2 Denis Coffey 27
3 Donagh Crowley 26
4 Sean Hegarty 22
5 Kieran O’Donoghue 22
Junior
1 Mossey Costello
Ladies (driver and co-driver combined championship)
1 Megan Costello 8
2 Amy Burke 6
3 Charlene Hickey 4
4 Eleanor Looney 3
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