Local ace Rob Duggan will switch from the Modified category into the Historic field for this weekend’s Killarney Towers Hotel Killarney Historic Rally.
The Killarney driver is the defending Modified champion, but an opportunity too good to pass up has landed on his lap.
Thanks to Meirion Evans and the Wales Motorsport team, Duggan will step back into a Ford Escort for his first Historic outing since 2019.
Duggan has form in the Historic ranks. In 2019 he won the rally outright, defeating the late Craig Breen, who at the time was a works world rally driver and reigning Irish champion.
Duggan is joined by long-time co-driver Ger Conway and means the local hero will line up against some of the strongest international and Irish Historic entries ever assembled for the rally.
Duggan explained that the deal came together after a conversation at the Rally of the Lakes prizegiving, when the opportunity to drive one of Evans’ Escorts arose.
“I am feeling good and looking forward to the change of machinery. The opportunity came up at the prize-giving of the Lakes when Meirion asked if I would have interest in going in one of his cars again and of course, after the success we had last time out, I jumped at the opportunity,” said Duggan.
“It will be a big change, but I am looking forward to the challenge. A lot of quick drivers in some fantastic machinery so it is looking like it will be a good weekend. If it goes as well as 2019 when we raced Craig, I am sure it will be.”
A World-Class Entry
The headline name for many fans is World Rally Championship star Kris Meeke, who makes a one-off appearance in a BMW M3 E30 run by MATS Performance in the Netherlands.
It is Meeke’s first competitive rally appearance in Ireland since 2009, and his inclusion has generated worldwide attention. The Tyrone driver has spent this season in Portugal, winning five rallies in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, and arrives in Killarney in top form.
The rally carries extra meaning for Meeke. It serves as a tribute to Maurice Nagle, founder of the event in 1996 and father of his former WRC co-driver Paul. Meeke and Nagle took five WRC wins together, and during their time as a pairing Meeke forged a close friendship with Maurice, whose dream was always to see the world’s best drivers in the finest Historic machinery on Kerry’s iconic stages. That dream is very much alive this weekend.
Meeke’s presence alone would be big enough news, but he will not be the only international star taking the fight to Kerry.
European rally legend Patrick Snijers has entered in another BMW M3 E30, prepared by Cork specialists Fionnsport Automotive Technology. Snijers is a seven-time Belgian champion and 1994 European Rally Champion with 44 European Championship wins.
Donagh Kelly and Rory Kennedy, the defending champions, return in their BMW M3 and start as first seeds. It is also a special milestone as it is 35 years since Kennedy’s first Killarney win alongside the great Bertie Fisher.
Alan Ring has generated huge attention with the debut of his stunning Group A Subaru Impreza 555. Changes to Historic eligibility have opened the door for more late-Group A machinery, and Clerk of the Course Anthony O’Connor has confirmed that the new rules have “shifted the whole dynamic of the event.”
The Munster Joinery-backed Subaru is one of only a handful of correct-spec examples in existence, and Ring will be looking to put down a marker on home ground.
John O’Donnell and Paddy Robinson arrive as newly crowned Irish Tarmac champions, Last year’s runners-up Tomas Davies and local co-driver Shane Buckley are back in their newly acquired BMW and arrive in Killarney after a historic category win in Belgium recently.
There are more local hopes in the form of Fergus O’Meara and Brian Duggan, while Waterford’s Ray Breen lines up in a Subaru Legacy RS.
Down the order, Cork driver and former Rally of the Lakes winner Daragh O’Riordan adds further spice by debuting a Ford Escort Cosworth WRC.
Another Cork driver, Denis Moynihan, brings still more proven Escort pace, while Neil Williams and John Falvey represent yet another Wales-Kerry combination in an RS1800.
The M3 count continues to grow with drifting star Conor Shanahan, who makes his debut in BMW machinery.
Just as newspapers and magazines are paid for, digital editorial content will also have to be paid for.
Please subscribe and help us keep this machine running!
It’s only €50 per year – subscribe now
Subscribe to get access
Read more of this content when you subscribe today.
Kerry Motorsport News 