O’Sullivan completes Irish International set with Galway win

O’Sullivan completes Irish International set with Galway win

By Sean Moriarty

Muckross-based co-driver Noel O’Sullivan added another milestone victory to his career at the weekend as a win on the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally alongside Callum Devine completed a full set of wins on the original rounds of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

The Galway result means O’Sullivan has now won all of the traditional Irish international rallies that formed the championship from its earliest years. Those victories include the Circuit of Ireland Rally, Rally of the Lakes, Donegal International Rally, Ulster International Rally and the Cork ‘20’ International Rally. The only Irish international rally missing from his record is West Cork, which joined the championship in more recent times.

Devine and O’Sullivan led from the opening stage in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, stamping control on the first round of the 2026 NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. On Saturday’s opening test at Kilcoona, Devine immediately laid down a marker, taking over eight seconds from his rivals on the 11.7km stage. Despite a broken wheel rim on the third test, the tyre stayed intact and the Derry–Kerry pairing completed the opening loop with a 21.3-second advantage.

Dry conditions, rare for Galway, did little to ease the challenge, with dirt and mud dragged onto the roads throughout the weekend. Devine continued to build his lead across the Headford stages and ended day one with a commanding 42.3-second overnight advantage. From there, Devine adopted a controlled approach on Sunday’s six stages around Monivea, allowing others to take stage times while maintaining a safe margin, eventually securing victory by 37.1 seconds.

O’Sullivan said:

“This is the one I wanted, growing up this was one of the iconic rallies I always watched, something was missing from my list of wins.”

Behind the leaders, David Kelly and Shane Buckley delivered a strong drive in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. Kelly was among the standout performers on Sunday morning, setting fastest times on the opening stages of day two and climbing into fourth overall.

His pace on the muddy Monivea roads kept him firmly in podium contention.

Kelly and Buckley looked odds-on for a third-place finish overall, but were denied over the final two stages when Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes mounted a late charge. Moffett’s push on the final test proved decisive, relegating the Donegal–Kerry crew to a hard-earned fourth place overall after a consistently strong weekend.

Meanwhile, Shane McCarthy finished fifth in his class in his Honda Civic. The Kenmare driver is contesting the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship for the first time.

---

---