Rally Ireland entries announced
The entry list for Rally Ireland 2009 has been finalised and a total of 43 crews will battle it out through 350kms and 19 stages of the Northwest from 29th January to the 1st February. In addition a total of 21 World Rally Championship (WRC) cars will compete in the first round of the 2009 World Rally Championship.
For the sixth year in a row Citroens Sebastien Loeb will be defending the driver’s title, while he and his team mate Daniel Sordo will be looking to defend the manufacturer’s title. Also battling out across the seven counties in the North West will be the Ford duo of Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala and away from the manufacturer teams, Henning Solberg, Umo Aava and Matthew Wilson will run under the Stobart banner, Khalid Al Qassimi continues in a third BP Ford Focus WRC and Chris Atkinson and Sebastian Ogier will compete in the Citreon C4 WRC.
Once again the McHale family, Austin, Gareth and Aaron, in their Ford Focus’ will compete in a round of the WRC as will Michael Barrable and Ray Breen. Welshman Gareth Jones will do duel in his Subaru Impreza as will Stephen Murphy, Tim McNulty and Eamonn Boland.
Outside the WRC class 43 additional competitors have also entered Rally Ireland 2009. These include 2007 junior WRC rookie of the year Shaun Gallagher in a Mitsubishi Evo 9, Donegal’s Toni Kelly in a Honda Civic Type R and Germanys’ Aaron Bukhart in a Suzuki Swift S1600. Commenting on the applications to Rally Ireland 2009, Event Director John Naylor stated ‘We are less than three weeks away to the biggest sporting event to hit Ireland in 2009 and despite the challenging economic environment we all find ourselves in we are heartened by the number of the applications that we have received. Spectators will have an opportunity to see the world’s best rally drivers, up and coming talent and our own Irish legends and favorites all facing the same demanding test of the roads across the Northwest.’
The sport’s governing body, the FIA, has bestowed Ireland with the honor of marking the start of the 2009 WRC season. It is the first time in almost 30 years that the beginning of the World Rally Championship (WRC) has been held outside of Monte Carlo, the traditional starting point for each WRC season. Rally Ireland 2009 will take place between the 29th January and the 1st February with 19 stages taking place through seven counties in the North West: Cavan, Leitrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Sligo, Donegal and Roscommon. Rally Ireland is proudly sponsored by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure and Failte Ireland.