Picture: Martin Walsh
Kerry Motor Club will have a new headquarters for its Kerry Winter Rally for the first time in the event’s 43-year history as the November 3 event will move to The Rose Hotel in Tralee this year.
The popular end-of-season event has been based at the Banna Beach Resort since its inception in 1981.
The link with the Banna Beach Resort was so popular that the rally became affectionately known as the Banna Rally and not by its official Kerry Winter Rally title.
But times change and both the club and the Rose Hotel are delighted to announce a new partnership, adding to an already long-term arrangement with the club’s Circuit of Kerry Rally.
The 2024 event will now be rebranded at The Rose Hotel Kerry Winter Rally.
“I want to thank William Murphy and the entire team at Banna. They helped make the event what is today and Wiliam has been a loyal supporter of Kerry Motor Club for nearly five decades,” said clerk of the course Sean Hegarty.
“I am delighted to announce this new partnership with The Rose Hotel. Rally competitors and fans will be well aware of the welcome they get for the Circuit of Kerry and it is great to now extend that to the Winter Rally as well.”
Mark Sullivan, general manager at The Rose Hotel, said they have supported rallying in Kerry for over a decade and look forward to continuing this relationship over the coming years.
“We look forward to welcoming visitors from all around Ireland and beyond to Tralee town to enjoy top quality hospitality that Kerry’s capital town is renowned for,” he remarked.
Preparations are well underway for the event. An initial route survey has been carried out by the organising team and Kerry Motor Club promises some new additional features for the rally that will be announced in due course.
The rally is a counting round of three championships, The Top Part West Coast Rally Championship, the Ace Signs Southern 4 Rally Championship and the Moriarty’s Central Car Sales Kingdom of Kerry Rally Championship so a capacity entry of over 150 cars is guaranteed.
Meanwhile, Donegal driver, Declan Gallagher and his Killarney-based co-driver, John McCarthy have taken a convincing victory on the Germaine’s of Baltinglass Garda Síochána Motor Club Mini Stages Rally.
The Toyota Starlet crew were fastest on four of the event’s six stages and came home with 42.4 seconds in hand over their closest challengers, Jason Black and Karl Egan, who were also in a Starlet.
The outcome will leave the victors in a confident frame of mind ahead of the Donegal International Rally in two weeks time, where they are certain to be in the fight for modified category honours.
KillarneyToday.com: Read by thousands of people every day: To advertise call 064-6631281 or 087-2229761
