Harvest Stages Rally 2015 – Record Entry Level
With entries closed for the 2015 Donegal Motor Club An Grianán Hotel Harvest Stages Rally, a staggering 183 crews have applied to start the event on Saturday 10th October 2015.
Based in Burt, Co. Donegal, the Clerk of the Course for the event Leonard Wilson, this afternoon at Press Briefing, giving details of the event, top 20 competitors and the schedule for the overall event.
This rally, will be Round 6 of the 2015 Sligo Pallets Border Championship, and Donegal Motor Club’s own Donegal Commercials Club Championship.
Speaking at the briefing to local journalists, Mr. Wilson, “highlighted the fact that Donegal Motor Club was overwhelmed by the entry level, and thanked competitors for their interest in the event again. We appreciate your support.” Mr. Wilson again thanked the residents along the route for their continued co-operation, along with An Garda Síochána for their assistance leading up to and during the forthcoming week-end. He is delighted that An Grianán Hotel once again sponsored the event. He also paid tribute to the hundreds of Officials who will be assisting to ensure the event is run safely and appealed for spectators to obey these officials who are there to ensure everyone’s safety and enjoyment while they watch the spectacle from a safe distance.
Announcing the seeded top 20 competitors for the event, the full extent of the overall Entry list was provided at this briefing, covering the 12 Junior and 3 Historic competitors, along with the 183 applications to start the main national field. As only 131 competitors may start the event, there remains 52 competitor crews on the reserve list at this time of printing.
Topping the main National field are last year’s Harvest winners, Declan and Brian Boyle in the new WRC Fiesta, followed closely by Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan in the Focus, but with names such as Peadar Hurson, Niall Maguire, Frank Wray, PJ McDermott, all in Subaru’s, and recent Dogleap winner Joseph McGonigle in close proximity, anything could happen at the 2015 event.
Mr. Wilson then gave some further event details. “It has been a number of years since this rally has been in the area which means the stages will be new to a large number of competitors. A compact route has been chosen by the organising committee leaving the stage miles more that road miles to keep all costs for competitors minimal. The event mileage equates to 90 Special Stage Kilometres and 130 Road Kilometres. Scrutiny for the event will take place at An Grianan Estate, Burt, which will give the public a good opportunity to see the cars and crews ‘up close’. That will take place on Friday 9th October from 3pm to 8pm.
On Saturday 10th , the service Area will be based in Buncrana while the rally is on progress. With 9 special stages, configured as 3 individual stages repeated 3 times, there will be plenty to see on the day, further details for the whole rally will be available on the Rally Programme which is on sale at all the usual outlets across the county.
Competitors may download and read the Rallyguide, along with other up-to-date information what will be available on the Donegal Motor Club website, www.donegalmotorclub.com/downloads.php”.
Finally the Clerk of the Course thanked the Press and media for their assistance in getting the various messages on safety matters, route information, out to the public and motorsport spectators alike, along with the important role they play in supporting this great sporting traditional both here in the county and across the Nation.
