National Rally Championship title fight heads to Ballinasloe for Galway Summer Rally
Round six of the Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship heads to East Galway on Sunday, August 23, for the Bluebird Care Galway Summer Rally. Based out of the Shearwater Hotel in Ballinasloe with central service at Domac Plant & Tool Hire in Poolboy, Galway Motor Club has assembled a capacity 150-car entry for 110 kilometres of competitive stages.
Top seed Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty bring their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 to Ballinasloe holding the upper hand in the main championship. Victorious in Birr, Munster, and on home ground in Monaghan over the Bank Holiday, Moffett sets the pace. The co-driver fight tells a different story: because Moriarty missed Monaghan due to its date change, Shane Quinn’s navigator Stephen Reynolds currently leads the overall points. Quinn and Reynolds start at car two in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, knowing dropped scores will determine the final destination of both titles across Galway, October’s Donegal Harvest, and the potentially rescheduled Stonethrowers Rally.
Donegal duo Kevin Eves and Chris Melly start at three in a Škoda Fabia RS Rally2, holding third in the points through sheer consistency. Right behind them, Keelan Grogan and local co-driver Ayrton Sherlock line up at four in another Fiesta Rally2, aiming to build on their second-place finish in Munster.
“I’m really looking forward to our home event. The Galway Summer Rally is run every two years and it’s always a real highlight for me,” Sherlock said. “It’s great to be back out on local stages to build on the pace we’ve shown this year. We’ve had a good national run so far, including a second-place finish in Munster, so hopefully we can build on that momentum. It’s brilliant to be starting at the sharp end.”
“Fair play to Galway Motor Club and the whole organising team around them for putting three challenging stages together for Sunday. It’s going to be very interesting to see how it plays out. With a full entry list, the competition will be strong right throughout the field.”
Daniel Cronin and Padraig O’Donovan round out the top five in a GR Yaris Rally2, leading directly into the two-wheel-drive field.
Daniel McKenna and Andrew Grennan head Class 14 at car six in a Ford Escort Mk2, fresh off a class victory in Monaghan. Cavan’s Aaron McIntyre and Darren O’Brien follow at seven in their Toyota Starlet RWD, ahead of Jonathan Pringle and Pierce O’Callaghan in another Mk2 Escort at eight. Mayo modified winner Brian Lavelle teams up with Jack Kelly at nine in an Escort, with Mayo husband and wife crew John Warren and Ruthann O’Connor completing the top ten in a Fiesta Rally2.
Ben McIntyre’s Toyota Starlet RWD is top seed in Class 13 at car eleven, followed by Tom Jnr Holton and local co-driver Stephen Joyce’s Fiesta Rally2 at twelve. Top all-Galway crew Stephen Greaney and Jonathan Folan take car fourteen in their Fiesta Rally2, starting ahead of Tim McNulty’s Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 at fifteen and Class 13 frontrunner Barry McLaughlin’s Escort Mk1 at sixteen.
Seamus Leonard fields a Fiesta Rally2 at seventeen, leading an Escort block containing Rodney Wilton at eighteen and Dave Slattery at nineteen.
Local man Dean Raftery competes in the family Ford Fiesta Rally3, the car he took to class honours at the Galway International in January.
Adrian Hetherington starts at twenty-one in an Escort Mk2, while Scottish driver Gordon Morrison is the leader of the Ford Escort Mk2 Challenge element of the championship at car twenty-two.
In Class 2, Ben McFall and Mark McGeehan are top seeds at car 29 in a Fiesta Rally4, but face opposition from two Cavan drivers who have dominated the tarmac pace all season: Oran England at car 33 and Danny Brady at car 34, both in Peugeot 208 Rally4s.
The event brings a strong economic boost to Ballinasloe, attracting crews from the UK, the USA, Canada, and Australia.
Five Galway Motor Club members support the event through their businesses. Title sponsor Bluebird Care Galway returns for a third year under MD Sean Lyons, who will also drive the official Safety Car. Associate backing comes from Torsten Schmidt’s GRP4 Fabrications “King of the Mk2” award), Keith Spain’s Spain’s Coach Hire, Raftery’s Craughwell Tyres, and Adrian Quinn Car Sales, with Adrian Quinn Junior competing in Class 4 in a Renault Clio.
The Gavin Glynn Foundation is the official charity partner for 2026, raising funds to support families of children traveling abroad for cancer treatment. Competitive action begins early Sunday morning.
