Donegal International Rally attract rising stars

A number of Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy drivers are planning assaults on the Donegal International Rally this weekend.

One very interesting entry is in the historic category. Junior World Rally Champions and current WRC2 M-Sport Ford Fiesta crew William Creighton and Liam Regan are set to swap roles this weekend.

Regan – no stranger to historic rallying as a driver in his Skoda Estelle 130 L – will have his sidekick from the World Rally Championship as his co-driver. This will be the County Down man's first time on pacenote duty.

"This is my first time reading notes," said Creighton. "It is something I’ve wanted to do for a while so when Liam said he needed a co-driver it sounded like the right opportunity.

"A two-hour flight to a World Rally Championship event and we had the whole thing planned! An iconic rally with an amazing atmosphere so I’m delighted to be a part of it and have a fun weekend with Liam and his team."

They will join the action on Saturday morning as the historic category is only contesting two of the three days.

As well as being the fifth round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the Donegal International Rally is also the fourth round of the Stellantis Cup.

ITRC class leaders Ryan MacHugh and Declan Boyle are the top Rally4 seeds in Donegal. They have been the Rally4 benchmark on the majority of ITRC rallies this season. On home ground this weekend, the Ford Fiesta Rally4 crew are ready for the big one.

"I am really looking forward to what is one of the biggest rallies in the year in Ireland. To be the top seed in the Rally4 class on my home rally is a honour," MacHugh said.

"We did the recce at the weekend and the Friday stages are really tricky. It is back to classic stages for Saturday and Sunday