Polo and West Cork combo enough to tempt Barrable

Robert Barrable admitted that the temptation of doing this weekend’s West Cork Rally in a Volkswagen Polo R5 was too great to resist. The Swords-based driver will compete in the Dom Buckley prepared car which has won the last two Irish Tarmac Championship events, the Galway Rally and Cork 20.

“We didn’t plan to do West Cork,” explained Barrable. “But with Alastair [Fisher] jumping ship it freed up the Polo.

“We seized the opportunity to go down and we’ll see how we get on. It went well in Galway and Cork so hopefully I won’t be the one to break the duck.”

Barrable won the West Cork Rally back in 2011 in a Skoda Fabia S2000 and has competed in the event for the last three seasons. His Father Michael is also a West Cork Rally winner, when he pipped Tim McNulty by 10 seconds to come out victorious on the 2007 rally. All the memories combine to make it a special event for the Barrable family.

“It’s an event we’ve always seemed to do in the past. It always kick-started my Dad’s rallying year and we inherited that as well.

“It’s normally a well-organised event and at Paddy’s weekend, there’s always a bit of craic.

“The club is very good so we’re looking forward to getting going. It’s run by competitors, a lot of other clubs could take a leaf out of their book.

“Look at the entry they have, it’s phenomenal.”

Barrable hadn’t been planning to do any rallies this year and had hoped instead to do a circuit racing championship. Porsche Carrera Cup GB and TCR UK are two options that Barrable is considering but for now, he is focused on having a positive weekend in West Cork.

“It was a last-minute decision so I am going to try to get a test later this week and then play it by ear.

“It will be hard to race the guys with more seat time but we’re just going to try to get into a good rhythm and find a good speed early on.

“There is going to be savage competition so it would be nice to be in the mix.

“If we come out with a good result my arm might be able to be twisted to stay on with the rallying but I’ll see how we get on.”

Photo by Alan Noonan

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