The secret of the Gap
Few corners in Ireland have observed greater levels of rallying than the left-hander which parachutes crews between Killarney’s iconic Molls Gap.
The rocky viewpoint has become the destination for biannual pilgrimages by motorsport fanatics across the Emerald Isle.
Photos, videos, and onboard footage of the sweeping right-hander into two tricky lefts have created global recognition for what is only a short section within the overall Molls Gap stage.
But what is the secret of the Gap?
We’ve enjoyed five high-class runs of the Killarney-Kenmare test in 2022.
It set the scene for Callum Devine and Alastair Fisher’s incredible Rally of the Lakes duel in Spring.
The winding ribbon of National Park roads couldn’t split the two Irish Tarmac protagonists. Their dead-heat prolonged a surreal race for first that went to Killarney’s last of 14 stages.
Such was the pace of Devine and Fisher’s pair of Volkswagen Polo R5s, they both managed to beat Molls Gap’s bogey time set at an average speed of 130 kph.
The bogey time beating performances in turn raised questions regarding Molls Gap’s sacred status. With more chicanes required to counter increasing speeds and improved road conditions, is Molls Gap as true a test as it once was?
Killarney without Molls Gap – can you imagine?
I don’t think many could.
For me, any doubts in Kerry’s Col de Turini were well and truly answered on the Killarney Historic Rally.
Molls Gap started and finished the seven-stage end-of-season festival.
Those who found a free piece of Kerry ground to stand beside Avoca Cafe were rewarded with the sights and sounds of the late Frank Meagher’s Ford Sierra RS Cosworth beautifully guided through the Gap by World Rally Championship aces Craig Breen and Paul Nagle.
It evoked memories and made new ones for those too young to remember the best of Group A in period.
Is there another stage in Ireland that would do Breen’s debut run in his hero’s car the same justice? It just had to be Molls Gap.
But the Molls Gap stage is so much more than the most famous Molls Gap section alone.
Several crews took on the Gap for the very first time on December’s Killarney Historic. Some had completed the stage plenty of times before but were still figuring out the secrets to a top time.
Daniel McKenna, who finished second in Killarney’s modified section, was one of those soaking up the Molls Gap experience. The Ford Escort Mk2 master knows to record a Killarney win someday he needs his best through the Gap.
“You need mileage to figure out the secret to the Gap,” explained the 2012 Billy Coleman Award winner. “For me, I still have more time to find on the back half of the mountain.
“Once you go through the Gap there are so many lines to learn as you head to the end of the stage.
“I still have bits to learn in the uphill part of it too but it’s a fantastic stage.”
Wales’ Neil Williams has become the Irish Historic Rally Championship’s benchmark driver over the past year. A searing display of speed behind the wheel of his historic specification Mk2 Escort had him top the championship with wins across Ireland.
A category win in Killarney has proved illusive but his fourth-place finish on this year’s Historic Rally was a result to be proud of.
As for Molls Gap, it is like its own personal challenge for drivers to master.
“Molls Gap is about understanding how to use all the road,” described Irish Tarmac’s reigning historic champion. “You need to find the guts to use every inch of the road.
“It is so important to carry speed through each corner and line every bend up as soon as you see it.
“You need to commit to the notes but the trouble with the Gap is you can’t have a perfect recce as it is an open two-lane road. You can’t follow the lines as you would during the event.
“It is a specialist stage, people have been competing on it for years and years.
“2022 was my fourth time doing Killarney Historic Rally and I can definitely see my own progress.
“It is such a long stage, we used it three times this year, so it is so decisive for your overall finishing position.”
Decisive, demanding, and this year it dealt a cruel blow to Breen and Nagle’s rally defence just before its Muckross start-line.
Killarney is a special place. Ballaghbeama and the like are one-of-a-kind stages that embody the roots in which Irish rallying was born.
Molls Gap may have changed since rallying’s early days but speaking to crews at the end of Killarney Historic proved it still holds a fabled aura that encourages an all-out attack over its 17 kilometres.
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Photos by Ross Delaney
