Fast stages greet Ireland’s best on ALMC Stages Rally
Round six of the 2023 National Rally Championship takes place this weekend with 150 crews poised to take on the ALMC Stages Rally.
Championship leaders Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty will open the road in their Hyundai i20 Rally2, a combination that is steadily getting up to the speed and style Moffett consistently exhibited in his older R5.
Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan will be keen to take advantage of his recent run of form, hot of another Irish Tarmac win on last weekend’s Cork 20 International Rally. After skipping the Ravens Rock Rally, Devine is 21 points behind Moffett in the standings.
Competitors will drop their two lowest scores at the end of the season which effectively narrows that gap to three points in Moffett’s favour. If Devine wins with a Power Stage bonus point in Oldcastle, he’ll be at least level on points with his rival.
Declan Boyle was the winner of the ALMC Stages Rally the last time it appeared in the National Rally Championship, back in 2016. He takes on this year’s version alongside Patrick Walsh in a Citroen C3 Rally2.
The three-time National Champion’s son, Michael, has been building his Rally2 pace in impressive fashion this year. Can he challenge his father for bragging rights on the ALMC?
Gareth McHale, Daniel Cronin, Daniel Barry, Andrew Purcell, Paul Barrett, and Steve Wood complete a tasty top ten of Class 5 cars.
Seeded 11th, Kevin Gallagher will be two-wheel-drive’s benchmark behind the wheel of his Darrian T90. Daniel McKenna, Richard Moffett, Chris Armstrong, Jonathan Pringle, and Gary Kiernan will be up to their usual modified madness behind.
Class 13 will have the intriguing addition of two local Honda Civic flyers in Brian Brady and Gary McNamee. Their battle will be one to watch as will the Rally4 equivalent between rising stars Cian Caldwell, Ryan McHugh, Keelan Grogan, and Matthew Boyle.
The scene is set for another National Rally Championship thriller. Find out what crews will face over the nine ALMC stages as Onthepacenote’s Killian Duffy kindly guides us through the tests.
Ballinlough (7.8 km) – SS1/4/7
A really fast, flat-out opener to kick off this year’s ALMC Stages Rally. However, there is a loose section of fresh resurfacing that will mix things up a bit for around 2.5 kilometres.
Lough Ban (13.4 km) – SS2/5/8
ALMC’s middle test has a nice flow with crest-ridden corners. The corner-profiled jumps will challenge the crews on a stage that in general is quite fast again.
Mullaghameen (15.1 km) SS3/6/9
It seems to be a constant theme in the National Rally Championship – ALMC has definitely saved its best to last with a cracking stage set to end the rally.
The 15.1-kilometre test has a mix of everything in it. Mullaghameen will demand a lot of concentration with a lot of driving and time available on what will likely be another nail-biting finale.
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Photos by D Harrigan Images
