Kelly secures first Killarney Historic Rally victory
Donagh Kelly and Rory Kennedy braved the elements in the Killarney mountains to seal their maiden Killarney Historic Rally victory together. It was Kelly’s first rally win since 2020’s Mayo Stages Rally and Kennedy’s first victory in Killarney since 2000’s Rally of the Lakes. The victory also evokes memories of Kennedy’s 1990 Rally of the Lakes win in a similar BMW M3 alongside Bertie Fisher.
The Donegal pairing of Kelly and Kennedy finished 23.7 seconds ahead of reigning Historic Irish Tarmac Rally Champion Tomas Davies who made a perfect start to his title defense, scoring top championship points.
Kelly started the day with the third-fastest time through Killarney Historic’s Moll’s Gap opener, two seconds behind Davies. In fact, it was Donagh’s son Eamonn who treated the thousands of spectators to an eight-second fastest time.
Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan were one of five pristine BMW M3s inside Killarney’s top ten and retained their rally lead on stage two despite struggling with understeer through the narrower Ballaghbeama test.
Unfortunately for the Junior World Rally Championship duo, their run at the front of Killarney’s pack came to an end on Caragh Lake. Kelly’s M3 visited the scenery after a fast section along Caragh Lake, a tough blow to a dazzling early drive.
Donagh Kelly had set the fastest time through stage two and was able to move into the lead after his son’s stage three exit. Kelly held a 16.5-second lead over Davies and Shane Buckley’s Ford Escort RS1800 heading into Killarney’s service halt.
Davies was fending off 2022 Historic Irish Tarmac Champions Neil Williams and Anthony O’Sullivan for second spot. He managed the strong start despite a small disruption ahead of Moll’s Gap when his rev counter stopped working.
Williams finished stage three 12.5 seconds off Davies’ pace with Denis Moynihan a further 7.6 seconds back in fourth.
Defending Killarney Historic Rally winner Jonathan Greer had a nightmare start when his Ford Sierra lost power halfway through Moll’s Gap. Greer and co-driver Niall Burns lost two and a half minutes with the issue but bounced back after service to climb up from 19th to seventh overall. The four-wheel-drive crew missed out on sixth by 0.2 seconds from Mark Falvey and James O’Brien.
Cathan McCourt was another one who ran into mechanical trouble on Saturday morning. His Ford Escort RS1800 finished stage three in 12th after encountering a misfire and alternator issues throughout the loop of tests.
Rally leaders Kelly and Kennedy extended their lead on Moll’s Gap with a time only bettered by the resurgent Sierra of Greer. Davies was now 27.9 seconds behind Kelly’s M3 and his focus was now on keeping Irish Tarmac rivals Williams and O’Sullivan behind.
Moynihan dropped from fourth to tenth after a time-sapping spin on Moll’s Gap, his position snapped up by Fergus O’Meara and Mikie Galvin who were thriving on their BMW M3 debut.
Three M3s were fighting for fourth spot as 5.6 seconds covered O’Meara, John O’Donnell, and Alan Ring.
Ring did the damage on Ballaghbeama to jump ahead of both O’Donnell and O’Meara. That race for fourth became a race for a podium spot when Williams’ Escort RS1800 ground to a halt early on stage six, Caragh Lake, with a broken timing belt.
A wet rally got even wetter on stage seven, as the crews tackled Kilcummin for the first of two times. Davies took 1.1 seconds out of Kelly’s 37.9-second lead on stage seven but with only a repeat running of Kilcummin remaining the win was altogether in Kelly’s hands.
O’Meara’s positive M3 debut blipped with a spin on Killarney’s penultimate test which put him out of contention for third. O’Donnell on the other hand was attacking the rain-soaked roads with several stylish slides to set the fastest time and jump back ahead of Ring.
Back at the front, Kelly cruised home through a wickedly wet Kilcummin finale to seal the rally win. Davies cut his winning margin by 13.1 seconds but he had to settle for second and top Historic ITRC points.
O’Donnell and Robinson were one of the stars of the rally, setting another rapid time through Kilcummin to seal the final podium spot and a strong start to their Historic ITRC campaign.
Jumping two places at the end of the rally and snatching the final stage win, McCourt and Barry McNulty ended the day on a high, moving ahead of O’Meara and Ring to grab fourth.
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Photos by D Harrigan Images
