Cork Motor Club confirms West Cork Rally cancellation

The West Cork Rally will not run in 2021 after Cork Motor Club announced its cancellation for the second year in succession. The event which was scheduled for 20-21 March has been called off due to the ongoing uncertainty around large-scale gatherings in Ireland.

The Clonakilty-based event was the first rally to be cancelled due to Covid-19 last year. Rallying has taken a back seat in Ireland since and West Cork’s announcement comes six weeks shy of a year since Ireland’s last rally, the Mayo Stages Rally.

“On one level this was a very difficult decision to make,” said Clerk of the Course Steve Davis. “We had already lost the 2020 rally at the eleventh hour which was completely the right call after the way things panned out in March of last year.

“On another level it was a no brainer, safety must always come first, both that of the volunteers and competitors, and more importantly that of the local West Cork community.

“We couldn’t justify putting additional pressure on all the hard-working overstretched HSE staff and other public health services to run the event.”

Cork Motor Club chairman, Paul Casey, hinted at planning the 2022 rally for 19-20 March which should be aided by the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccinations.

The news comes less than a week after Circuit of Ireland organisers cancelled its April event which was due to kick off the British Rally Championship.

Photo by Adam Hall

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