The Galway Motor Club held the launch of the 2026 Corrib Oil Galway International Rally on Friday, 16th January, in the Connacht Hotel, Galway. The Hotel is one of the associate sponsors of this year's rally. Clerk of the Course Mark Parsons announced that Galway Motor Club's chosen partner for this year's event is the Irish Wheelchair Association. Over one hundred entries have been received to date, but entries will remain open until January 23rd, and all signs indicate that it will be an extremely competitive rally.
Among those who have entered to date are 2025 Tarmac Champion Callum Devine in his Skoda Fabia Rally 2. Noel O’Sullivan will again co-drive Devine, as the pair will be looking for their first win in Galway. Declan Boyle, along with sons Michael & Matthew, will be expected to feature strongly in Galway, and Declan is, of course, a former winner of the event. The family trio follows in the footsteps of the MacHales (Austin, Aaron & Gareth in 2005), and Eves (Kevin, Corey & Dylan in 2023). Josh Moffett & Andy Hayes return in the Rally 2 version of the Hyundai i20, while Eddie Doherty, David Kelly, Eamonn Kelly, Darren Gass, Tommy Doyle and Kevin Eves are just some of the other names in the mix for overall honours. Neil Roskell and Sam Touzel make the trip from the UK in their respective Rally 2 Fiestas.
The Modified entry also looks competitive, with Patrick McHugh (Darrian), Mark Alcorn, Brian Lavelle, Kevin Kelleher, Martin McGee, Rodney Wilton, Hugh McQuaid, and Daniel Breslin all in Escorts, with just a few drivers looking to take honours. Local entries in the main rally include Stephen Greaney, Paul McHugh, Pat Kelly, Dean Raftery, Des Lyons, Paul McHugh, Adrian Quinn, Stephen Hernon and Cathal Keane.
The Historic entry features top Galway Mini exponent Ray Cunningham, along with current historic champion John O’Donnell in a BMW M3. Jason McSweeney has entered a Ford Escort WRC, while, after several years' absence from the event, Kai-Dieter makes a welcome return from Germany in his Porsche 911 to add variety to the field. The Junior rally also promises to be competitive with some Galway names on the entry, including Jason Gorham, Eoghan O’Boyle, Cian Hynes and Darragh Mullins.
Photo caption: L-R Mark Parsons (Clerk of the Course), Kevin McHugo (Corrib Oil), Aoife Raftery (Galway Motor Club), Bernard Dempsey (Corrib Oil), Bobby Clinton (Galway Motor Club), Philip Monks (Chief Marketing Officer, Corrib Oil). Photo courtesy of Alan Leonard.
