A once in a lifetime gathering of the greatest drivers in Irish rally history will take place this coming Sunday 19th June at Rosapenna in Downings, County Donegal. The ‘Greatest Of All Time’ will take on two of the classic stages as part of the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary running of the Joule Donegal International Rally Ireland.
Between them, they have amassed over 100 rally victories, a World Rally Championship, Irish and British rally titles, four Paris-Dakar wins, the Pikes Peak Hillclimb and . What they have in common is a shared history of winning the fabled Joule Donegal International rally.
Led by Ari Vatanen, a World Rally champion and veteran of 100 WRC rallies, who won Donegal in 1978, the very special field includes Irish legends Billy Coleman, who won it four times, Cathal Curley who has three, Austin McHale with two and Andrew Nesbitt, who holds the record with five victories on Irelands premier International rally. Two-time winners John Lyons and James Cullen will also star, as will Vincent Bonner who took his famous first home win for Donegal on the event back in 1983.
On show will be a few famous Ford Escorts, which between them have won 20 of the 50 Donegal Rallies. One such famous car was that driven by Ari Vatanen, The Black Beauty Escort. The replica shown at Knockalla, is liveried in the old Vatanen colours.
The stars will drive in a demonstration run over the High Glen and Atlantic Drive stages and in many cases will be driving their original rally cars, painstakingly restored and maintained by multiple Irish Rally champion Donagh Kelly, who is coordinating the event and will himself be driving the winning Subaru S12 rally car that won the event with the late Manus Kelly driving in 2018. A full list of cars and drivers will be available shortly.
The cars will convene at the Rosapenna Hotel in Downings at 9.00 on Sunday and the drivers will be available to meet with rally fans and sign autographs on posters especially designed to mark the occasion, and which will surely form part of any rally collectors treasure trove in the years ahead.
The non- competitive drive on the two classic stages will take place behind the main competitive field on Sunday after 1 pm at High Glen and the cars will then complete Atlantic Drive before a finish ceremony back at the Rosapenna Hotel, the HQ for the first ever Donegal Rally.
The Goats promise not to damage the grass, and all rally fans are welcome to meet and be part of this truly historic gathering.
