The Donegal Motor Club have finally announced that this year’s Knockalla Hillclimbs will take place on the weekend of the 2nd & 3rd of September 2023 with the exciting news that Kellys Toyota is the new Title Sponsor for 2023.
After last year’s massive success of both the 50th Anniversary & Danny Gormley Memorial it came as a massive shock to this year’s COC’s & the organising committee that a few technical issues arose late in the day with this year’s event. These issues would have had serious implications for the event. Thankfully, due to the hard work & experience of this year’s COC’s Micheal Kelly, Larry Harper, the organising team & the Donegal Motor Club Committee a successful solution was found with the Hillclimb Commission for Donegal Motor Club to accommodate this years Knockalla Hillclimb to run as counting rounds of the ALEKTO Irish Hillclimb & Sprint Championship as has been the case for many successful years.
Donegal Motor Club Chairman Brian Brogan confirmed the positive news on Thursday’s Score programme with Oisin Kelly.
Again this year the top prizes are the Danny Gormley and John Leinster Memorial trophies, with the only change being the introduction of a virtual chicane on a trial basis for this year. This is a simple traffic light system just after the start line similar to the pit lane system in F1 where the cars slow until the lights turn green & then go racing.
We welcome Kellys Toyota as title sponsor this year. Kellys Toyota has always been a proud supporter of the Donegal Motor Club & we are delighted that they have shown confidence in our event again this year. We look forward to welcoming many more of our sponsors back again this year.
Last years COC Michael Kelly is again taking charge of Saturday’s racing & he had this to say on this years racing “After the super success of last year’s Danny Gormley 50th Anniversary Memorial Hillclimb, which was a fantastic weekend for the competitors & organisers, we are delighted to be welcoming everyone back to Knockalla again this year. Like everything these days things are changing & we have adapted to these changes to make this Hillclimb continue as the premier Hillclimb of the year. This event can only happen with the cooperation & support of the local residents, marshalls, competitors, many generous & loyal sponsors, Donegal County Council, Motorsport Ireland, Garda Siochana & the Emergency Services”
Sunday’s COC is no stranger to the Knockalla Hillclimb having taken charge of the start line for many years Larry Harper has stepped up to be Sunday’s COC this year. Larry had the following to say on this year’s event “I am delighted to be taking charge of Sundays Racing. We have over the years developed a real good team to run the hill with Francis Devine returning as chief marshal, Sam Pearson as Event Secretary along with Marshals who have been coming here to help for years & alot of fresh faces that appear each year to ensure we run this event to the best of our abilities. Entries are open from Friday noon online. We hope to welcome back many familiar faces again this year to marshal and go racing or do both over the weekend. I would encourage a lot of our younger & newer drivers to look at how easy & cost effective it is to get your car hillclimb logged & get a hillclimb licence to join us to get the chance to race on the world famous Knockalla Hill. Dual drive & entry options for one & two days are available, with club points available both days for Donegal Club Marshals. We are only happy to answer any questions you may have”
Follow us on the Donegal Motor Club social channels where there will be loads more announcements over the coming days on this year’s events but don’t forget the most important thing of all is to get your entries in this week.
Entries are available at the following link:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdjG23S-DYk054z_Dm-NKrLuucp4wT_FxJl8OF0Ad1MoF_efg/viewform
