Excitement is building in county Limerick ahead of next Sunday’s Lyons Motorgroup sponsored Circuit of Munster rally.
The rally proper takes place on Sunday in the general Cappagh, Askeaton and Pallaskenry areas with 3 service breaks pencilled in at Northern Trust on Groody Road in Limerick City. Saturday will be a busy day for the rally crews arriving in Limerick. Mechanical and paper scrutiny takes place at Lyons of Limerick across the afternoon while the crews themselves will be getting to know the 3 stages.
The rally itself gets underway on Sunday morning with an early service at around 9 am in Northern Trust to make sure the cars are ready for the opening 3 stages of the day. Stage 1, Cartown is a quick 6km blast through the Limerick countryside which is sure to test the crews from around about 10 am. They move to stage 2 at 10:20 at Bushy Island while the final stage of the opening loop is Ballintridida, a tricky 18km test underway from 10:50 am.
It's back into Northern Trust for service at 11:50 am before heading back out to those same 3 stages for a repeat run at lunchtime. The crews will have a final service halt around about 3 pm before going out for the final stages of the rally, stages 7, 8 and 9 before an overall winner is crowned back at Lyons Motorgroup at 17:30.
Topping this year’s entry list is Monaghan man Josh Moffett who won the event the last time it was run in 2022. Callum Devine will be second on the road followed by the Triton Showers National Rally Championship leader Sam Moffett. Desi Henry will start 4th with the winner of the last round in Carlow Daniel Cronin going from 5th on the road. The full entry list is a testament to the organising committee, with some 20 cars waiting in reserve to start the rally.
The 2024 edition of the rally is proudly sponsored by Lyons Motorgroup in Limerick City, home of Ford, BYD, Jaguar and Land Rover. A family steeped in rally history, Keith Lyons will also be competing in the rally in his Ford Fiesta. Associate sponsors for the rally are Morenane Transport, owned by the O’Callaghan family, who also have several cars battling it out across the field on Sunday.
The rally is a counting round for the 2024 Triton Showers National Rally Championship as well as the Acesigns Southern 4 Rally Championship and the Top Part West Coast Rally Championship.
Speaking ahead of the event, 2024 Clerk of the Course Kieran Ambrose said “We are gearing up well now ahead of the rally next weekend. The majority of the work is now done by a huge team from Limerick Motor Club and beyond. We have a full entry list and excitement is building in the county for the event on Sunday. A quick word of thanks to our sponsors, the championship organisers and all the volunteers who have gotten us this far. I would like to wish all the competitors the very best of luck, have a safe and enjoyable weekend and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone at the finish in Lyons Motorgroup on Sunday evening”
