World Rally 2009 in CAVAN!!!

[thebandit]

Where aboouts n Ky Auvin is it going to be?

[gerry]

Seems odd swaping monaco for roscommon and cavan. Why is monaco of the list ? thought that race is the crown jewel ?

forget why it was dropped but it will be back in 2010 when it replaces ireland

[Star Spangler]

World Rally events tend to repeat the same stages year after year so it's unusual for there to be any changes.

[Hardy]

I assume it was overwhelming demand from the drivers/competitors/teams.

"Shove Monte Carlo - we want Cavan".

[gerry]

Lotto winner revved up for rally challenge


A lotto winner is revving up to make his dreams come true by competing against his heroes in the World Rally Championship, it emerged today.

Ken Tracey, who was part of the 16-strong syndicate which scooped almost €19m in June, used his share to enter the opening Irish leg of the race in the new year.

For the past two years the Kilkenny man has been a marshal at Rally Ireland watching world-class drivers – including his hero Sebastien Loeb – pass him by.

"Being able to do this was one of the best things about the win," said Mr Tracey, who still works at Dan Morrissey Ltd in Carlow.

"It was great to be part of it before and see the best drivers in the world and I can't imagine what it's going to be like in it.

"To race against them is more than I could have ever dreamed of and I am just so excited.

"The chance of us winning is slim to none, those drivers are in a different class. But hopefully we'll do well in our own class."

At the time of the record Lotto jackpot, the farm manager said he would spend his winnings on his wife Margaret who had breast cancer.

"She has undergone a mastectomy and treatment and is making a very good recovery," continued Mr Tracey.

"She's not into rally driving, but wherever I go she comes and watches.

"She keeps an eye on me and is really looking forward to the World Championship.

"It's a big thing for both of us and she's not worried about me taking part at all."

Mr Tracey has been rallying for more than 10 years with his close friend and navigator Martin Comerford.

The eager competitors were the first to enter Rally Ireland 2009 – which takes place across seven border counties in the north and south of Ireland from January 29 to February 1 – when registration officially opened on Sunday.

He revealed that even without his new fortune he had hoped to find the 8,000 euro needed for the entry fee and up keep of his Volkswagen Polo and expenses throughout the event.

"But it would have been very expensive to take part in a major rally before," he added.

More than 250,000 people are expected to attend the event, which is replacing Monte Carlo as the first round of the World Rally Championship in 2009.

Last year, 62.8 million viewers in more than 180 countries watched the Irish leg on television.

[Denn Forever]

I assume it was overwhelming demand from the drivers/competitors/teams.

"Shove Monte Carlo - we want Cavan".

Well they got their way!!!

Get ready to camp out in the Cuillcagh mountains and while there you can pan for gold (lets beat this credit crunch).

[gerry]

It's here. 


I booked my holidays to be of this week to catch most of the stages and then the match at croker came up so it was a toss up from standing in the cold in a field or going on the booze fri and sat night in dublin.

guess which one win.