After the recent weeks of pretty intensive rallying and racing, Irish motorsport drops down a gear or more and takes on a more leisurely pace in the weekend's Mercedes-Benz-sponsored Gordon Bennett Cup Rally.
Run by the Irish Veteran and Vintage Car Club, this event has attracted 141 priceless cars from a bygone era, and commemorates the famous Gordon Bennett Cup race held in Ireland in 1903. The great James Joyce actually reported on the 1903 race which covered a distance of 327 miles.
Today's start is from the Dublin HQ of Mercedes-Benz at Naas Road from 2.30 p.m. Following an overnight stop in Tullamore, the more serious aspect of the rally starts from the Tullamore Court Hotel at 9 a.m. tomorrow.
The cars can be seen on the route and at the lunch halt at The Lakeside Hotel, Glasson, Co Westmeath; also in the Tullamore area on Sunday, which replaces the traditional gathering near Athy, where there is a monument to the 1903 race. Cars eligible are those built up to the end of 1930, and will include a steam-powered car and one of the first electric cars.
Irish racing drivers will battle for important European Championship points over the awesome Spa Francorchamps circuit, home of the Belgian Grand Prix, on Sunday. Co Donegal driver Damien Faulkner (Moville) is on a major charge in the prestigious European Formula Palmer Audi series, which could well be his passport to Formula One via a guaranteed drive in next year's European Formula 3,000 Championship.
Faulkner is well poised to take over the series lead from Justin Keen, whom he trails by just four points. He is also conscious of the fact that he must drive for points and cannot afford to throw caution to the winds for a crack at victory in either of the two Belgian races.
Michael Keohane (Clonakilty) and Gavin Smith (Dublin) will also be chasing points, in Round Two of the Eurocup Formula Renault 2,000 series at Spa in the Ardennes.
Galway Motor Club has announced the cancellation of the West 2000 International Rally to have been held on July 22nd/23rd. With no Circuit of Ireland at Easter, the Tarmac Championship has lost two rounds. Obviously the time has come for a whole new and fresh approach to the fundamental structure of Irish rallying, perhaps allowing different events into the Tarmac series such as the two-day West Cork and Wexford rallies and/or some of the Dunlop National Championship events.
