THE long-awaited return of the Dog Leap Rally as a free floor competitors has been confirmed to coincide with its inclusion in subsequent season’s rejigged Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge.
Promoted by Maiden City Motor Club, the occasion has been held a number of occasions in recent years, both as a single venue assembly on the Shackleton complicated outdoors Ballykelly or on closed public roads.
However, it has been greater than twenty years because it was run as a free floor assembly and when it was, the Co Donegal pairing of Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan gained it by two seconds from the Subaru Impreza World Rally Car of Kenny McKinstry.
That is all set to alter subsequent October, nonetheless, when tree-lined tracks will function the backdrop for the fourth and last points-scoring spherical of the Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge.
It joins the Fivemiletown Spring Rally on February 24, the Lakeland Stages Rally on September 7, and the Bushwhacker Rally on September twenty first as a part of an in any other case unchanged line-up for 2024.
Welcoming the event, Championship Co-ordinator Gavin Campbell stated: “We are delighted that as a part of the persevering with improvement of the Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge, Maiden City Motor Club have introduced their intention to host the Dog Leap Rally as a gravel-based assembly.
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“The final time the Dog Leap Rally ventured into the forests was 2010, so will probably be thrilling to see the brand new technology of Rally2 and R5 automobiles tackling some traditional gravel levels that had been beforehand dominated by an older technology of Subaru and Mitsubishi automobiles.
“And whilst the choice of stages have yet to be announced, it will be great to see the return of some old favourite forest stages that have not been rallied in recent years and I congratulate Maiden City Motor Club on taking this step.”
Meanwhile, dates have additionally been confirmed for the sister Northern Ireland Rally Championship. As a part of a calendar rotation coverage beforehand agreed by the Association of Northern Ireland Car Clubs (ANICC), July’s increasingly-popular Down Rally is being changed by the Tyrone Stages Rally.
The the rest of the schedule is unchanged, nonetheless, with Kirkistown and Bishopscourt circuits in County Down internet hosting the opening two fixtures, earlier than the competitors switches to nation roads for the Maiden City Stages, the Tour of the Sperrins Rally and at last Cookstown Motor Club’s showpiece.
“This season’s final round — the Carryduff Forklift Down Rally — will be taking a break in 2024, both to help the organising team to recharge their batteries and also to rest some of the very popular County Down stages,” stated Campbell. “By doing this, hopefully this will ensure they don’t become over-rallied.”
