Motorsport: All-star line-up gears up for opener in Galway

A new dawn breaks for the Clonakilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship on its opening round, the Corrib Oil Galway International Rally, which gets under way tomorrow.

The decision to switch from WRCs and base the series on R5/S2000 led to heated discussion, but the time for talking is now long gone, with nine stages tomorrow and six on Sunday — with Portumna and Gort the respective service park locations.

The WRC sector can still win the individual events, of course, and therein lies the potential for classic contests throughout the season.