WEST CORK RALLY

The West Cork Rally is organised and promoted by Cork Motor Club who are in existence since 1975. The 1st West Cork Rally was run in 1977, since then only one year was missed.

Traditionaly, the West Cork Rally has been based in Clonakilty, Co. Cork. The rally holds a very high ranking in national and international Motorsport. It attracts a very large overseas entry and boasts the highest number of starters of all rallies held in Ireland. The Cork Motor Club event, is run over two days through the excellent twisty but smooth closed roads of West Cork. Road closing orders are obtained from Cork County Council.

The West Cork Rally is a counting round of a championship which because of its status returned the largest entry and best supported event in the British Isles.

St. Patricks Weekend is the traditional rally weekend. In addition to the overall winners, there are also awards for the different classes as far as 10th in each class. The classes being decided by the cubic capacity of the high performance engines which have been fitted. The general area rallied would be west of Bandon and east of Skibbereen. Along with the up to date machinery rally, there is also a vintage class which is generating a great interest from competetors and drivers alike.

Fundraising for the event is spear-headed by the West Cork Rally Fundraising Committee who are a local organisation. They collect funds from the Clonakilty and West Cork Traders every year. In addition it usually has a main sponsor which in the past have included companies like Zanussi, Mobil 1, Barum Tyres and more recently a local based company Keohane Readymix.

Rallying is an exciting sport because of noisy high performance cars racing on closed public roads. It attracts a massive following in all age groups. Rallying also needs sponsorship because of high insurance and expense in organising the event. All club members/organising committee and marshals offer their time and effort on a completely voluntary basis. The chief organisers are allowed modest expenses which have to be approved by two directors of the club.
The big attraction we can offer a sponsor is the promotion and display of their products everywhere during the event, as well as pre and post event advertising.

Whats in it for the Sponsor?

Rallying is most popular in the South West of Ireland. The amount of spectators that follow the event from stage to stage is phenomonal. Over 5000 programmes with stage maps are sold. The sponsors name and logo is printed on the cover with a picture of last years winning car.
Newspaper Publicity: Most coverage comes from the Munster papers i.e. The Examiner, Evening Echo, Southern Star, Corkman and Kerryman. The National papers also cover the event. Motoring News and similar papers give the West Cork Rally the centre page spread the week after the event.
Radio and T.V. Coverage: In 1991, the event was filmed by an overseas T.V. Production company who were mainly interested in the Austin Rover Challenger which the West Cork Rally is part of. It was then edited by R.T.E. and shown on the following Saturday afternoon. In the past we have found it necessary to pay for the camera crew and production of the programme. The 1996 rally was filmed and shown on Sports Stadium.
Radio coverage of the event is extensive . We can guarantee pre-event broadcasts on chat shows with R.T.E., Cork Local Radio, County Sound and some of the other Munster Stations, and we ensure that the sponsors name will be mentioned repeatedly.

Cork Motor Club Events

Keohane Readymix West Cork Rally	Mar 16 - 17
Cork West Classic Rally		May 11 - 12
Autotest				July 24
4X4 Production Vehicle Trial		August 4
Hewison Autotest			September 7
Cork Forestry Rally			September 15
4X4 Production Vehicle Trial		December 15
Autocross				December 27