Excitement building as drivers prepare for the Donegal International Rally

The month of June is always one of the busiest times of the year for the county, with the Donegal International Rally fast approaching.

The excitement is building among those in motorsport circles as the event is just over a fortnight away.

The 2025 edition, sponsored by Wilton Recycling, will begin on Friday, June 20 in Malin Head and finish on Sunday evening at the Mount Errigal Hotel.

With Kris Meeke pulling out as his planned co-driver Brian Hoy was injured in a serious crash at the Cavan Stages Rally along with Garry Jennings, the top three cars are now Callum Devine, Jon Armstrong, and William Creighton.

None of those men were in attendance at the launch on Friday night in the Public Services Centre in Letterkenny, but all three took time to look ahead to the event.

Back-to-back winner Callum Devine will be aiming for three in a row with Noel O’Sullivan and the Derry man is expecting another tough battle.

“It’s an event I have such fond memories of, going back to my first rally in 2011 in the Junior section.

“It’s the highlight of the whole rally calendar, and it has been so good to me in the past with Class wins and the highlight for me is the two overall wins in the last two years.

“There will be a couple of new guys coming this year as well so it should be exciting. We can’t wait to get at it on the 20th of June.”

One of those drivers making a first appearance at the Donegal International Rally is Jon Armstrong.

Currently competing in the European Rally Championship, the Kesh man was competing in Sweden at the weekend, along with Bruckless native Shane Byrne as they finished tenth.

“It’s my first time competing there, but I have lots of good memories of watching my local heroes, Garry Jennings and Alistair Fisher,” Armstrong said.

“We’ll have to be fast learners and it’s a long event too, with three days so we’re looking forward to it.”

Byrne added: “I’ve lots of great memories of it, from Garry and Rory Kennedy winning it, then the great years of Manus Kelly and Donall Barrett winning it.”

Another man who hasn’t competed in Donegal in recent years but is building his reputation it William Creighton.

The Down native hasn’t competed in Donegal since 2017 but he was the 2023 Junior World Rally Champion.

“The opportunity to compete closer to home and at an iconic event like Donegal is very special, and when the idea came up it was something that excited both Liam and I.

“It attracts a lot of buzz and a lot of spectators, but also a lot of competition so it’s nice to throw our hat in the ring and see how we fare against some local guys we know will be very fast.”

Along with those bigger names who will be looking to fight for the overall title, there are some more local men who will be looking for improvements from previous years.

Lettermacaward native Michael Boyle, along with Dermot McCafferty, will be battling on multiple fronts.

Boyle’s father Declan, and brother Matthew, are also competing and there will be a bit of a family battle first, which Michael won last year as he finished sixth overall.

Boyle and McCafferty were also in an accident at the Cavan Stages Rally, but theirs was much less serious than Jennings and Hoy.

“A couple of aches and pains, but nothing permanent and we’ll be fighting fit for the big one in a couple of weeks,” Boyle said.

“(A podium) would be brilliant and every year you start, you want to finish as high up as possible but every year it’s getting bigger.

“We have the family rivalry so I’ll maybe aim for that first and anything after that is a bonus!”

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Carndonagh pair Aaron McLaughlin and Darren Curran finished twelfth last year, but they had a nightmare start and they will be looking to improve from that result.

“We’ll aim to not do what we did last year, which is end up in the ditch in the first stage,” McLaughlin joked.

“We haven’t done a lot this year and we probably should have done a bit more before Donegal, but we’ll hope to get a good run on Friday, we know the (Inishowen) stages, which always helps.

Pettigo’s Kevin Eves hasn’t had a great record at the local race in recent years but he has had good preparation, with a podium finish in Cavan last month along with Chris Melly.

“We broke down in the first stage last year and we probably haven’t finished the Donegal in around the last nine years, so if we got to the end we’d be making a go of it.

“But we’ll not get too stressed about it, if we could even see Saturday or Sunday, it would be decent!”