Kerry Motor Club will launch its flagship Rose Hotel Circuit of Kerry on March 9 at the popular Tralee venue.
Set for April 7, the 43rd edition of the rally will feature roads in the North Kerry area made famous by the old Circuit of Ireland Rally when it used to visit the county up to the early 1980s.
Stages that featured on the Easter Monday run, from Killarney back to Belfast will form the backbone of this year’s route.
As a counting round of two regional championships, the Top Part West Coast Rally Championship and The Moriarty’s Centra Kingdom of Kerry Rally Championship the club hopes to attract entries from all over Ireland and further afield to offer Tralee and its environs and welcome early boost to the tourist season.
At Saturday’s event, which is open to the public, members of the club will reveal further details on the route and announce a new town-centre rally festival which will take place on Saturday, April 6 in The Square.
Clerk of the course Eoin Duffin said: “As well as the main rally event on Sunday we will also showcase motorsport to new enthusiasts on Saturday. We will have the rally, and classic cars on display and members of the club will be on hand to promote our sport to those who wish to know more. It is all about raising awareness of what we do and how to get involved, and there is no better time to do it than the same weekend as our most important event of the year. Plans are coming together nicely for this, and we will be able to reveal in greater details what we hope to do on Saturday.”
Entries for the event opened on Monday last, and following Birr Motor Club’s event over the weekend a steady stream of Top Part West Coast Championship competitors have already lodged entries.
One Welsh driver, Dai Roberts, in a Peugeot 205 has already committed to entering the rally, no stranger to the county as a navigator, he has contested the Killarney Historic Rally in the past, this will mark his Irish driving debut.
The Moriarty’s Centra Kingdom of Kerry Rally Championship enters its second season, and championship officials will open registrations at Saturday’s launch event.
