It is a special occasion for Noel O’Sullivan Sr, father of the rally’s top seed, as the Muckross man will start his 40th Rally of the Lakes out of 43 editions.

Photo caption...

His co-driver Nicholas Burke will be alongside the 30th time and the organisers have allocated the Ford Escort Mk2 crew door number 40 to mark the occasion.

Noel O’Sullivan Jr and his driver Callum Devine are aiming for a hattrick of Rally of the Lakes victories this weekend.

The winners of the Rally of the Lakes for the past two years, and reigning Tarmac champions, are seeded at one in their Volkswagen Polo GTi R5.

The Derry/Kerry crew prepared for the event by finishing second on Saturday’s Maiden City Rally, Devine’s home rally, but that was a short six-stage sprint and the Rally of the Lakes, over two days features, 14 demanding stages.

The Rally of the Lakes opens with the iconic Molls Gap stage on Saturday morning - the famous test between Killarney and Kenmare features just once on the itinerary this year.

Two loops of The Healy Pass, Cod's Head and Ardgroom follow during the day, with Service in Castletownbere after each run over the Healy Pass.

The final stage of the day is Kilmackillogue before the crews head back to Killarney for the overnight halt.

Sunday's action is in the Rathmore and Gneeveguilla areas, east of Killarney, and features six stages in all, consisting of two loops of Gortnagane, Meentoges and Ballintourig, with one service in the middle of the day, at the Liebherr Container Crane factory in Fossa.

“I can't thank the dedicated team at Killarney and District Motor Club enough for their support over the last few months,” said CLerk of the Course Cormac Casey.

“We have the entry, we have the stages, we have the crowds coming, now all we need is a bit of fine weather to make it a perfect weekend.”

Devine and O’Sullivan will be followed over the Start Ramp in Killarney town centre on Friday evening by Killarney and District Motor Club members Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin in their Ford Fiesta Rally 2.

With two wins achieved so far this year on the Galway International and West Cork rallies, plus a second-place finish recorded on the Circuit of Ireland, Cronin, and Galvin head to their native southwest this weekend for the Assess Ireland International Rally of the Lakes as leaders of the 2024 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

Mike Neligan (Knocknagoshel) and John Hurley (Tralee) are also celebrating 40 years of motorsport. Their first rally was the 1984 Rally of the Lakes.

Ken O'Neill and Ronald Riordan will contest their first rally together in six years in a newly acquired class 13 Ford Escort.
Killarney and District Motor Club chairman Thomas Randles will have Darragh Lynch as co-driver for the first time. Darragh’s father Diarmuid was Randles’ regular co-driver for many years.

Three sets of local brothers are entered in the rally. Charlie Hickey will be co-driven by his daughter Charlene while his brother John will be co-driven by his daughter Michelle.
Fossa-based Sam Leach will drive a Honda Civic for the second time and his brother Robert is making the trip from Wexford to compete.
Ken O’Neill’s brother Raymond is also competing in an Escort.

The O’Donoghue family is well-represented on the entry list too. Colin is the top seed in his Escort, his father Kevin will drive a BMW M3, and his father-in-law Tadgh O’Sullivan is out in another Escort as is Colin’s brother-in-law Kevin Kelleher.

Killarney-based Tipperary woman Louise Bourke is making her rally debut in a Reen’s of Rathmore-supported Peugeot 208. She is competing in the junior element of the rally which takes place across all six of the Sunday stages.

Keith O'Connor and Niall Myers are the top local seeds in the Junior Rally in a Honda Civic- they start at J6.

Defending Moriarty’s Central Car Sales Kingdom of Kerry Rally Champions Dave Slattery and Denis Coffey face a race against time to make the start line. They were waiting on a new gearbox ahead for their Ford Escort Mk2 after they failed to finish the recent Birr Rally.