Donnelly Interview: Eugene Confirms Galway Entry!

Eugene Donnelly is gearing up for an assault on this weekend’s Safety Direct Galway International Rally, round one of the Irish Tarmac Championship. In a last minute addition to the entry list, the former Irish Tarmac Champion is set to drive the right-hand drive MINI WRC from the McGeehan Motorsport stable.

“We’ve managed to get a deal together for Galway,” Donnelly told RallyForums.com. “I’m not sure what events we will do after that as I just don’t know what will come out of it. We’ll see if we can get a result and take it from there.”

“I don’t have any mad expectations,” he added. “We’ll be out to enjoy ourselves and I’m looking forward to seeing where we are. Hopefully it will be dry and not a washout like last year. I think everyone would like to see if the car can perform as well in the dry as it does in the wet.”

Donnelly’s last rally was in Killarney last year, although he also entered the ALMC Stages but only completed one stage. He has since been doing some testing now and again, and plans to test the MINI before this weekend’s Galway event.

“I’ve been out in the car before so it’s not that it’s very new to me,” Donnelly revealed, “but this week’s test will be more of an aggressive test for the rally.”

“I always like Galway,” he admitted. “I suppose it’s a bit like Nesbitt and Donegal – I always like to get to Galway regardless.”

As it transpires, Derek McGeehan has been working hard with MINI Ireland during the past few months to get a deal together.

“We’ve been trying to get something going as in a rally team,” McGeehan explained. “We got a deal together and approached a few drivers who tried to get a budget together. As it turned out, a few people backed Eugene to get him out in the rally.”

“We’ll see how it goes,” he added. “If we can impress MINI Ireland again then hopefully it won’t be a one-off and we can get either Eugene back in the car or another driver.”

Eugene’s entry in the event bolsters what is an already strong line-up for the opening round of the Irish Tarmac series. As Derek McGeehan said, “It’s a damn good line-up…the best line-up we’ve seen for four or five years!”