The countdown is on to another huge weekend of Irish rallying as Hugh’s Rallying heads to County Galway for the 2026 Galway Summer Rally, taking place on Sunday, 23rd August.
Organised by Galway Motor Club, the Galway Summer Rally has attracted a fantastic entry across the main field, Junior, Historic and Dacia Sandero categories, setting the scene for a brilliant day’s action.
And, of course, Hugh will be there!
Hugh will be out and about throughout the rally, meeting competitors and teams, capturing photos and videos and bringing plenty of the atmosphere from Galway to the Hugh’s Rallying website and social media channels.
There is plenty at stake in Galway, with the event forming part of several major Irish rally championships.
The 2026 Galway Summer Rally is:
With championship points becoming increasingly important as the season progresses, there should be plenty of competition throughout the field.
At the head of the seeded entry are Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty in the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
Moffett arrives in Galway as one of the leading contenders and will be one of the crews Hugh will be keeping a particularly close eye on throughout the day.
Seeded at number two are Shane Quinn and Stephen Reynolds in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, while Kevin Eves and Chris Melly start at number three in the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.
The top five is completed by Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock in another Ford Fiesta Rally2 and Daniel Cronin and Padraig O’Donovan in a Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
It is a great mix of modern Rally2 machinery and some seriously quick modified cars, which should make the battle throughout the top ten very interesting.
One of the highlights of any Irish rally is the modified field, and Galway certainly isn’t short of spectacular machinery.
Daniel McKenna and Andrew Grennan are seeded sixth in their Ford Escort Mk2, immediately followed by Aaron McIntyre and Darren O’Brien in the Toyota Starlet RWD.
Ford Escort fans will also have plenty to watch, with Jonathan Pringle/Pierce O’Callaghan and Brian Lavelle/Jack Kelly both inside the top ten.
Further down the entry list there is a huge selection of Escorts, Civics, Corollas and other modified machinery, so the action certainly won’t end when the Rally2 cars have passed.
Another crew Hugh will be watching closely is Oran England and Darragh Mullen, who are seeded at number 33 in their Peugeot 208 Rally4.
There is a very competitive Rally4 field heading to Galway, and the event also forms Round 7 of the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series for Rally4/R2/R2T machinery.
With plenty of quick crews entered, this is another battle that could provide some of the closest competition of the weekend.
Best of luck to Oran and Darragh from everyone at Hugh’s Rallying!
The Dacia Sandero Challenge will also be part of the Galway Summer Rally, with ten crews appearing on the seeded list.
The Galway line-up includes:
Cillian Doherty/Lauren Doherty, Evan Stapleton/Eddie Byrne, Anthony O’Halloran/Cian Lynch, Will Nolan/Robert Magee, Jake Devine/Jack Devine, Diarmuid O’Toole/Barry Murphy, Colm Kearney/Kevin Kearney, Ulick Burke/Garret Burke, Ronan Kinneavy/Michelle Horan and Stephen Ryan/Margaret O’Keeffe.
With identical machinery putting the emphasis firmly on the crews, the Dacia competition should be another fascinating one to follow throughout Sunday.
For Hugh, the Galway Summer Rally is another opportunity to get right into the heart of Irish rallying.
Throughout the weekend, Hugh will be meeting drivers and co-drivers, catching up with familiar faces and hopefully getting a few interviews along the way.
There will also be photos, videos and updates from the event, so make sure you’re following Hugh’s Rallying across social media.
If you see Hugh around Galway, make sure to come over and say hello!
Hugh’s Rallying continues to grow from rally to rally, and none of it would be possible without the fantastic businesses and people who support Hugh and what he is doing.
A massive thank you to all of Hugh’s sponsors for their continued support.
Their backing helps Hugh attend events around Ireland, capture rally photos and videos, interview competitors and continue developing the Hugh’s Rallying website and social channels.
Please support the businesses that support Hugh’s Rallying whenever you can.
The first stage is scheduled to get underway on Sunday morning, with SS1 due to start at 10:16am.
Live results will be available through Shannon Sports IT, while rally information and updates are also available through Rally.ie, OnThePacenote and the official Galway Motor Club channels.
Hugh will also be sharing his own coverage throughout the event.
Finally, Hugh’s Rallying would like to wish every driver, co-driver, team member, marshal, official and volunteer involved in the 2026 Galway Summer Rally the very best of luck.
A huge amount of work goes into making an event like this happen, and the volunteers and marshals who give their time are a massive part of Irish rallying.
Here’s hoping for a safe and exciting day’s motorsport in Galway.
See you in Galway! 🏁
Keep up with all the latest rally photos, videos, interviews and news at Hugh’s Rallying.
