This week’s Motorsport Ireland – RIAC classic video from the RPM Motorsport collection is highlights from the 1971 Galway International Rally, the first international rally to be held in the Republic of Ireland.
With the rapid rise of the Circuit of Ireland in the preceding decades and interest in the sport growing, Galway Motor Club decided to step up in 1971 and run an international rally. The tough, two day event attracted 116 starters however only 59 would end up completing the 400 mile route with the Derry/Fermanagh pairing of Cathal Curley and Austin Frazer taking the spoils ahead of a young rising star in second place called Billy Coleman.