'A few things have to fall into place and that happened for us' - Declan Gallagher

Before he even set off in his now well-known Toyota Starlet RWD for the start of the Donegal International Rally on Friday, Declan ‘Milkman’ Gallagher was determined to make an impact, and alongside his co-driver John McCarthy, that’s exactly what he did. 

Trailing going into the final day of the Donegal Rally, before there was a time adjustment due to the fact that the Ardara native was delayed on Friday following a Mark Alcorn crash, Gallagher was able to hold his nerve on Sunday and clinch the two-wheel drive title from Kevin Gallagher who was aiming for three in-a-row. 

“It a serious feeling to be honest, we had a long hard road to get to where we are now and we pushed hard all weekend,” Declan Gallagher said following his modified win on Sunday. 

However, all was not plain sailing. With Gallagher starting the day as the new leader - one second in front of the champion Kevin Gallagher, that lead didn’t last long with the Rathmullan man regaining the top spot with a time of 7 minutes 4.7 with ‘The Milkman’ at 7 minutes 15.4 following their first stage around Gartan. 

But it all fell the new champion's way after a wire broke in Kevin Gallagher’s car forcing him to retire with two stages to go. 

“In fairness to Kevin Gallagher, he had a problem this morning with his car in Fanad, but we went in this morning ourselves and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy but we pushed hard in Gartan and on the Atlantic Drive, but Kevin took 17 seconds I think out of us,” the ‘Milkman’ said. 

“Kevin was unfortunate to have his problems, but we were lucky to get here because we ended up having a problem ourselves and thankfully luck was on our side and we got here in the end.” 

With their second trip around Gartan complete, Gallagher suffered from a leak in the car, with the driver feeling that his car would not finish the final stage around Fanad.  

“It was a fairly serious problem! when we got out of Gartan, I didn’t really think we would be going any further, we filled it up to the neck with oil from a man who ran up to the house and came down with a gallon before we took off again . . . so I think I owe a man in Gartan now a gallon of oil,” Gallagher said. 

“A bit of pressure was taken off us though because the Atlantic Drive was cancelled the second time around, but my heart was in my mouth going through Fanad because you were driving through it in half-revs and looking at the smoke and the oil pressure for 20km, so it was tough, but look, luck was on our side today. 

“I think a lot of things have to fall into place to get to the Mount Errigal hotel on Sunday evening, and that happened for us today.”