World Rally Championship star Paul Nagle will auction a very special piece of WRC memorabilia for two local organisations this weekend. The Aghadoe man has come up with a once-off idea that will raise funds for both Recovery Haven in Tralee and Fossa GAA club in Killarney. One of the side events for the much-anticipated Déjà vu Tralee charity road run on Saturday is a charity auction.
Over 160 cars from the 1950s up the present day will take part in the 180km run along the Dingle Peninsula on Saturday.
After a ceremonial start on The Mall in Tralee at 9am, the drivers will head west and visit some of the most -historical motorsport locations in the county. Venues include Ballyfinnane, the scene of the 1903 hillclimb won by Charles Rolls of Rolls-Royce fame. They will also visit old Circuit of Kerry and Circuit of Ireland stages like Slea Head and Conor Pass.
Drivers confirmed include WRC star Kris Meeke, multiple Belgian rally champion Patrick Snijers and 1974 Circuit of Ireland Rally winner Cahal Curley. There are plenty of local drivers taking part too including former Circuit of Kerry winner Thomas Fitzmaurice who will drive the same Subaru Impreza he drove to victory ten years ago.
The event is part of Kerry Motor Club’s year-long 50th anniversary celebration. The road run is also raising funds for Tralee-based charity Recovery Haven. As well as the road event, a gala dinner will take place in The Rose Hotel in Tralee on Saturday night. Several items of interest to motorsport fans are up for grabs in an auction that will run alongside the gala dinner.
Nagle has just returned from Rally de Portugal where he was competing for the M-Sport World Rally Team alongside Craig Breen.
The World Rally Championship celebrated its 50th anniversary over the weekend and many former world champions and rally stars of the past were present in Porto. The Aghadoe man got several of the sports heroes to sign one of his world-standard helmets and this helmet will be the main auction item on Saturday night.
Signatories include multiple World Champions like Sebastien Loeb, Sebastien Ogier and Carlos Sainz. Irish world championship heroes Meeke and Breen have also put their names to the helmet. In total over 20 current or former World Championship drivers have signed the helmet.
“I already have a very good offer on the helmet of €15,000 which will go to Recovery Haven Kerry,” he said. “Anything more and I would like to give to Fossa GAA club. They are building dressing rooms for their female footballers and my two kids have just started to play with the club. I would like to give back something to the community. This is something from rallying back to the community, I have been very privileged to do what I do, and this is something for two local organisations that deserve support.”
Bidding on the helmet will take place during the gala dinner but phone bids and silent bids are also welcome.
Fossa GAA Club is organising a fundraiser for club activities and has put together ‘A Night With Legends’ at the INEC in Killarney.
Some of the greatest legends ever to grace a Gaelic football pitch will share a stage on July 5 and Nagle’s helmet auction will be one of the first contributions to this fundraiser.