Ari Vatanen named guest of honour for Killarney Historic Rally

Former 1981 World Rally Champion Ari Vatanen will be the guest of honour at the 30th anniversary Killarney Towers Hotel Killarney Historic Rally, radiokerry.ie reported. He will attend the event during the last weekend in November. Vatanen will take part in a fan meet-and-greet on Friday night, lead the start parade on Saturday night, and join the finish ramp celebrations on Sunday. [1]

World Rally Championship winner Kris Meeke will also compete in the rally alongside co-driver Noel O'Sullivan, as FTMQ News reported earlier. Paul Nagle is serving as the Clerk of the Course for the 2026 event. Meeke and O'Sullivan previously won the overall title at Rali Ceredigion in Wales. [5]

The World Rally Championship is an international series governed by the FIA. Inaugurated in 1973, it is the third oldest FIA world championship. Each season consists of individual rally events driven on surfaces including gravel, tarmac, snow, and ice, with special stages run on up to 350 kilometres of closed roads. [2]

Killarney is located in County Kerry, Ireland, on the northeastern shore of Lough Leane. The town sits at an elevation of approximately 50 meters above sea level in a lowland valley. Tourism has underpinned the economy of the town for more than two and a half centuries. [3][4]