Scallan behind the wheel for 2023 Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rall

Scallan behind the wheel for 2023 Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally

Wexford Motor Club last week announced the appointment of the Clerk of the Course for the Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally 2023. This year, Graham Scallan will take the reins of the County’s biggest sporting event to be held on September 8th to 10th.

Graham is certainly no stranger to Motorsport, having been involved in the sport for 27 years as a competitor, official, organiser and volunteer. He has held many roles within Wexford Motor Club and was heavily involved in the background helping to organise and run the highly successful 50th Anniversary Rally last year.

A successful businessman himself, Graham is keen to continue growing the event which generates over €1m for the local Wexford economy each year. He commented, “I look forward to helping grow the event and building on a very successful 50th anniversary event in 2022. We had over 150 cars competing last year with some of Ireland’s top rallying talent along with international stars. All told, that brought a large contingent of competitors, team members, spectators, volunteers and officials to Wexford town and surrounding areas for the weekend. We are hoping to repeat that success this year and bring even more buzz to the county.”

The event remains a key part of the calendar for Wexford Hospitality businesses with hotels, shops, restaurants, pubs and nightclubs all benefiting from the annual influx of motorsport enthusiasts. Graham continued, “Last year, the ceremonial start in Wexford’s Bullring brought the event into the heart of the town and gave people a glimpse of the free entertainment on offer all weekend.  We hope to run a similar event in the town this year and celebrate what the rally has to offer, while supporting our hard-hit hospitality industry”.

The event is organised and run by a dedicated team of Wexford Motor Club members who are assisted on the weekend by volunteers from all over the country. “We have a core team of organisers from the Club who spend over 10 months planning the rally and putting all of the elements into place. Then on the weekend, we need hundreds of volunteer marshals to ensure everything runs smoothly and safely. It’s a great event to be involved in and we always welcome new Club members and volunteers with open arms”. Graham continued “it takes the support of many organisations to make it all happen and we are very grateful to Wexford Volkswagen, Wexford County Council and an Garda Siochana who continue to support the event” 

While the event brings over €1m in benefits to the local Wexford economy, it does require significant financial backing as Graham explained, “The budget for running the event amounts to almost €250,000 which is predominantly funded by the competitors and sponsors. We are extremely lucky to have the continued support of Wexford Volkswagen who have been very generous to Wexford Motor Club over the years and thank them for coming on board again in 2023. Wexford Volkswagen’s support ensures that we can continue to run a full two day event annually in times where other events are having to reduce scale. The event provides great exposure for businesses and we are always on the lookout for advertisers, sponsors and partners. We would love to hear from interested local businesses who can contact the organising team on our website, www.wexfordmotorclub.ie”.

Preparations are already underway for the event with further details to be announced in the coming months.

Pictured: Andrew Purcell/Andy Hayes, winners of the 2022 Wexford Volkswagen Stages Rally (Credit: Fergal O’Keefe/FOKUS Photography)