One of the oldest rallies in Europe, the Cork '20' International Rally has secured its first overall sponsor for almost 10 years.
The prestigious event will be sponsored by Murphy Construction, a Cork based building company.
The rally, on October 5 and October 6 next will comprise of 14 special stages - eight on Saturday and six on Sunday.
Heading the Munster Motor Cycle and Car Club organising team is the well-known co-driver, Hugh McPhillips, who will be assisted Frank O’Mahony, Bryan Curtin and Liam O’Callaghan.
The sponsor reinforces the competitor link to the rally as Murphy Construction Managing Director, Kieran Murphy is also a co-driver - for fellow Corkonian, Liam McCarthy.
The rally is a counting round of three championships, the Toshiba Computers Irish Tarmac Championship, the Ford Ka Championship and the 023 Tiles Southern 4 Championship.
The Cork '20' was once of a 20 hour duration, hence the term '20' featuring navigation sections.
In recent times, its illustrious winners include Rosemary Smith, Billy Coleman, Ari Vatanen, Jimmy McRae, Austin McHale, Kenny McKinstry, Bertie Fisher, James Cullen, Frank Meagher, Ian Greer and Andrew Nesbitt.
The 2002 Murphy Construction Cork '20' International Rally has attracted interest from Irish, overseas and European competitors and regulations for the two-day spectacular will be issued in the coming weeks.