From classmates at school to rivals for this year’s Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Mikie Galvin and Noel O’Sullivan clearly have a lot in common.
“It’s probably not ideal competing against Mikie, because he probably knows me better than I know myself!” O’Sullivan remarks.
Laughter flows down the other end of the phone.
“That’s close enough to a fact…” Galvin smiles.
You’re a fly on the wall as Galvin and O’Sullivan poke fun at each other. As was I.
I’ve known both of them individually for a few years now, but never truly witnessed their synergy. It’s not often, as a journalist interviewing, I’ll feel almost like a third wheel, but the two Irishmen are so in-tune with one another, the back seat is the best place for me to be.
Just like the right-hand one is home for these two.
Galvin (left) and O'Sullivan are best friends off the stages, but rivals on them
Galvin has co-driven Keith Cronin in both the Irish and British championships this term. O’Sullivan on the other hand has been strapped into Callum Devine’s Volkswagen and then Škoda for this year’s Irish Tarmac assault.
As co-drivers often can be, perhaps they’re the goalkeepers of 2024’s tale – the ones who are only remembered if they make an error.
“I’m a bit like Ederson though…” O’Sullivan says, in his typical dead-pan fashion.
We all giggle.
What’s already abundantly obvious is this is no ordinary rally rivalry. Inevitable really, given they’ve been friends since they were five years old.
“We hung out a lot in primary school, and then there was a gap for a few years through secondary school,” Galvin says.
“Mikie went away to find himself,” O’Sullivan laughs.
“And Noel thought he’d found himself but he realized he was lost and he just gravitated towards where he was supposed to be!”
Everyone will have their own path, but if you're good enough you'll always make itNoel O'Sullivan
Galvin then steers us back to the point at-hand: “After secondary school we hooked up again and that was it. Even though we weren’t hanging around together in the one group, if we had met each other on the street… our dads are quite good friends, so if we had met we would have chatted.
“You know when you just have that connection with someone? If you’re in school with someone for that long you always have that connection.”
Growing up just five miles apart in Killarney – Galvin from Aghadoe and O’Sullivan Muckross – there’s always been a shared passion for rallying. Rob Duggan, once an occasional Junior WRC competitor, was also in the same class.
“It’s not really a rallying town, it’s more Gaelic football,” O’Sullivan points out.
“Rallying wasn’t a huge ordeal so if you were involved in rallying as a kid, you’d kind of be the odd one out – like the misfits.”
Galvin and O’Sullivan would regularly go and spectate rallies in Ireland growing up, so much so that O’Sullivan estimates he’s actually watched more Cork 20s with Galvin than he’s competed on.
Cork 20 is the big one this week, as on Sunday these two best friends will face off for the Irish Tarmac title.
Considering the differing directions the two have taken – Galvin sticking predominantly in the UK and Ireland, sitting almost exclusively with Cronin for nine seasons while O’Sullivan went international with Jon Armstrong before sitting with Osian Pryce and now Devine – it’s remarkable that they should find themselves sharing the stages and shooting for the same silverware.
“It shows there’s no set way of winning things in motorsport,” O’Sullivan believes.
“Mikie and I’s route has been a lot different even though we’ve both two championship wins. I’ve won them with different drivers, Mikie’s got them both with the same driver, so there’s no right or wrong way in rallying. Everyone will have their own path, but if you’re good enough you’ll always make it.”
Galvin has been with Cronin for almost a decade, while O'Sullivan's rallying journey has been different
“Twelve years ago it was harder to see that we would end up in the same place again,” Galvin adds, “because we had gone on very different paths. That was just your choice and I didn’t make that decision, I was happy with what I was doing…
“But I never thought I’d get the opportunity to come back and compete at the top level of Irish motorsport, so I kind of count myself a bit lucky being able to do these rallies,” O’Sullivan interjects.
“I spent a lot of time away from Ireland and I couldn’t compete on these rallies, so it’s really great to get the chance to do them now. They’re the best drivers of their generation, it’s an absolute privilege to be able to experience the level and quality of driving that these boys are capable of.”
But there can only be one winner.
O'Sullivan and driver Devine are on the back foot, but not out of the race
After wins in Galway, West Cork and perhaps most crucially last time out at the Ulster Rally, Galvin (and his driver Cronin) hold the advantage and don’t actually need to win this weekend to wear the crown.
O’Sullivan and Devine on the other hand, who won both Killarney and Donegal this year, have to beat their rival to stand any chance of retaining their Irish Tarmac title.
“I think Keith is better at going out to win than to come second, so what that means for the weekend I’m not sure,” Galvin admits.
“I think we’re just going to go out and try and drive for a win because the way things have gone with the speed and everything being so tight, I think you need to drive to the note and the car. I think when you back off even just a little bit, it gets worse.
“All those little calculations you’ve made with notes and all those formulas that come together to make it happen don’t fall right when you’re sitting back. So I think it suits him better to just go out and try and win, and see what happens from there.”
O’Sullivan counters: “I suppose a lot of people in Ireland, if you gave them at the start of the season a Tarmac Championship or a Killarney and Donegal win, they might choose the Killarney and Donegal win.
“But for us we want to win the Tarmac Championship as well obviously. We don’t want to go this far and let it slide.
“Like Mikie said, these fellas are used to racing for wins – every weekend you’re racing for a rally win. Going to Cork this weekend is nothing really new for us, we’re going out and doing the same thing we do all the time anyway.”
Their friendship won’t be tested by the heat of the battle though. We can confidently say this because this is not the first time Galvin and O’Sullivan have dueled for a championship.
Back in 2022, the pair (and drivers Cronin and Pryce) contested the British Rally Championship which eventually went the way of O’Sullivan.
So does that make it 1-0?
“I’d never really thought of it that way,” O’Sullivan admits. “I’d always thought he already had his British championship [from 2017].”
Galvin can’t resist: “So Luke, how it works here now is we go to the overalls in life…”
Galvin and O'Sullivan last fought for the 2022 British title, with O'Sullivan (center) coming out on top
O’Sullivan continues: “When we raced in ’22 and it kind of went down to a showdown, we probably thought it would never happen again. We probably said between each other ‘this is never going to happen again’ yet here we are again, racing.
“The way it’s turned out now is if I’m racing for a rally win or a championship win it’s been against Mikie, so racing Mikie is nothing new to me. It’s natural now to be racing Mikie.”
“It’s so funny, like!”
As it stands though the score is 2-2. Both have a British title, both have an Irish title. As the 90th minute approaches, somebody is going to have to tap in the winner.
“There’s going to have to be a major illegal tackle done, and break a leg!” Galvin laughs.
“It’ll be a long winter for one of us, that’s for sure,” is O’Sullivan’s take.
“It’s OK,” Galvin assures, “we’ll get over it in the sauna one night, it’ll be alright.”
“What’ll be will be, I guess,” O’Sullivan responds. “May the best friend come out on top.”
