County Monaghan Motor Club

Monaghan Motor Club was well represented on Wales Rally GB, the final round of the 2015 World Rally Championship. Leading Monaghan interest were Clontibret brothers Josh & Sam Moffett driving two Ford Fiesta WRCs. John Rowan and Karl Atkinson were navigating respectively. Monaghan’s James O’Reilly joined forces with Marty McCormack in their Skoda Fabia S2000 and reigning British Champion, Arthur Kierans from Aghabog teamed up with Billy Coleman award winner, Dean Raftery. Castleblayney man Pauric Duffy & Kevin Glynn were also contesting the event in their R5 Fiesta.

The Rally is well known for its tricky muddy conditions and this year’s event was no exception. Josh & Sam played themselves in on day 1 which included classic stages at Hafren, Sweet Lamb and Myherin. There was little to separate the pair with Josh 36 seconds ahead at the end of the day. There was big disappointment for McCormack/O’Reilly who retired on stage 3 when the alternator failed. Dean Raftery/Arthur Kierans’s rally also came to an end on stage three. Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn made steady progress to 35^th overnight.

A further seven stages were contested on Saturday including two stages in darkness. Josh & Sam continued to make steady progress and finished the day in 16^th and 17^th place respectively. McCormack/O’Reilly re-joined under Rally 2 and set some encouraging stage times despite a puncture including a top 20 time on stage 11. Duffy/Glynn retired on stage 8 but would re-join on Sunday.

The final day consisted of four short stages. Both Moffett brothers brought their cars home safely. Josh & John Rowan were an excellent 14^th overall holding off a late charge from Sam who took 15^th place just 13.2 seconds behind after over 3 hours of driving. Marty McCormack/James O’Reilly recovered to 45^th overall setting another top 20 time on the final stage. Pauric Duffy/Kevin Glynn completed the Sunday stages to secure 51^st overall.