Josh Moffett recorded his third straight win in the Triton Showers
Motorsport Ireland National Rally championship by taking by a
start-to-finish victory in the Waterford City Ford Raven’s Rock Rally.
Having swiped the keys of his brother Sam’s newer model Hyundai i20
Rally2 for the event, the Monaghan driver’s win was never in doubt.
He and his co-driver Keith Moriarty arrived back to finish ramp at the
Viking Hotel with a 42.4-second advantage over Declan Boyle and
stand-in co-driver Paddy McCrudden.
Josh was unsure if he would stay with the upgraded version of the car
for the rest of the season or if he will revert to his older model.
“A lot of people have been asking me that, but we will wait and see,” he said.
It was a special victory for Moffett on Craig Breen’s home rally.
Breen carried the number 42 on the doors of his World Rally
Championship cars and Moffett took his 42nd win by 42 seconds.
The Triton Showers National Rally Championship has now reached its
halfway point and Moffett has won three of the four rounds run so far.
Round one winners Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan are expected to
return to the championship fray for round five, the Connacht Sligo
Stages on July 16 after skipping Waterford.
Former champion Boyle has not enjoyed the best of luck in recent
times, but his mid-season switch from a Volkswagen Polo to a Citroen
C3 has paid dividends.
His second-place finish in Waterford was his first visit to a National
Rally podium since 2015.
Another surprise package on Sunday’s rally was the pace of Cal
McCarthy and Eric Calnan. They were right on the pace early on and
arrived at the first service halt in second place.
A fastest time on stage four showed his new -found pace but,
unfortunately, the Citroen C3 crew crashed out on stage five.
This promoted English visitors James Ford and Neil Shanks to the final
podium position.
Championship sponsors Paul Barrett and Kevin Reilly recorded their
best result of the season so far and despite an altercation with a
stage-six chicane, they ensured that there were three Citroen’s in the
top six.
The all-important modified battle looked like it was going the way of
local crew Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy. Regular co-driver Killian
McArdle’s absence fuelled rumours that he had negotiated a new
contract with M-Sport that would see him promoted to sit with Ott
Tanak for the remainder of the WRC season. Malcolm Wilson was
unavailable for comment.
Fresh from his win in the Laois Heartlands Rally and three days of the
Donegal International Rally action Doherty were able to keep Rob
Duggan at bay over the seven stages.
However, disaster struck on the final stage when, with just 2km to,
they picked up a puncture after a heavy landing off a jump.
The long-time category leaders dropped to tenth overall and third in the class.
Duggan and his co-driver Ger Conway were back in their usual Ford
Escort for the first time since the 2022 Donegal International Rally
and they finished seventh overall after a tight battle with their
Kerry neighbours.
Conor Murphy and Sean Collins were second in the Modified rally, in
their similar Escort.
Michael Carbin and Dean O’Sullivan had another strong finish in their
Mitsubishi Evo. A class victory and 12th overall was their reward for
the day and kept Michael’s many championship campaigns on track.
In the Junior category, Jack McKenna and Damian Doherty took their
fourth maximum point haul from four starts in the Triton Showers
National Junior Rally Championship. They finished nearly a minute
clear of the similar Honda Civic of Mikey Ryan and Eoghan Doherty.
Loughgall Stages
In the Loughgall Stages Rally in Armagh it was Aaron McLoughlin and
Darren Curran who took victory in the Fiesta R5, from Aidan Wray and
Martin Brady’s Polo R5.
Shane Farrell was the first Monaghan man home as he guided Conor
Lavery to 13th OA and second in Class 6.
Fresh from victory as a co-driver in the forests a week earlier,
Arthur Kierans was back behind the wheel in his MKII Escort. He and
Conor Maguire were fifth in the same class and only a handful of
seconds from some crystal.
Less than ten seconds further back was the welcomed return of Maurice
Moffett in action once again in the Toyota Starlet. His son Richard
had been getting the miles in the car in recent events and whether as
a reward of punishment, found himself calling the notes from the other
seat for a change. The father and son duo just missed out on a Top 20
finish. Vincent McAree/David McCrudden and Garry Jennings/Damien
Connolly both failed to finish.
County Monaghan Motor Club 