Kierans go head to head in Sweden

Monaghan father and son duo Arthur and Mac Kierans went head-to-head
in a round of the FIA European Rally Championship.

The pair contested the BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia alongside
junior contestants in the third round of the Junior FIA European Rally
Championship.

Mac was Australian driver Max McRae while his father Arthur was
recruited by Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Aoife Raftery for
the two-day event that is based in Karlstad in the Värmland region of
Sweden.

Both McRae and Raftery are competing in the junior element of the
series in almost identical cars – an Opel Corsa for McRae and a PCRS
Rallysport-prepared Peugeot 208 for Raftery.

Seeded one after the other on the road, there was an extra competitive
element to the event.

Unfortunately for Raftery and Arthur it was to be a short event. An
accident on the second stage put them out of the event and a
difficulty in getting replacement parts meant they were unable to
restart.

Aoife maintained that getting the opportunity to compete and prepare
for such an event was a great learning curve and that it will stand to
her in the future.

McRae and Mac had better luck, but a challenging weekend all the same.
They were running 3rd in Class for most of the first day before
picking up a puncture and snapping the steering on Stage seven. The
damage sidelined them but they were able to get out for more miles on
the second day. Some competitive times meant it was a case of what
could have been for the pair as their performances were better than
their finishing result reflected.

Omagh brothers Patrick and Stephen O’Brien also made the trip to Sweden. Backed by McAree Engineering and celebrating a new partnership with tyre provider Hankook.
On what was their second European Rally Championship round of the year, they built their experience and progressed over the weekend to finish 15th OA.


Monaghan Motor Club’s Endurance Trial July 30

Gary Farrelly is COC of the event which is being run from Aughnamullen GAA club.

The trial is a counting round of the County Monaghan Motor Club championship.

 Entries are now open and the full regulations and entry form is available on the club website and
Facebook page.