On a scorching hot day in the Ballyhoura mountain, it was a similar relentless heat
being put on championship contenders as Ryan Caldwell & Arthur Kierans battled an
incredibly strong field of rivals to claim back-to-back victories in this years Sligo
Pallets Forest Rally Championship as they won the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally by
just 2.2 seconds.
Returning to the Mallow Autograss complex to claim the top spot of the podium, the
battered-and-bruised Skoda Fabia R5 of Caldwell’s showed all the signs of the
intense battle raged across eight great Cork stages. By the mid-day service, the
Motorsport Ireland Academy supported youngster had a lead of just under seven
seconds, but this would be trimmed to just over two by the time the cars lined up for
the eighth and final stage.
Applying the pressure were a pair of VW Polo Gti R5s, that of Jason Mitchell &
Paddy McCrudden in second as well as Championship leader coming into the event
Mark Donnelly & Sean Ferris in third.
The standings at the start of the final stage would stay the same, as such was the
insane push made by the leading trio that they would all beat the bogey meaning
Ryan Caldwell & Arthur Kierans would take victory and gain the Championship lead
by a single point.
Derek Mackarel continued to learn his new Ford Fiesta R5. With Eamon Creedon on
the notes, he built up his pace throughout the day, getting closer to the front runners
with 8th OA his result.
Killian McArdle guided Pete McCullagh to another Class 20 victory in their Mitsubishi
Evo, and best of the rest behind the R5 and Rally2 machines.
In the 2WD, it would be another back-to-back victory as Mickey Conlon & Paul
McPhillips sprayed the victory champagne just like they had on the previous
Moonraker Forest Rally. Once more having to battle a stacked field of rivals, the MC
Blinds Escort MK2 would have 28.9 seconds to spare over the BDA-powered Ford of
Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey, while an incredible push in the Class 11F Vauxhall
Corsa would see Ruairi Maguire & Grace O’Brien claim the third spot. Dylan Eves
and Ryan Farrell had been holding 3rd 2WD up to the second last stage when fuel
issues sidelined them from the action.
The J1000 battle raged throughout the day, with seconds being swapped right from
the start although the fast and flowing Cork Forest stages would prove the undoing of
some crews as mechanical issues and off-road excursions would end the day early
for some J1000 crews.
Tommy Cronin & Derek Butler were the crew to beat as they set seven fastest stage
times and finished with an 11.3 second advantage over Jack Harris and Tommy
Moffett taking third a further 11 seconds back.
Devine takes ITRC title
Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan clinched their maiden Irish Tarmac Rally
Championship title after finishing second on a wet and wild Ulster Rally finale.
The title-winning partnership recorded their fifth top points-scoring result of the season
when they finished 47.7 seconds behind British Rally Championship visitors Adrien
Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria.
Devine entered the final round of the 2023 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship knowing a
fourth-place finish or higher would seal his first-ever Rally2 title. A series of stunning
wins on the Circuit of Ireland, Killarney Rally of the Lakes, Donegal International Rally, and
Cork 20 Rally had given him a healthy lead at the top of the standings.
Meirion Evans and Josh Moffett were still in contention, however, needing a victory on
the Ulster Rally to upset the odds.
Stormy weather made Ulster Rally’s tricky Friday stages even more testing and it wasn’t
long before it claimed the hopes of one of ITRC’s title contenders when Meirion Evans
and Jonathan Jackson were caught out on a slippery right-hander on Ulster’s second
stage.
That left defending champions Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes as Devine and O’Sullivan’s
sole title rivals.
Moffett, who has struggled to find a sweet spot aboard his new Hyundai i20 Rally2 in wet
conditions, was unable to make an impact on the waterlogged County Down stages. The
Monaghan driver finished day one in fifth position, 20 seconds behind Devine who was
second overall after winning Friday’s final test.
A perfect balance of speed and caution through Saturday’s six stages ensured Devine
kept his maiden Tarmac title in his control. He shadowed his former European Rally
Championship rival, Fourmaux, to pick up an all-important runner-up finish that secured a
hard-fought championship title.
Jonathan Greer and Niall Burns completed Ulster Rally’s top three after an intense battle
with Ulster rivals Cathan McCourt and Dean O’Sullivan.
Another driver to impress in the wet was Jason Mitchell who completed Ulster Rally’s top
five – his best ITRC result of the year. Mitchell managed to keep Robert Barrable 4.1
seconds behind with Moffett a further 2.1 seconds back in seventh.
It was a weekend to remember for the Black family as brothers Jason and Gareth
finished on the ITRC podium together for the very first time.
Jason Black and Karl Egan blitzed Ulster Rally’s wet and wild Friday night stages to finish
the opening day with a 33.1-second lead over modified rivals Marty Toner and Ben
Teggart.
Marty Toner dropped out of the running on Saturday’s Shinn Bridge opener with his
brother Damian inheriting second.
Gareth Black and Connor Dunlop top points in Class 6 and a third-place finish in Ulster’s
two-wheel-drive section.
Mickey Conlon and Domhnall Lennon were two hardy souls who competed in Ulster on
Friday and Saturday ahead of Sunday’s forestry in Cork. Their commitment was
rewarded with 1st in Class and 7th 2WD on the Newry based event.
Patrick Fitzpatrick and James McEneaney took the lead of their class after the second
stage and didn’t look back as they left a clean set of tracks behind them.
Letisha Conn continued to make progress as she built up speed in her Fiesta R2. She
battled the conditions to take sixth in her class.
Comerford and Kierans Czech out the ERC
Ronan Comerford was alongside Galway’s Aoife Raftery as she put in a massive
effort to secure the best female driver in a two-wheel drive car accolades at Barum
Rally Zlin over the weekend.
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver is contesting this year’s FIA Junior
European Rally Championship and the legendary Czech event was the fifth round.
Their rally got off to the worst possible start when they damaged a wheel on the
opening spectator special.
The considerable time loss put her very much on the back foot for the remaining two
days and 12 special stages.
The overall woman’s category was won by Italian Rachel Somaschini for the second
ERC rally in a row. She was driving a Citroen C3 Rally2 car instead of Raftery’s less-
powerful Peugeot 208 Rally 4.
It all came down to the final stage, when they went nine seconds clear of their
nearest rival in the 2WD category to take the Women’s 2WD win by 6.9 seconds.
Raftery and Comerford dug deep over the final 16km stage to go nearly nine seconds
faster than Vogel and take the win by 6.9 seconds.
After the event Comerford said, “The stages are really challenging for a co-driver,
you have to be on top of your game.”
Max McRae and Mac Kierans were also competing on the Czech event and had
worked their way up to second in the ERC Junior category when on the penultimate
stage they understeered into a ditch on a slippy hairpin and were out of the event. A
disappointing result after what was a promising event that saw them set either
quickest or second quickest ERCJ times on eight of the 11 stages they completed.
County Monaghan Motor Club 