Motorsport Ireland crew Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan are amongst a record-breaking entry list for the 2024 Junior World Rally Championship.
19 crews will take to the start line on this weekend’s Rally Sweden, the opening round of the five-event series. It is the largest JWRC entry in two decades.
Kelly and Mohan return to the JWRC for the second time having graduated to the series in 2023 after claiming the Junior British Rally Championship title the previous season.
A consistent drive earned him his sole victory on only their second WRC rally in Croatia last year.
The crew have been busy preparing behind the scenes for the year ahead.
“I am really excited to get back for a second time at this championship. It was always going to be a two-year plan and coming into the second year of that is very exciting,” said Kelly..
“This year it is slightly more relaxed in that sense and we have a lot of the groundwork done on these events having done all of them last year. We have been focusing hugely on amending notes from last year and looking at onboard footage and seeing where we can go quicker and where we need to watch ourselves.”
The action begins on the snow and ice of Sweden this week before the tarmac twists of the Croatia Rally (18 – 21 April). Gravel fixtures in Italy (30 May – 2 June), Finland (1 – 4 August) and Greece (5 – 8 September) round out the season.
Up for grabs is a life-changing prize comprising an arrive and drive package to contest four European rounds of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 car, the natural progression from Junior WRC.
Kelly and Mohan hope to follow in the tracks of fellow Motorsport Ireland crew William Creighton and Liam Regan.
They won the JWRC title last season and will now graduate to a WRC2 programme at the wheel of an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2.
As part of their prize for winning JWRC in 2023, they will get a fully funded drive on four rounds of the WRC this season. Thanks to the efforts of the Academy’s background team this four-event programme has been increased to seven rallies.
For Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy founder and patron John Coyne, Creighton’s graduation, and Kelly’s inclusion in the JWRC entry list for the second time is clear evidence that the programme is both working and capable of operating at the sport’s highest level.
“As the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy enters its fifth full year, I’m very encouraged to see the increased participation and engagement of young Irish athletes in all levels of the FIA rally ladder,” said Coyne.
“We keep learning each year and refining the programme as we go. I am happy with our progress to date but there is much to be done as we try to create a path for our best athletes to reach world-level competitiveness.”
100 Isles Navigation
There was local representation at the West Cork-based Skibbereen 100 Isles Navigation Trial, a counting round of the National Navigation and Munster Navigation Trial championships.
Six crews finished with a clean sheet, including Andy Mackarel/Greg Shinnors and Pakie Duffy/Evan Hughes. The event victory was shared between the Semi-Expert crews of Brian O’Mahony/Amy Gallwey and Ray and Stephen O’Neill on the ‘Semi-Expert beats Expert’ rule.
Shane Maguire was paired once again with Owen Murphy, and they finished on 15 penalties.
The next round of the National and Border navigation championships in the Cavan Navigation Trial. It takes place on 24 February and is based out of Crosskeys.
Riponian Stages Rally
Across the water in north Yorkshire, James McCarville and Ryan Farrell took part on the Riponian Stages Rally in a Fiesta Rally2. In treacherous conditions, the crew survived to finish sixth in class.
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County Monaghan Motor Club 