Sam Moffett along with James O’Reilly scored the outright victory on the Mayo Stages Rally, the opening round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship, Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship, Top Part West Coast Rally Championship and the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series.
The event got off to a very surprising start as a heavy rain shower left the stages, particularly the opening test, treacherous. It caused a lot of carnage as multiple drivers in the top ten had issues resulting in them failing to complete the stage. Included in this mayhem were top seeds Josh Moffett/Keith Moriarty who suffered a damaged radiator after sliding into a round bale on a square left. They continued onwards momentarily but had to eventually stop before completing the stage to prevent any major damage to the engine of the new Citroen C3 Rally2. The crew were eventually able to rejoin later, but unfortunately had to eventually retire for a second time.
Amazingly, second on the road Desi Henry/Stewart Loudon also went off the road. That left the third crew on the road Moffett/O’Reilly as the first team to cross the finish line of the opener. Both Declan Boyle and his son Michael had offs on the stage, but luckily Michael was able to continue with just some damage to the rear of his VW Polo R5. Daniel Cronin had a poor start also as he had two small offs, which included getting the car stuck on some grass on the outside of a sharp left-hand corner. Michael Carbin, out in his new Mk2 Ford Escort, had a spin on the stage and Johno Doogan had to stop not long into the stage to wipe steam off the window to give himself some visibility.
SS2 wasn’t as dramatic, but it still claimed a few crews. After that it was into service for a check over of the cars and a chance to change tyres. At this point Moffett/O’Reilly held a 19.8s lead over Cronin who was recovering well from his earlier troubles.
A repeat of the opening stage ran as SS3 and thankfully it wasn’t as punishing as the first run. Moffett/O’Reilly made some setup changes to their Hyundai i20 Rally2 during service and it was immediately evident that the changes were working as they went fastest again – they beat Cronin’s time by a full 14 seconds. They were again fastest on SS4, stopping the clock this time by the smallest of margins, 0.1 of a second. At second service Moffett now was in the lead of the event by 33.9s, Cronin still held second.
SS5 was cancelled so the rally restarted with SS6 and once again Sam Moffett was fastest leaving that there was no change in the leaderboard heading into final service. Two stages remained before it was time to go through the finish ramp and Sam and James held onto their lead over the remaining 20.26kms to emerge victorious by 43.5 seconds. Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy rounded out the podium in their Skoda Fabia.
Darragh Kelly guided Paul Barrett to eighth overall and fourth in Class 5. Niall Maguire, who holds the record for the greatest number of starts and also the number of wins in Mayo, finished one place further back after struggling with a misfire in his Citroen Rally2 during the early part of the day.
Just 25 seconds split the top three cars in two wheel drive. Pierce O’Callaghan guided Jonathan Pringle to 10th OA, 1st in Class 14 and 1st Modified. Johno Doogan/Paul Lennon finished 11th OA and 2nd in Class 14, while Gary McPhillips/Paul Sheridan had their new Ford Escort out and came home in 12th OA and 3rd in the same class.
Ryan Farrell was navigating for Dylan Eves. They won Class 2 in their Fiesta Rally4. They were less than seven seconds ahead of Michael Conlon and James McEneaney who took Class 12 honours. Defending border champion Justin Smyth took 3rd in Class 12 with Sean Mitchell on the notes.
Cathal Sheridan and Coel Leonard were the winners of Class 10.
Taking 2nd in Class 11F were Anthony Hand and David McCrudden. Martin McPhillips and Peter Farrell would guide their Twin Cam home to 7th in class as they picked their way through the leaderboard in the afternoon after what was described as “an eventful morning”.
In 11F, Ashling McArdle guided Des Lyons to 2nd in class.
Seamus Connolly/Gary McCrudden finished 30th OA and 5th in Class 13.
Tommy Moffett and Domhnall Lennon gave their new Fiesta Rally4 a tarmac debut. They had to avail of superrally rules to finish but got miles under their belt and set a third fastest class time on the final stage.
Michael Carbin’s first stage trouble would be the sign of worse to come as he was forced to retire after an off on the third stage. James McCarville/Conal McNulty were another team to retire from the event after having an off which involved sliding through a hedge and into a field. Adam Langan failed to make the finish calling notes for Francis Rafferty. Their 11F Civic lost power and they could go no further.
Monaghan Navigation Trial
The final round of the National Navigation Trial Championship and the penultimate round of the Squealing Pig Border Navigation Trial Championship takes place this weekend hosted by Monaghan Motor Club. David McCrudden assisted by Martin Tynan are organising an 85-mile event based out of Ballinode Community Hall. Any people available to marshal at the event are asked to make themselves known to David. The event is expected to take in the areas surrounding Ballinode, Scotstown, Tydavnet and Knockatallon. Any residents in that area should expect some extra traffic on the roads after 9pm. The roads are not closed for the duration of this event. Andy Mackarel/Greg Shinnors are the current leaders of the national championship, but with two dropped scores allowed, its still all to play for.
Monaghan Stages Rally
Over 140 entries have already been received for the 2024 Ronnie Hawe Monaghan Stages Rally. Entries remain open until 22 March.
The rally takes place on 7 April 2024. The launch of the stages will take place on Friday 22 March at Rally HQ – the Four Seasons Hotel in Monaghan town.
Monaghan Motor Club will also be running its usual charity draw for a free entry, with the winner being picked out on the evening of the launch. More details on the draw will follow.
County Monaghan Motor Club 