Conor Mohan travelled to Croatia for to take part in the Quattro River Rally Karlovac last weekend as he and his Donegal driver Eamonn Kelly practiced rallying on Croatian tarmac ahead of the next round of the Junior World Rally Championship which takes place between the 18-21 April, a JWRC round they won in 2023. Their weekend got off to a great start battling it out with the other competitors in the Junior class. At the end of special stage 1 (SS1) they were 6th overall (OA) and 3rd in class. On SS3 they set the fastest time in their class and on SS4 they moved up to 2nd in class overall. Regrettably on SS5, a reverse pass of SS2 the pair got caught out by gravel on the entrance to a corner that had been left there from cars traveling in the opposite direction previously. The gravel caused the car to spin, resulting in them clipping a bank and damaging the intercooler causing them to finish the stage in road mode as the car had no boost. They also had to complete the following Super Special Stage (SSS) in road mode before heading back to service and the overnight halt. This car trouble would cause them to drop from 6th OA and 2nd in class, to 14th OA and 7th in class.
With the car repaired for the Sunday stages they could mount their comeback. They set a few top five stage times against the more powerful Rally2 cars and by the time the penultimate stage was finished, they had moved up to 10th OA and 5th in class. On the final stage they managed to move up to 9th OA showing great ‘Never give up’ attitude. All in all, the rally was a success despite the disappointment of SS5 as they were able to get a feel for how the car handles and the speed, they can carry on the Crotian tarmac. Information that no doubt will be crucial for success when they return to Croatian in a few week’s time where they will hope for a repeat of previous success.
County Monaghan Motor Club 