Author: monaghanmotorclub

Evin Hughes guided Karl O’Donoghue to 2^nd place overall on last weekend’s Westmeath Endurance Trial.

The Westmeath and District Motor Club event counted as round six of the Motorsport Ireland Skoda Parts Ireland National Endurance Championship. Karl and Evin, finished the sixteen selective event, 22s in arrears of the overall winners, Robert Howard/Andrew Stewart.

The Jim Walsh Cork Forestry Rally,

was also held on Sunday, Cathan McCourt/Barry McNulty took the overall win by 1.8s over 2^nd placed Jason Mitchell/Patrick McCrudden. Both the 1^st and 2^nd placed crews were competing in a pair of Škoda Fabia RS Rally2’s.

Gregory Shinnors guided James Dunphy to 6^th overall. Greg is also a Cork Motor Club member, and as such he was awarded the Danny Creedon Memorial Perpetual Cup for being the leading Cork Motor Club member on the day.

Paul McPhillips navigating for Cian Caldwell, finished 19^th overall and 2^nd in Class 2, while Damien Connolly navigated Oran England to 20^th overall and 3^rd in Class 2.

Unfortunately, last year’s national champions Derek Mackarel/Eamonn Creedon retired on SS6 ‘Glenduff 2’.

In the Voly Grampian Forest Rally 2025

held in Scotland over the weekend, Killian McArdle navigated Joseph Kelly to 18^th overall, 1^st in Class S4 and 1^st in the Great Britain Junior category.

Co. Monaghan Motor Club CLG, have just launched a new club App. The App will be the go-to location for all your motor club information. To download the App, just search ‘Monaghan Motor Club’ on your ‘Android’ or Apple’ device’s, App store. This App is for everyone; it is not just for club members and competitors.

Oisín Sherlock.

Ballinode resident Conor Mohan guided Eamonn Kelly to the top step of the podium on Secto Rally Finland last weekend.

The Finnish event counted as round 4 of the 2025 Junior World Rally Championship (JWRC). Eamonn and Conor took their Ford Fiesta Rally3 home in 1^st place overall (OA), 8.3s ahead of the Australian pair and current JWRC leaders, Taylor Gill and Daniel Brkic.

The event began on Thursday morning with a Shakedown stage, followed by the first competitive Special Stage (SS) that evening ‘Harju 1’. On that first competitive special stage, Eamonn and Conor finished 2^nd fastest, just 1.3s in arrears of the Turkish crew, Ali Türkkan/Oytun Albayrak.

Nine special stages were up on Friday, four new special stages each being used twice, followed by a second pass of the Thursday evening stage (Harju 2).

On SS2 Friday morning, Kelly/Mohan played it a little safe and dropped to 4^th OA, albeit, still only 3.5s in arrears of 1^st. The playing it safely phase ended abruptly as on SS3 they set the fastest time in the JWRC, despite commenting that they were a little slow at the start and that there was hanging dust from the previous cars on some of the very fast corners. They were now only 1.2s in arrears of 1^st place. On SS4 however, they suffered a small overshoot, causing them to reverse. Despite this, the time at the finish of the stage showed that they had been well on the way to another stage win, as they only lost 1.2s to the leader. The weather took a turn for the worse on SS5, as they were hindered by a heavy downpour of rain during the stage. The downpour caused a few moments, a loss of rhythm which resulted in them loosing 2^nd position, but they were still only 5.4s in arrears of 1st. The car developed a small technical issue during SS7 resulting in a little time loss, but they still maintained 3rd position OA. They got the technical issue delt with before SS8, resulting in a good stage time, but Eamonn stated that “I just did not push enough”. Despite not pushing enough, they did close the gap and were now only 0.1s adrift of 2nd place. On SS9 they duly took 2^nd place OA, 13.2s adrift of the leading crew. On the final stage of the day, SS10, they did lose a few seconds to the leading crew but still maintained 2^nd place going into Saturdays eight stages.

 Saturdays eight stages were once again new, with four separate stages each being ran twice. Saturday’s stages were a lot more slippery than Fridays had been due to a heavy overnight rain. The slipperier road surface took a little getting used to, causing a moment near the start of SS11. Despite this moment, which lost them time to the leader, they still increased their advantage over the crew in 3^rd place. SS13 was an extremely fast stage, and even with the distance being over 20km, the top four JWRC competitors were separated by less than one second, that stat just shows how tough it is to pull any advantage over fellow competitors. On SS14 Kelly/Mohan secured another stage win, which gained them slightly on 1^st, but also greatly increased their advantage over 3^rd place. On the next stage, SS15, they pulled a huge 5.2s back on 1^st place, which reduced their deficit to 11.6s from 1^st.

On Saturday’s penultimate stage, SS17, Eamonn and Conor took the lead of the event for the 1^st time. The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy team now held a 21.2s advantage over their nearest JWRC competitor. On SS18, the final stage of Saturday, they finished the 16.44km stage 2nd fastest, just a tiny 0.5s in arrears of fastest, meaning that they entered Sunday’s stages with a reasonably comfortable lead of 20.7s.

There were only two stages on Sunday, a repeated pass of the legendry 24km ‘Ouninpohja’ Honestly ‘legendry’ may be too small of a word to describe the stage. Check out Solberg/Mills record breaking run in 2004 and the Meeke/Nagle in-car from 2016 on YouTube.

With a 20.7s advantage. Eamonn and Conor did not have to go absolutely flat out over the two runs and rick an ‘off’ or a puncture. On the first pass of Ouninpohja (SS19), they set the 5^th fastest time, 11.2s down on fastest, which only reduced their advantage over 2^nd place to 20s, leaving them reasonably comfortable going into the final pass of that same stage. On the final run, they once again set the 5^th fastest time, but most importantly got the car to the ‘Finnish’ line in perfect working order and still holding onto 1^st place overall.  This Finland win is Eamonn and Conor’s second outright win in the JWRC, as their first came on the Croatia Rally 2023.

At the end of one of, if not the most famous rally in the world, Eamonn and Conor took an 8.3s win over the current JWRC leaders Taylor Gill/ Daniel Brkic.

The JWRC comes to its conclusion at the next event, the Central European Rally 2025, which takes place between the 16^th and 19^th of October.

Killian McArdle was also taking part in Secto Rally Finland. Killian was navigating for John Coyne in a Ford Fiesta Rally3. Unfortunately, the pair retired on SS12 ‘Västilä 1’. They had been in 51^st position overall when they retired.

 County Monaghan Motor Club recently presented the monies raised from the Charity Static Car Show and Shine event held last June. All monies raised were donated to SOSAD and the Monaghan branch of Crocus.

Co. Monaghan Motor Club CLG, have just launched a new club App. The App will be the go-to location for all your motor club information. To download the App, just search ‘Monaghan Motor Club’ on your ‘Android’ or Apple’ device’s, App store. This App is for everyone; it is not just for club members and competitors.

Oisín Sherlock.

Michael Carbin and Ben Mohan were the top placed crew at the end of the Co. Monaghan Motor Club, Endurance Trial last weekend.

The event counted as Round 4 of the County Monaghan Motor Club Championship, and Round 4 of the Skoda Parts Ireland, Motorsport Ireland National Endurance Championship.

Michael and Ben took their Subaru Legacy home as the fastest crew throughout the trial’s twenty selectives. A feat that secured them the class C win and maximum Monaghan Motor Club Championship (Traders Championship) points. Although Michael and Ben on paper won the event, as they weren’t competing in an Endurance specification car, they were ineligible to place in the overall positions. 1^st place instead went to Graham O’Donoghue/Kevin Fagan; 2^nd place went to TJ O’Brien/Paul Reilly, and 3^rd went to Darragh Mullen/Aideen Lynch.

The overall positions were filled by a trio of crews competing in Toyota Starlet’s, built to Endurance specification.  

Garry Farrelly, assisted by Michael Sheridan and Sam Patterson once again organised this year’s event, with the event headquarters at the Aughnamullen GAA grounds in Tullynanegish. Garry and his team organised twenty selectives in the area between Scotch Corner, Latton, Broomfield, Corduff and Lisdoonan.

The event was divided into two sections. Section 1 consisted of eleven selectives before a lunch and refuel break at McCaugheys services in Broomfield. Section 2 took place in the afternoon following the lunch break, and consisted of nine selectives. Section 1’s selectives were all based between, Lough Egish, Latton and Scotch Corner, while Section 2’s selectives were all based around Corduff Cross and Lisdoonan.

In the classes, Karl O’Donoghue/Evin Hughes finished 1^st in class A2M, and Owen Murphy/Patrick O’Sullivan finished 2^nd in the same class. In class A2E, Darren Moore/Liam Tuomey finished 1^st. In class A2S, Ernest Alford/Darragh Gannon took 1^st and Martin Nugent/Paul Tiernan took 2^nd. In class A2N, the father/son team of Sean and Caolain McCaffrey finished 1^st. In class A2B, Daniel Buckley/Conor Lennon took 1^st, Timmy Lynch/Stephen O’Neill took 2^nd and Aidan Dennehy/Gerard O’Connor finished 3^rd. In class A1, Frank Byrnes/Sophie Byrnes finished 1^st, Gerard and Luke of Reilly took 2^nd and John O’Sullivan/ Noreen Stanley finished 3^rd. In class B, Dominic Loughran/Oscar Mangan finished 1^st in their Suzuki Swift, Geoffrey Conboy/Luke Gallagher took 2^nd and David Forde/Patrick O’Leary finished 3^rd. In class C, Michael Carbin/Ben Mohan finished 1^st, Martin Tynan/Oisín Sherlock took 2^nd and Andrew Mackarel/Richard Cassidy finished 3^rd in that navigation specification car class.

A standout performance on the day, was that of Aaron McGorman and Darren Lavery. McGorman/Lavery were the fastest competing crew after Selective 16 onboard their Subaru Impreza, and they had a reasonably comfortable lead of 14s in class C. Unfortunately for the pair, a driveshaft broke on their Impreza, taking off from the start line on Selective 17 ‘Courtneys 2’, this driveshaft failure spelled immediate retirement. Luckily for them, (if there is such a thing), they had completed the minimum distance required before the retirement (App 35, 16.9). This minimum distance requirement qualified them to receive a maximum time penalty on each of the remaining four selectives (App 35, 19.22.2), so they still qualified as finishing the event, but they now were down in 10^th in class C and 30^th fastest crew throughout the day.

After the awards were presented to all the winners, the Clerk of the Course, Garry Farrelly and the overall winning team, thanked all the landowners for allowing the event to use their property, and the plethora of marshals who came to man each selective of the event. Garry further thanked the Aughnamullen GAA club for the excellent facilities, and everyone who helped him set up the mammoth event, including his deputies Michael Sheridan and Sam Patterson. He also gave a big thank you to local man, Owen Connolly, for his tireless effort in helping to get everything in order and available on the day of the event.  His assistance is very much appreciated.

Top 10 at Finish

1. Michael Carbin/Ben Mohan (Subaru Legacy) 5:23,

2. 1^st, Grahan O’Donoghue/Kevin Fegan (Toyota Starlet) 5:32,

3. 2^nd, TJ O’Brien/Paul Reilly (Toyota Starlet) 5:35,

4. Martin Tynan/Oisín Sherlock (Subaru Impreza) 6:05,

5. 3^rd, Darragh Mullen/Aideen Lynch (Toyota Starlet) 6:26,

6. 4^th, Karl O’Donoghue/Evin Hughes (Toyota Starlet) 7:10,

7. Andrew Mackarel/Richard Cassidy (Subaru Impreza) 7:10,

8. Trevor O’Callaghan/Susan Smyth (Subaru Impreza) 7:18,

9. Dominic Loughran/Oscar Mangan (Suzuki Swift) 7:18,

10. Geoffrey Conboy/Luke Gallagher (Toyota Starlet) 7:23.

Rally Finland

Conor Mohan was navigating for Eamonn Kelly in Finland over the weekend. Conor and Eamonn were competing in the HYAcenter Ralli 2025, in preparation for the Junior World Rally Championship event, Secto Rally Finland, which takes place this weekend.

Conor and Eamonn, had a fantastic event and were able to get a good car set up and practice ahead of the upcoming ‘World Event’. The Irish pair finished this event in 2^nd place overall, a tiny 0.3s in arrears of Ali Türkkan/Oytun Albayrak, showing just how tight the racing was on the super-fast undulating Finnish gravel roads.

Conor will be joined this coming weekend by fellow Monaghan Motor Club member, Killian McArdle. Killian will be navigating for John Coyne on Secto Rally Finland in a Ford Fiesta Rally3, similar to the one that Conor and Eamonn will be in. Both Conor and Killian will be competing in the event under the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy umbrella.

Imokilly Mini-Stages

Johno Doogan/Paul Lennon took their Ford Escort MKII to 3^rd place overall on the Imokilly Mini-Stages Rally last weekend. The pair finished just 9.1s in arrears of the overall winners James Stafford/Richard Cleary who were in a Darrian T90 GTR. Unfortunately, David Moffett/Martin Connolly retired after SS4.

Co. Monaghan Motor Club CLG, have just launched a new club App. The App will be the go-to location for all your motor club information. To download the App, just search ‘Monaghan Motor Club’ on your ‘Android’ or Apple’ device’s, App store. This App is for everyone; it is not just for club members and competitors.

Oisín Sherlock.

Paul Barrett and Darragh Kelly were the top placed Co. Monaghan Motor Club CLG members at the finish of the Sligo Stages Rally last weekend. Paul and Darragh took their Citroën C3 Rally2 home in 6^th place overall (OA). The Connacht Motor Club event counted as Round 5 of both the 2025 Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship and the 2025 Dacia Sandero Challenge Cup.  The Sligo based event was also Round 3 of the 2025 Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship and the 2025 Top Part West Coast Rally Championship.

Pierce O’Callaghan navigated Aaron McIntyre to 10^th overall and 1^st in class 14 onboard their Toyota Starlet. The Class 14 win also came with the accolade of being the fastest 2wd crew throughout the day. Killian McArdle guided Michael Cahill to 16^th OA and 3^rd in Class 14. There would be a three in a row of Co. Monaghan Motor Club finishers up soon after, as Ryan Farrell took Stephen Faughnan to 18^th OA and 3^rd in Class 13, Paul McPhillips guided Cian Caldwell to 19^th OA and 2^nd in Class 2, and the father and daughter team of Niall and Molly Maguire took their stunning Subaru Impreza S12B home in 20^th OA and 1^st in Class 7.  Raymond Conlon and Gavin Doherty finished 23^rd OA in their Toyota Corolla. Michael Conlon and Adam Langan finished 25^th OA and 1^st in Class 12 in their Ford Escort MKII. Tommy Moffett/Michael Ward finished 27^th OA and 3^rd in Class 2. Jack Maguire/Keith McConnon finished 40^th OA and 3^rd in Class 11F. Paul Kelly guided Paul Purtill to 51^st OA. Pakie Duffy/Evin Hughes finished 66^th OA and 2^nd in Class 3. The father and son team of Peter and Eoghán Farrell took their Toyota Corolla home in 78^th OA and 7^th in Class 10.

Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty unfortunately retired on SS1, James McCarville/Arthur Kierans retired after the same stage, and James McEneaney navigating for Brian Bolger retired after SS3. Nigel Brennan/Paddy McCague retired after SS6.

The 2025 Co. Monaghan Motor Club Endurance Trial takes place this weekend.

The event has been organised by Garry Farrelly, assisted by Michael Sheridan and Sam Patterson and will be based out of Aughnamullen GAA in Tullynanegish (Lough Egish).

The first car will begin at 10am Sunday morning and will finish at 6pm. There will be a fuel halt/lunch between 12:30 and 13:00.

Co. Monaghan Motor Club CLG, have just launched a new club App. The App will be the go-to location for all your motor club information. To download the App, just search ‘Monaghan Motor Club’ on your ‘Android’ or Apple’ device’s, App store. Please note, the App is continuously being updated, as it’s in its early stages yet. This App is for everyone; it is not just for club members and competitors.

Oisín Sherlock

Round 4 of the 2025 Skoda Parts Ireland National Endurance Trial Championship, took place last weekend. Killarney and District Motor Club hosted this latest event, and it was the Co. Cork duo of Owen Murphy/Patrick O’Sullivan who emerged victorious after the events twenty-three selectives.

Evin Hughes navigating for Karl O’Donoghue, finished 8^th overall and 1^st in Class A2M. It was a ‘what could have been’ kind of event for them as they had been in 2^nd place overall after ‘Selective 8’, but unfortunately, they had problems on ‘Selective 9’, which resulted in them plummeting down to 16^th overall. They did recover over the remaining fourteen selectives, and climbed back to 8^th overall by the finish of the event.

Round 5 of the Tullyallen Kart Club Championship, also took place over the weekend. In the Cadet Iame Qualifying race,

Babby Connolly finished in 1^st place, with an average speed of 44.1 mph and took the win by a mere 0.009s. On Heat 1 of the Cadet Iame race, he once again finished in 1^st place. Bobby kept his winning streak up, as on Race 22, the Cadet Iame Final, he completed the fourteen laps, 10.522s quicker than the person who finished in 2^nd place.

The Co. Monaghan Motor Club Endurance Trial 2025, is fast approaching.

The event will be Round 5 of the national championship and will take place on Sunday July 27th.

The event Regulations and Entry Form are available now. The event is being based out of the Aughnamullen GAA, and is organised by Garry Farrelly, Michael Sheridan and Sam Patterson.

Co. Monaghan Motor Club CLG, have just launched a new club App. The App will be the go-to location for all your motor club information. To download the App, just search ‘Monaghan Motor Club’ on your ‘Android’ or Apple’ device’s, App store. Please note, the App is continuously being updated, as it’s in its early stages yet.

This App is for everyone; it’s not just for club members and competitors.

Oisín Sherlock