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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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Sadly we have learned of the death of a long standing character in motorsport circles. Gerard Kelly, a well-known local businessman from Monaghan, died suddenly at his home on Sunday morning last.
Gerard was in a line of four generations of motorsport enthusiasts. His father, his son and his grandson, as well as himself. He was a committee member of Monaghan Motor Club for years. Gerard competed as a navigator with several drivers – Robert Moffett, David Wright, Seamus Boylan and Ronnie McCartney in the 1960s and 1970s. He was Clerk of the Course for a number of local events, such as the Drumlin in 1967 and 1968.
In addition to all of that, he sponsored drivers in different parts of the country in both rallying and racing. He was very benevolent also in areas other than motorsport. He supported generously many charities, in particular through Monaghan Lions Club. His gregarious personality made him a well-known figure in so many aspects of life. May he rest in peace.

Keith Cronin and Mikie Galvin overcame challenging conditions to seal a 38.1-second victory on the Galway International Rally in their Ford Fiesta Rally2. 

Cronin was in top form to resist a mid-rally challenge from 2023 Irish Tarmac Champions Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan. 

Cronin, who hasn’t competed in Galway since 2016, set the benchmark time of the Samdec Security International runners on a slippery 12.3-kilometre Kilcoona opener. Cronin was 1.2 seconds faster than Sam Moffett and James O’Reilly through Galway’s first stage as usual Irish Tarmac frontrunners, Callum Devine and Josh Moffett, encountered early issues. 

Somehow, Devine managed to set the third-fastest time on Galway’s first stage despite struggling to hear his co-driver Noel O’Sullivan over intercom interference. Josh Moffett, with Andy Hayes on the notes finished stage one in fourth but was grimacing after his new Citroen C3 Rally2 was bottoming out over some severe Galway bumps and jumps. 

Matt Edwards’ Galway International Rally debut came to a devastating early end on stage two. His Fiesta slid wide into a bank and clipped a rock on a slippery Caherlistrane right-hander. Steering damage meant the three-time British Rally Champion had to retire from fifth position. 

The roads had started to dry in Galway’s countryside but the winter muck made the conditions as treacherous as ever. 

Sam Moffett slipped from fourth to fifth on the 12.7-kilometre Kilbeg test. His Hyundai stalled under braking, pushing him into a wall. Thankfully for the 2017 Irish Tarmac Champion, it was a relatively gentle nudge with his Hyundai able to complete the loop albeit losing over 30 seconds to the leaders. 

Overnight rain made for difficult rallying conditions on Sunday morning. Cronin used all his experience to find the perfect balance of speed and safety to grab a hat-trick of stage wins. 

Cronin held a 31.9-second lead over Devine with two stages remaining and was able to cruise home to take a dream result on ITRC’s opener. 

The battle for third, and top position in the new Citroen C3 Rally2 Trophy, was heating up on Sunday morning. 

Josh Moffett held a 6.4-second advantage over Desi Henry at the start of Sunday’s stages. As Moffett continued to learn how best to handle his new Citroen in the wet conditions, Henry knew he was in a prime position to pressurise. 

Despite a trip up a bank and pushing too hard on stage 12, Henry cut the gap to Moffett to 2.1 seconds with two Galway tests to go. 

Moffett upped his game on the drying roads setting a second- and first-fastest time. His podium position and €5,000 C3 Trophy prize were confirmed when Henry slipped wide on a square left junction on Galway’s finale. 

Sam Moffett would finish the rally seventh, just six seconds off fourth position. 

Brendan Cumiskey and Arthur Kierans finished 14th OA and won their class in the Rally3 Fiesta. While Galway is normally a challenging enough rally in itself, Kierans gave himself more of a task by driving home to Monaghan after the first day to drive the Drumlin Navigation Trial before returning to Galway for Sunday’s stages.

Frank Kelly, Rodney Wilton, and Conor Murphy found themselves in a three-way Ford Escort Mk2 fight for two-wheel-drive honours after Galway’s opening day of action. 

Murphy blitzed his opposition on Sunday’s Belleville opener, beating Kelly by 18.1 seconds on the 16.8-kilometre test. 

Wilton marked his intent on the next stage, taking his second stage win of the weekend. 2.5 seconds separated the trio of Escorts with three tests remaining. 

Disaster struck Murphy on Galway’s finale as his Escort’s engine pulled the pin at the end of the stage. The Kerry driver made it to the finish line but ended the rally a mere four seconds off last-minute winner Kelly. Wilton had to settle for third. 

Mickey Conlon and Domhnall Lennon took a start to finish victory in their Class 12 Escort, finishing 26th OA. 

Des Lyons and Aisling McArdle had been sitting 3rd in Class 11F but their rally ended after eight stages. 

Ireland’s young guns provided a top-quality battle in ITRC’s Rally4 category. Keelan Grogan and Ryan McHugh started as they meant to go – Grogan bettering the Donegal driver by a mere tenth of a second on stage one. 

Their duel lasted the length of the rally with last-minute drama settling the contest. 

A collision with a round bale would prove pivotal – Grogan’s Peugeot 208 Rally4 arrived at the end of the stage showing its war wounds. The resulting seven-second time loss was enough for McHugh to slip ahead and clinch his first Rally4 victory of the year. 

Joseph Kelly and Killian McArdle finished in third in a Peugeot 208. Cian Caldwell and Ryan Farrell had been sitting third in class after ten stages, but a terminal power steering issue ended their rally after Stage 12.

Gary Cassidy and Conor Mohan were the winners of Monaghan Motor Club’s 2024 Drumlin Navigation Trial, organised by Clerk of Course Ciaran Tynan and ACOC Michael Tynan. The Expert crew finished the Newbliss-based event on just three penalties. 

The Drumlin has a reputation of being a challenging event, and two consecutive plot and bashes after TP1 set the tone for the night. Only five crews would make it to TP4 in Analore with a clean sheet, with the majority of crews dropping a minute or two at one or both plot and bashes. 

The first road-goes of the night was used to drop off the main road and get a correct approach to TP5 at Gaelscoil Eois, where an overshoot could have meant a wrong approach. 

TP6 and TP7 brought the event towards Stonebridge and Gransha, where familiar territory of old railway, farm tracks and narrow lanes meant both driver and navigator had to be switched on to find the correct slots. This was also evident on TP8 where as crews left along narrow lanes for Aghabog, no one would make it without dropping at least a minute, even though the route was pre-plotted.

A relaxed section in Aghabog at TP12 gave some breathing space before the next plot and bash section. Leaving TP13, a route card with the plots to Via1 and Via2 was handed out, but attention had to be paid to the approach and departures, as well as remembering to visit pre-plotted TP14 and TP15 in between. Only one pairing, Arthur Kierans/Shane Maguire, would clean this section. Kierans showing that competing on the Galway International the same weekend was taking nothing out of him.

The route went along some more traditional navigation lanes south to Dartry, west towards Scotshouse and then east again to Doohat for the start of the ITC. The regularity section was short, but at 27mph, trickier than usual. It wasn’t long before the event got back up to speed however because the end of the ITC also marked a plot and bash section to find TP28. Via5 had to be avoided on the way, and then two wind farm lanes awaited crews to get to TP30. One final box tulip took in a usual farm in Corlougharoo before the last controls and back to Newbliss. 

By the end of the night, Derek Mackarel and Conor Boylan were close behind Cassidy/Mohan on five penalties, with Martin Tynan and David McCrudden third, a further point back. 

At the Acorn Centre, all marshals, timekeepers, officials, landowners and other volunteers. A special word of thanks was given to the Cavan results team who had the mastersheet published in record time, given the duration of the event. 

The event was a counting round of the National Navigation Trial Championship, the Squealing Pig Border Navigation Trial Championship and Monaghan Motor Club’s navigation and overall championships. 

The next round of the national championship is the 100 Isles navigation organised by Skibbereen & District Car Club on 10/11 February. 

Drumlin Navigation Trial class results.

1st Beginner: Shane and Eoghan Farrell (138 pens)

2nd Beginner: Ciaran Duffy and Ben Mohan (145 pens)

3rd Beginner: Pauric Duffy and Fintan Duffy (155 pens)

1st Novice: Ciaran and Aaron McGorman (12 pens)

2nd Novice: Shane and Molly Maguire (25 pens)

3rd Novice: Martin and Gretchen Swinburne (34 pens)

1st Semi-Expert: Declan Tynan and Aaron McElroy (11 pens)

2nd Semi-Expert: Damien Treanor and Christopher McMahon (33 pens)

3rd Semi-Expert: James Fitzgerald and Patrick Corcoran (34 pens)

1st Expert: Derek Mackarel and Conor Boylan (5 pens)

2nd Expert: Martin Tynan and David McCrudden (6 pens)

3rd Expert: Andy Mackarel and Greg Shinnors (9 pens)

1st Overall: Gary Cassidy and Conor Mohan (3 pens)

On a frozen lake on the outskirts of Dagali in Norway, a blue flash weaves through the snowbanks as a Nissan Almera GTi scrabbles for grip. Behind the wheel is 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Championship Junior 1000 Champion Tommy Moffett, and he is here as part of a Prize Package funded by Craig Breen and the Foundation named in his honour.

For the young star, the trip is one of learning and development, with two days spent under the guidance of rally legend John Haugland at his world-famous Winter Rally School. Over his 50-year career, the Norwegian ace has seen countless stars of the sport pass through his Rally School, and Tommy Moffett can now proudly add himself to the illustrious list of pupils. 

One of the most famous recent stars who spent time at Haugland’s winter playground was Craig Breen, and it was through the prize package that he self-funded at the start of the 2023 season. Determined to make a real impact on the development of future Rally stars from a young age, Breen put together a €10,000 fund that would see every competitor benefit by way of vouchers throughout the season, and ultimately a driver development trip for the series champion. 

The Craig Breen Foundation aims to continue and build on the good work started by the Waterford driver in developing the path into top level rallying for young Irish competitors, while honouring his memory. With the support of Hyundai Motorsport, Sports&You, Hyundai Portugal, Hyundai Spain, Motorsport Ireland and the FIA, the foundation has committed to support the J1000 Championship for a minimum 5-year period from 2024 onwards. 

The foundation will initially see a total prize fund valued at over €35,000 made available for the 2024 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship J1000s. 

This year’s winner, Moffett, was joined on the trip by his championship winning navigator Domhnall Lennon, as well as Tommy’s Brother and twice Irish Forest Rally Champion Josh. With the guidance of John Haugland, Domhnall & Josh, the trip was an incredible opportunity for Tommy to adapt to a more powerful FWD car as he prepares to make the step into a new machine this year, as well as to an all new surface. 

From the reports received back, the trip was a huge success with incredible amounts of seat time and practice put down, some great tuition from the legendary John Haugland and the only reported damage being from the elder Moffett leaving a Mitsibushi rear bumper in a snow bank (allegedly)! 

The 2024 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship kicks off on February 18th with the Castleisland, Co. Kerry based Killarney Forest Rally.