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Through rain, mist and an afternoon of scorching sunshine, and being chased by one of the most impressive and talented fields in quite a number of years on a loose-surface event, Jordan Hone and his father Paul delivered a cool and calm masterclass to claim a very first rally victory on the Killarney Forest Rally and leave with maximum points in the hunt for the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship title.

With ninety cars starting the event, the buzz was real in the build up, but a lot of crews will have been surprised to wake up to misty rain for the opening loop on what was forecast to be a drying affair.

By the end of the rally there would be an 11.2 second gap to Vivian Hamill & Gary Nolan, with third going to a rather surprised Niall McGonigle & Caolan McKenna who leave the Killarney Forest Rally with a stage win and podium finish on what had been intended as a shakedown for next weekend Fivemiletown event.

Just 13 seconds off a podium spot was Derek Mackarel and Eamonn Creedon. They took 4th OA in their Fiesta R5 and had 3rd fastest stages times on the final two stages as the Stonebridge driver continues to adapt to the car.

In the 2WD battle, it was a tricky day with many of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship frontrunners reporting issues throughout the day, although for the late entrant pair of Shane McGirr & Denver Rafferty it was a successful trip south for the Lada pair as they claimed victory.

Ten seconds behind McGirr was back-to-back 2WD Forest Champion Micky Conlon & James McEneaney, the MC Blinds Ford Escort looking worse for wear following a dramatic meeting with a chicane on the opening stage when they got caught out with cold brakes. They lost a considerable amount of time but still finished the stage 2nd 2WD and just 7.2 seconds down on McGirr.

The gap opened slightly more on the second stage due to a stall on a junction but a very clean run through the third test and McGirr’s tyres going off gave them a 1.7 second lead in the 2WD section at service.

Although no major drama was reported on the final loop, the stages were badly cut up and McGirr managed to claw back the time to demote Conlon/McEneaney to 2nd 2WD and tenth overall.

Ryan Farrell was alongside Dylan Eves. They were second in Class 2 and sixth 2WD by the end of the day. In the same class, Tommy Moffett made his Rally4 debut. He and co-driver Domhnall Lennon finished sixth. The former J1000 champion proving the benefits of the Junior series with some instantly competitive stage times.

Reigning Irish Forest Rally Champion co-driver Arthur Kierans returned to the driver’s seat in his Subaru Impreza. His navigation trial partner Shane Maguire made his stage Rally debut on the event. Unfortunately transmission issues halted their run after just one stage. 

Killian McArdle was,on the notes for Peter McCullagh. They’d also fail to finish, as would James McCarville and Conal McNulty.

The Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship returns on 14 April with the Carrick-on-Suir Willie Loughman Forest Rally.

Monaghan Motor Club member Gretchen Swinburne who has been named as part of the Irish crew to take part in a Saudi Arabia-based off-road navigation rally next month.

Motorsport Ireland, the National Governing Body for four-wheeled motorsports in Ireland today announced that Patricia Denning and Swinburne will represent Ireland at Rally Jameel in Saudia Arabia. Rally Jameel is a navigation off-road rally for women organised by the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation (SAMF).

The event starts on 4 March 2024 and continues over four days through the desert dunes and mountainous terrain, covering 1600km with the finish on International Women’s day on 8 March in Jeddah on the Red Sea.

Swinburne takes on the role of navigator – an equally demanding role given this is a navigation rally and not a speed event. She started out her motorsport career in 2015 as a navigator in stages rallying.

An impressive start with which she won the Junior Border Championship in her first year. Some highlights of navigating in stages includes a win the Laois Heartlands Twincam Challenge and a class win in Donegal International Junior Rally. Adding to her collection, she also won the Monghan Motor Club’s Combilift Perpetual Cup two years in a row.

In the 2022/2023 season Swinburne then switched her focus to navigation trials and in her first year successfully won her class in the Motorsport Ireland Navigation Trial Championship.

Taking to the driver’s seat, Denning is one of the top female motorsport drivers in Ireland with a wealth of driving experience having competed in over 150 events in her career to date. With a very impressive motorsport CV she is a double Ladies Forestry Rally Champion, and holds the unique accolade of being the only female in the world to have won a FIA Rallycross Super Final.

Commenting on the announcement, Motorsport Ireland President Aiden Harper said: “We are thrilled to have Patricia and Gretchen represent Ireland at Rally Jameel and offer our sincere gratitude to the Saudi Automobile & Motorcycle Federation (SAMF) for this incredible invitation. 2024 has been an incredibly exciting year for Irish Motorsport so far with the WRC bid and this event invitation only solidifies how well regarded Irish motorsport is on the world stage. Wishing Patricia and Gretchen the very best of luck!”

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Eamonn Kelly Monaghan’s Conor Mohan got their second season of the Junior World Rally Championship off to a perfect start by taking third place in Rally Sweden at the weekend.

The result matched their Acropolis Rally Greece performance last September and sets them up nicely for round two in Croatia in April – an event they won in 2023.

One of a record 19 entrants, Kelly and Mohan found themselves in a battle with eventual winner, local ace, Mille Johansson and FIA Rally Star program member Romet Jürgenson as the Donegal/Monaghan pairing completed the podium in the category for identical Ford Fiesta Rally3s run equipped with Pirelli tyres.

“It was really good to be on the podium in Sweden this year. It is a fantastic start for our championship to  finish third [amongst 19 drivers]  is something we can be really happy with,” said Kelly

“We came here this year with a plan,” he added.

“We knew what we were up against in terms of the scale of the event. We were able to show what we had learned and then back it up and it is something that I am personally happy about.

“It was a good a good weekend in general. We showed speed in places and then we were maintaining a fairly consistent pace for the rest of the time.”

 Kelly and Mohan won the junior element of Rally Croatia last season and the focus for the months ahead is preparation for the first tarmac rally of the season

“I would like to go there this year and show some speed. I want to go there and try and be much much faster and closer to the top position in the table. That is going to be the main focus over the next two months.”

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.