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As the sun beamed out across the Co Fermanagh hills, it was apt that it would the scorching hot pace of 2022 Champions Patrick O’Brien & Stephen O’Brien that would see them claim a dominant victory on the Enniskillen based Lakeland Stages Rally.

Over six stages and an incredibly exciting days action, it was the O’Briens who really impressed as they topped the time sheets on all bar one stage, and returned to the finish with a 21.2 second advantage over 2019 Champions Cathan McCourt and Liam Moynihan.

In the race for the 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship, round 5 in Enniskillen provided an insane amount of story lines that will help shape the final tale of the season, but for Ryan Caldwell & Arthur Kierans it was a result they could barely have foreseen as they claimed yet another maximum score as all round them their rivals faltered.

Caldwell headed to the Lakeland Stages with a single point advantage over closest rivals Mark Donnelly & Sean Ferris, and by the end of the opening test it was the VW Polo of Donnelly that led the Skoda Fabia of Caldwell by 0.9 seconds. Cruelly for Donnelly, an impact with a bridge in Ballintempo ended his day and was a cruel blow to his title chances.

With his main rival now sidelined, Caldwell & Kierans continued to push and would eventually arrive to the finish somewhat disappointed to be 4th on the event, but with a sizeable power disadvantage to those ahead and a massive advantage gained in the Championship, it was a remarkably good day for the Motorsport Ireland backed youngster.

Second place amongst the Sligo Pallets Forest Championship registered crews would go to Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey, a remarkable drive by the local star and event sponsor would see their Ford Escort Mk2 finish top 2WD on the day to make the high-speed blast over the six Lakeland stages all the sweeter.

Mickey Conlon & Paul McPhillips would finish third in their Ford Escort amongst the registered crews.

James McCarville finished 11th overall in a Fiesta R5 and 4th in Class.

Amongst the impressive results achieved on the day, Jack McKenna & Mac Kierans continued their really impressive debut year on Gravel as they finished 24th overall and take another step towards a sweep of Class 16 titles on both surfaces as well as the MIJRS J1600 crown already secured.

Bryan Jardine and Declan McKenna had an almost 19 second lead in the Historic Class 1 midways through the afternoon, helped largely by a blistering time on Stage 2, and were unfortunate to lose out on the class win on the final stage by just three seconds.

Derek Mackarel had Darran Curran on the notes in his Fiesta R5. A fifth and sixth fastest time on two of the opening stages proved that he was becoming more accustomed to the machine after making the move this year. However, their rally came to an end with just one stage to go. Killian McArdle was out with Peter McCullagh once again in the Mitsubishi Evo, however the pairing retired after the opening stage.

The Championship race now comes down to just two more events, with the action staying up north next time out with the ‘Gravel Grand Prix’ that is the Bushwhacker Rally in Omagh on September 15th and 16th , including some really exciting night stages, and then concluding with the Carrick-on-Suir Willie Loughman Forest Rally on October 8th , with entries for both events currently open.

The Irish Kart Grand Prix was held at Nutts Corner recently and Monaghan’s James Gilliland had a dominant performance to take the overall win. In the Saturday heats, he took a 1st from starting P5 and a 2nd from P10. In the middle heat he started P23 and fought up to finish 9th.

These results gave him the King of the Corner title. There was a pre-final and final to be contested on the Sunday and Gilliland took the win in both, seeing off a six time world champion in the process.

He was crowned Senior Driver of the Meeting and was also awarded the IGP plate for 2023 for his efforts.

Monaghan’s Tommy Moffett is a double-national championship title winner, and he was crowned before even turning a wheel at the Carrick-on-Suir Rallysprint at the weekend.

The MI Junior Rally Series came to an end for the J1000 drivers, with the event at Waterford Airport marking the sixth and final round of the campaign.

It was confirmed last week that Moffett could not be caught, which left him to enjoy the event without any added pressure.

However, in a fashion that has been seen elsewhere within his family, he still took a start to finish class victory and 33rd O/A with Adam Langan in the hot seat.

As part of his package for winning the J1000 series, Moffett will receive €2,500 of support and tuition from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy along with other benefits designed to help with the progression of his career.

It gets better, as after last weekend’s rally on the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally in Cork, Moffett cannot be caught in the J1000 category of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship either – making him a double champion in a single season.

Domhnall Lennon has guided Tommy through the forests this year and has also secured top spot in the J1000 co-driver standings.

Davagh Stages Rally

Magherafelt and District Motorclub held the Davagh Stages forest event in the south Sperrins. The clubman event was targeted by many as a high-speed shakedown for the Lakeland Stages in Enniskillen and by those wanting to keep the momentum going ahead of the final rounds of the Irish Forest Rally Championship. It was recent championship event winners Ryan Caldwell and Arthure Kierans who were first on the road, but it wasn’t to be a successful outing for the pair. An impact with a chicane on the opening stage put a halt to their challenge before it had time to get going. For Patrick O’Brien and Stephen O’Hanlon, they bedded into 2nd after the opening stage and pushed hard on the next test to close the gap to just two seconds. A technical failure on stage three forced them to retire from what was a promising performance. Mark Donnelly had led the first three stages but dropped to 3rd OA by the end of the fourth and final stage to give Jason Mitchell the win ahead of Jordan Hone. James McCarville and Kaine Treanor were out in a Rally2 Fiesta and took 3rd in Class and 12th OA.

Navigation Trial classes return

Monaghan Motor Club will start their Navigation Trial classes this week.

If you have an interest in Motorsport, then Navigation Trials are the best form of obtaining the correct ‘foundation’ for this sport.

The scheduled classes will cover the full range of topics including map reading, timing, car regulations for both Navigation and Endurance Trials and will also include an introduction to pace notes for stages rallies.

The classes will start on Friday 1 September at 8pm in the Sean McDermotts GAA complex in Threemilehouse.

Registration will also include club membership, maps, romer, and all necessary paperwork to complete the five week course.

All those interested should contact Conor on 0861677446 to book your place.

On a scorching hot day in the Ballyhoura mountain, it was a similar relentless heat
being put on championship contenders as Ryan Caldwell & Arthur Kierans battled an
incredibly strong field of rivals to claim back-to-back victories in this years Sligo
Pallets Forest Rally Championship as they won the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally by
just 2.2 seconds.
Returning to the Mallow Autograss complex to claim the top spot of the podium, the
battered-and-bruised Skoda Fabia R5 of Caldwell’s showed all the signs of the
intense battle raged across eight great Cork stages. By the mid-day service, the
Motorsport Ireland Academy supported youngster had a lead of just under seven
seconds, but this would be trimmed to just over two by the time the cars lined up for
the eighth and final stage.
Applying the pressure were a pair of VW Polo Gti R5s, that of Jason Mitchell &
Paddy McCrudden in second as well as Championship leader coming into the event
Mark Donnelly & Sean Ferris in third.
The standings at the start of the final stage would stay the same, as such was the
insane push made by the leading trio that they would all beat the bogey meaning
Ryan Caldwell & Arthur Kierans would take victory and gain the Championship lead
by a single point.
Derek Mackarel continued to learn his new Ford Fiesta R5. With Eamon Creedon on
the notes, he built up his pace throughout the day, getting closer to the front runners
with 8th OA his result.
Killian McArdle guided Pete McCullagh to another Class 20 victory in their Mitsubishi
Evo, and best of the rest behind the R5 and Rally2 machines.
In the 2WD, it would be another back-to-back victory as Mickey Conlon & Paul
McPhillips sprayed the victory champagne just like they had on the previous
Moonraker Forest Rally. Once more having to battle a stacked field of rivals, the MC
Blinds Escort MK2 would have 28.9 seconds to spare over the BDA-powered Ford of
Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey, while an incredible push in the Class 11F Vauxhall
Corsa would see Ruairi Maguire & Grace O’Brien claim the third spot. Dylan Eves
and Ryan Farrell had been holding 3rd 2WD up to the second last stage when fuel
issues sidelined them from the action.

The J1000 battle raged throughout the day, with seconds being swapped right from
the start although the fast and flowing Cork Forest stages would prove the undoing of
some crews as mechanical issues and off-road excursions would end the day early
for some J1000 crews.
Tommy Cronin & Derek Butler were the crew to beat as they set seven fastest stage
times and finished with an 11.3 second advantage over Jack Harris and Tommy
Moffett taking third a further 11 seconds back.
Devine takes ITRC title
Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan clinched their maiden Irish Tarmac Rally
Championship title after finishing second on a wet and wild Ulster Rally finale.
The title-winning partnership recorded their fifth top points-scoring result of the season
when they finished 47.7 seconds behind British Rally Championship visitors Adrien
Fourmaux and Alexandre Coria.
Devine entered the final round of the 2023 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship knowing a
fourth-place finish or higher would seal his first-ever Rally2 title. A series of stunning
wins on the Circuit of Ireland, Killarney Rally of the Lakes, Donegal International Rally, and
Cork 20 Rally had given him a healthy lead at the top of the standings.
Meirion Evans and Josh Moffett were still in contention, however, needing a victory on
the Ulster Rally to upset the odds.
Stormy weather made Ulster Rally’s tricky Friday stages even more testing and it wasn’t
long before it claimed the hopes of one of ITRC’s title contenders when Meirion Evans
and Jonathan Jackson were caught out on a slippery right-hander on Ulster’s second
stage.
That left defending champions Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes as Devine and O’Sullivan’s
sole title rivals.
Moffett, who has struggled to find a sweet spot aboard his new Hyundai i20 Rally2 in wet
conditions, was unable to make an impact on the waterlogged County Down stages. The
Monaghan driver finished day one in fifth position, 20 seconds behind Devine who was
second overall after winning Friday’s final test.

A perfect balance of speed and caution through Saturday’s six stages ensured Devine
kept his maiden Tarmac title in his control. He shadowed his former European Rally
Championship rival, Fourmaux, to pick up an all-important runner-up finish that secured a
hard-fought championship title.
Jonathan Greer and Niall Burns completed Ulster Rally’s top three after an intense battle
with Ulster rivals Cathan McCourt and Dean O’Sullivan.
Another driver to impress in the wet was Jason Mitchell who completed Ulster Rally’s top
five – his best ITRC result of the year. Mitchell managed to keep Robert Barrable 4.1
seconds behind with Moffett a further 2.1 seconds back in seventh.
It was a weekend to remember for the Black family as brothers Jason and Gareth
finished on the ITRC podium together for the very first time.
Jason Black and Karl Egan blitzed Ulster Rally’s wet and wild Friday night stages to finish
the opening day with a 33.1-second lead over modified rivals Marty Toner and Ben
Teggart.
Marty Toner dropped out of the running on Saturday’s Shinn Bridge opener with his
brother Damian inheriting second.
Gareth Black and Connor Dunlop top points in Class 6 and a third-place finish in Ulster’s
two-wheel-drive section.
Mickey Conlon and Domhnall Lennon were two hardy souls who competed in Ulster on
Friday and Saturday ahead of Sunday’s forestry in Cork. Their commitment was
rewarded with 1st in Class and 7th 2WD on the Newry based event.
Patrick Fitzpatrick and James McEneaney took the lead of their class after the second
stage and didn’t look back as they left a clean set of tracks behind them.
Letisha Conn continued to make progress as she built up speed in her Fiesta R2. She
battled the conditions to take sixth in her class.

Comerford and Kierans Czech out the ERC

Ronan Comerford was alongside Galway’s Aoife Raftery as she put in a massive
effort to secure the best female driver in a two-wheel drive car accolades at Barum
Rally Zlin over the weekend.
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver is contesting this year’s FIA Junior
European Rally Championship and the legendary Czech event was the fifth round.
Their rally got off to the worst possible start when they damaged a wheel on the
opening spectator special.
The considerable time loss put her very much on the back foot for the remaining two
days and 12 special stages.

The overall woman’s category was won by Italian Rachel Somaschini for the second
ERC rally in a row. She was driving a Citroen C3 Rally2 car instead of Raftery’s less-
powerful Peugeot 208 Rally 4.
It all came down to the final stage, when they went nine seconds clear of their
nearest rival in the 2WD category to take the Women’s 2WD win by 6.9 seconds.
Raftery and Comerford dug deep over the final 16km stage to go nearly nine seconds
faster than Vogel and take the win by 6.9 seconds.
After the event Comerford said, “The stages are really challenging for a co-driver,
you have to be on top of your game.”
Max McRae and Mac Kierans were also competing on the Czech event and had
worked their way up to second in the ERC Junior category when on the penultimate
stage they understeered into a ditch on a slippy hairpin and were out of the event. A
disappointing result after what was a promising event that saw them set either
quickest or second quickest ERCJ times on eight of the 11 stages they completed.

Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan’s start-to-finish victory on Sunday’s ALMC Rally means that both the main Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally  Championship title protagonists now have three wins a piece.

The sixth round of the Triton Showers-backed Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship took place near the town of Oldcastle, County Meath.

Devine and O’Sullivan added another success to their Midland Moto Rally and Sligo Stages victories earlier in the season.

Sunday’s rally was run in mixed conditions and tyre choice was almost impossible on each loop – what worked on one stage most certainly did not work on another.

Desi Henry and co-driver Shane Byrne were second for the entire rally. The Citroen C3 Rally 3 crew were a late entry for this event as they wanted mileage ahead of next weekend’s Ulster Rally.

However, they lost time on stage six, and an off-road excursion led to a damaged radiator. Their mechanics repaired the car, and they did put Devine and O’Sullivan under a lot of pressure in the latter half of the rally.

Just 2.6 second separated the two crews ahead of the final stage showdown but Devine held his nerve to take his third National win of the season.

The final margin was just two seconds after nine classic former Castle Hellfire Rally stages.

Josh Moffett, now equipped with the newer version of the Hyundai i20 Rally 2 car that his brother Sam used earlier in the year, admitted he is having trouble adjusting to his new mount – particularly on wet roads. However he was still only five seconds off the win.

“I was bad too in the wet half of the Cork ‘20’ too,” said the Monaghan driver – crucially he will take second place points as Henry was not registered. He also netted bonus points for winning the Powerstage.

“Those Powerstage points could be very crucial come the end of the season,” he said.

Kevin Gallagher and Ryan Moore won the Modified category in their Darrian T90 GTR to strengthen their hold on that category within the championship.

They enjoyed a rally-long battle with runners-up Gary Kiernan and John McCabe in their Ford Escort to finish fifth.

Richard Moffett and Ger Conway rounded out the top ten and took 3rd Modified in their Toyota Starlet. They felt that the car was too soft earlier in the day and stiffened up the suspension at the first service halt.

Moffett had just one second to spare ahead of fellow Class 14 competitors Jonathan Pringle and Pearse O’Callaghan. Johno Doogan and Paul Lennon were fifth in the class.

Gary McPhillips and Paul Sheridan had been running as high as 9th OA and 3rd in Class 14, but their run ended after Stage 8.

Paul McPhillips guided Aaron McIntyre to second in Class 13 and 16th OA.

Michael Carbin and Dean O’Sullivan took another Class 20 victory in the Mitsubishi Evo.

Justin Smyth and Gregory McQuillan were Class 12 winners while Gary Cassidy and Killian McArdle were top in 11F. Jack Maguire and Keith McConnon were fifth in 11F.

Cathal Sheridan and Peter Deery took the honours in Class 10 in their Nova.

Brian Cumiskey and Declan Campbell won Class 15 ahead of Patrick Connolly and Paul Maguire.

Martin McPhillips and Peter Farrell were just 3 seconds off 3rd in 11R.

Barry McKenna/Gary McCrudden and Gerry McGivney/Donal Crossan were in action in Class 13, as was Barry McArdle on the notes for Paul Monahan.

Jason and Daniel McConnon made the trip to Meath in their Class 2 Peugeot and Martin McPhillips was in the hotseat in Barney Greenan’s 11R Escort.

Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Championship officials extended a vote of sympathy to championship official Declan Tumulty whose wife Lisa passed away on the eve of the event after a long illness.