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A rapid time through Stage 13, Badgers Hill, was enough for Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan to claim their fourth Irish Tarmac event win in a row on the Cork 20 International Rally. 

The Volkswagen Polo R5 crew finished the two-day event 2.7 seconds ahead of day one pacesetters Meirion Evans and Jonathan Jackson who had to settle for second despite scoring seven stage wins over the weekend. 

Devine and O’Sullivan were fastest out of the blocks on Saturday morning’s opening Caherduggan stage but subsequent fastest times from Evans and fellow ITRC title contender Josh Moffett paved the way for a three-car fight for Cork 20 honours. 

A hat-trick of stage wins on Saturday afternoon put Evans out front and the Welshman eventually finished day one with a 6.8-second overnight lead. Devine ended the day as Evans’ nearest challenger. A scary high-speed spin for Moffett cost him ten seconds on stage five. 

Devine and Evans shared stage wins on mixed-condition stages on Sunday morning but a storming run through the second pass of Badgers Hill rewarded Devine and O’Sullivan with a time 8.2 seconds faster than any of his rivals. 

It put the Derry-Kerry duo into the rally lead for the first time since Cork’s opener, holding a 4.6-second advantage over Evans. 

Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes fell away from the lead fight as they struggled for confidence in slippery conditions aboard their Hyundai i20 Rally2 and rounded out the podium. 

The result means Devine is the title favourite ahead of ITRC’s final round – the Ulster Rally, but it’s still all to play for. 

Michael Conlon and Domhnall Lennon had a strong performance, taking a convincing victory in Class 12 and 8th Overall in the modified section. 

Flying high in Finland 

Billy Coleman award winner Eamon Kelly and his co-driver Conor Mohan were in action on Rally Finland driving a Hyundai i20 Rally2 car. 

Their second WRC event in a Rally2 car came about as a result of them winning the Junior element of the British Rally Championship last season. 

Their prize drive was managed by the Red Grey World Rally team, and they finished a respectful 23rd. 

Kelly described his Rally Finland debut as a “boyhood dream come true’ and has vowed to go back there again. 

Their run to the finish was not without incident, a slow start on Saturday, attributed to a confidence-building exercise following their Rally Estonia crash in a Rally3 car was compounded by an off-road excursion on Saturday. They had brake issues for much of Sunday too. 

“I really enjoyed it. I was happy with our drive considering the experience of the guys around us. 

“It’s as positive and I know there’s so much more left and if we went back to Finland in the future, we can build on this and hopefully be a good bit faster,” said the Donegal driver. 

“We know what to expect and improve pace notes and stuff like that. 

“I definitely think the whole weekend as a whole served us served us well. It is great learning and such a challenge. It makes you learn a lot and it did that. It was just it was a fantastic experience.” 

Brendan Cumiskey and Martin Connolly were the best of the privateer entries from Ireland, claiming 35th overall and sixth in the Rally3 class in their Ford Fiesta. 

Cumiskey contested the recent Rally Estonia, finishing tenth in the class but Connolly made his World Rally Championship debut in Finland. 

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy members Josh McErlean and James Fulton continued their WRC 2 Challenger campaign in Finland. 

The Derry/Cavan pairing finished 19th overall.

A strong drive in tricky conditions gave Cathan McCourt and Brian Hoy victory on the Down Rally, with over 46 seconds in hand ahead of the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Desi Henry and Paddy Robinson. Fastest times on six stages, and second fastest on the remaining two were the result of a commanding drive for the Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew. Jason Mitchell/Paddy McCrudden took third ahead of Jonny Greer and Niall Burns. Greer had done enough in fourth to secure the Northern Ireland championship title.

Top 2WD and 13th Overall went to Richard Moffett and Martin Connolly in the Toyota Starlet. The pair took the lead on the opening stage and held that position until the end of the event. 

Emyvale’s Shane Gilhooly sat alongside Colin O’Rourke in a Skoda Fabia R5 and the pair gained speed throughout the day and the challenging weather to finish inside the top 30. 

Joseph Kelly and Ronan Comerford were 3rd in the Rally4 category. Letisha and Stephen Conn progressed through the class over the course of the rally to take 8th. 

Shane Farrell was on the notes for Shane Lavery in an Escort MKII, but their rally ended shortly after a rapid time on stage one. 

Imokilly stages 

On the Imokilly mini stages, Rob Duggan and Mikie Galvin took a start to finish victory in their Ford Escort. They finished 17 seconds ahead of Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy, with Conor Murphy and Sean Collins third. 

Killian McArdle made the trip south to Midleton for the event and was alongside Mikey Ryan in a Class 16 Honda Civic. The pair opened the day with a second fastest class time but unfortunately their rally was to end not long after that. 

WRC Rally Estonia

Rally Estonia featured 21 stages totalling a competitive distance of 300km. 

Friday  was the  longest day of the event with a total distance of 133.38km from the day’s seven stages 

Saturday’s itinerary totalled 102.61km and presented nine more stages for the crews to tackle 

Sunday marked the shortest day of the event, with just 61.08km of stage to round off the rally. 

There was heartbreak for Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan who were forced to retire their Ford Fiesta Rally3 on the rally’s final stage.

The Donegal/Monaghan crew were on the back foot since the event’s second stage. An off-road excursion cost over 30 minutes but they persevered and were running in seventh place in the Junior WRC category when they were forced out of the rally within sight of the finish line. 

The fight for the Junior World Rally Championship is set to go right to the wire and Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy William Creighton remains in the thick of the battle. 

The series will be decided at September’s EKO Acropolis Rally Greece where double points are on offer. 

Brendan Cumiskey got to the end of his maiden World Rally Championship driving a similar Fiesta Rally 3 car to the junior category contenders. 

It was the third International rally in as many weeks and in three different countries for co-driver Arthur Kierans. He arrived in Estonia direct from the United States of America where he contested the North East Forest Rally in Maine. A week prior he was alongside Rally Academy member Aoife Raftery in the Royal Rally of Scandinavia.

Not for the first time in 2023, the Irish motorsports community was
plunged into sadness on Sunday as news filtered through of a fatal
accident involving a competing crew on Stage 6 of the Sligo Stages
Rally. What was building up to be a thrilling event against the mixed
north west conditions soon became irrelevant as tributes were paid to
Gene McDonald and Dáire Maguire who tragically lost their lives.

Both were regularly seen on the stages in Co Monaghan and surrounding
events for a number of years. From ‘The Beam’ to the MKII Escort, Gene
– who was from Co Cavan and ran a successful business in
Carrickmacross – regularly had local men alongside him to call the
notes. Lisnaskea native Dáire had also competed locally and was known
the length and breadth of the country.

Monaghan Motor Club wishes to extend its condolences to the family and
friends of Gene McDonald and Dáire Maguire at this difficult time. Our
thoughts are also with all of those who were present and responded at
the scene on what was a dark day for the motorsport family.

May they both Rest in Peace.

Monaghan father and son duo Arthur and Mac Kierans went head-to-head
in a round of the FIA European Rally Championship.

The pair contested the BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia alongside
junior contestants in the third round of the Junior FIA European Rally
Championship.

Mac was Australian driver Max McRae while his father Arthur was
recruited by Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Aoife Raftery for
the two-day event that is based in Karlstad in the Värmland region of
Sweden.

Both McRae and Raftery are competing in the junior element of the
series in almost identical cars – an Opel Corsa for McRae and a PCRS
Rallysport-prepared Peugeot 208 for Raftery.

Seeded one after the other on the road, there was an extra competitive
element to the event.

Unfortunately for Raftery and Arthur it was to be a short event. An
accident on the second stage put them out of the event and a
difficulty in getting replacement parts meant they were unable to
restart.

Aoife maintained that getting the opportunity to compete and prepare
for such an event was a great learning curve and that it will stand to
her in the future.

McRae and Mac had better luck, but a challenging weekend all the same.
They were running 3rd in Class for most of the first day before
picking up a puncture and snapping the steering on Stage seven. The
damage sidelined them but they were able to get out for more miles on
the second day. Some competitive times meant it was a case of what
could have been for the pair as their performances were better than
their finishing result reflected.

Omagh brothers Patrick and Stephen O’Brien also made the trip to Sweden. Backed by McAree Engineering and celebrating a new partnership with tyre provider Hankook.
On what was their second European Rally Championship round of the year, they built their experience and progressed over the weekend to finish 15th OA.


Monaghan Motor Club’s Endurance Trial July 30

Gary Farrelly is COC of the event which is being run from Aughnamullen GAA club.

The trial is a counting round of the County Monaghan Motor Club championship.

 Entries are now open and the full regulations and entry form is available on the club website and
Facebook page.

Josh Moffett recorded his third straight win in the Triton Showers
Motorsport Ireland National Rally championship by taking by a
start-to-finish victory in the Waterford City Ford Raven’s Rock Rally.

Having swiped the keys of his brother Sam’s newer model Hyundai i20
Rally2 for the event, the Monaghan driver’s win was never in doubt.

He and his co-driver Keith Moriarty arrived back to finish ramp at the
Viking Hotel with a 42.4-second advantage over Declan Boyle and
stand-in co-driver Paddy McCrudden.

Josh was unsure if he would stay with the upgraded version of the car
for the rest of the season or if he will revert to his older model.

“A lot of people have been asking me that, but we will wait and see,” he said.

It was a special victory for Moffett on Craig Breen’s home rally.

Breen carried the number 42 on the doors of his World Rally
Championship cars and Moffett took his 42nd win by 42 seconds.

The Triton Showers National Rally Championship has now reached its
halfway point and Moffett has won three of the four rounds run so far.

Round one winners Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan are expected to
return to the championship fray for round five, the Connacht Sligo
Stages on July 16 after skipping Waterford.

Former champion Boyle has not enjoyed the best of luck in recent
times, but his mid-season switch from a Volkswagen Polo to a Citroen
C3 has paid dividends.

His second-place finish in Waterford was his first visit to a National
Rally podium since 2015.

Another surprise package on Sunday’s rally was the pace of Cal
McCarthy and Eric Calnan. They were right on the pace early on and
arrived at the first service halt in second place.

A fastest time on stage four showed his new -found pace but,
unfortunately, the Citroen C3 crew crashed out on stage five.

This promoted English visitors James Ford and Neil Shanks to the final
podium position.

Championship sponsors Paul Barrett and Kevin Reilly recorded their
best result of the season so far and despite an altercation with a
stage-six chicane, they ensured that there were three Citroen’s in the
top six.

The all-important modified battle looked like it was going the way of
local crew Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy. Regular co-driver Killian
McArdle’s absence fuelled rumours that he had negotiated a new
contract with M-Sport that would see him promoted to sit with Ott
Tanak for the remainder of the WRC season. Malcolm Wilson was
unavailable for comment.

Fresh from his win in the Laois Heartlands Rally and three days of the
Donegal International Rally action Doherty were able to keep Rob
Duggan at bay over the seven stages.

However, disaster struck on the final stage when, with just 2km to,
they picked up a puncture after a heavy landing off a jump.

The long-time category leaders dropped to tenth overall and third in the class.

Duggan and his co-driver Ger Conway were back in their usual Ford
Escort for the first time since the 2022 Donegal International Rally
and they finished seventh overall after a tight battle with their
Kerry neighbours.

Conor Murphy and Sean Collins were second in the Modified rally, in
their similar Escort.

Michael Carbin and Dean O’Sullivan had another strong finish in their
Mitsubishi Evo. A class victory and 12th overall was their reward for
the day and kept Michael’s many championship campaigns on track.

In the Junior category, Jack McKenna and Damian Doherty took their
fourth maximum point haul from four starts in the Triton Showers
National Junior Rally Championship. They finished nearly a minute
clear of the similar Honda Civic of Mikey Ryan and Eoghan Doherty.

Loughgall Stages

In the Loughgall Stages Rally in Armagh it was Aaron McLoughlin and
Darren Curran who took victory in the Fiesta R5, from Aidan Wray and
Martin Brady’s Polo R5.

Shane Farrell was the first Monaghan man home as he guided Conor
Lavery to 13th OA and second in Class 6.

Fresh from victory as a co-driver in the forests a week earlier,
Arthur Kierans was back behind the wheel in his MKII Escort. He and
Conor Maguire were fifth in the same class and only a handful of
seconds from some crystal.

Less than ten seconds further back was the welcomed return of Maurice
Moffett in action once again in the Toyota Starlet. His son Richard
had been getting the miles in the car in recent events and whether as
a reward of punishment, found himself calling the notes from the other
seat for a change. The father and son duo just missed out on a Top 20
finish. Vincent McAree/David McCrudden and Garry Jennings/Damien
Connolly both failed to finish.