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As the dust settled on an incredible day in the woods above Ballyvourney, the tale of the 2023 Moonraker Forest Rally will always be remembered for a break-out victory for youngster Ryan Caldwell on a remarkable third round of the 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship. Guided by the incredibly experienced Arthur Kierans, Caldwell would bring his Skoda Fabia R5 home with 9.1 seconds to spare.

Although the data will show six stages victories from eight, and a start-to-finish lead for the youngster, in reality the times were incredibly tight with the top of the time sheets often separated by little more than a handful of seconds. One of those who remained firmly in the hunt all day was Vivian Hamill & Andrew Grennan, who would bring their VW Polo GTi R5 to second place having traded amongst the podium places throughout the day.

The battle for the final step of the podium would eventually come down to the Ford Fiesta Rally2 of Niall McCullagh & Gordon Noble versus the Citroen C3 Rally2 of Conor McCourt & Caolan McKenna. McCourt would pull 4.3 seconds out of his rival on the final 15.6km Knocknabro stage, but it wouldn’t be enough as McCullagh would still have just 0.4 seconds to spare.

Derek Mackarel debuted his new Fiesta R5 with Eamonn Creedon on the notes. Gaining experience and knowledge of the car was the main aim for the man who made his name hunting down much more powerful cars in his Nova. They would fail to make the finish, but Mackarel showed his potential when he matched rally winner Caldwell on the times  on just his fourth stage in the car.

In the 2WD battle, it was set to be a classic showdown between long-time rivals and friends Mickey Conlon and Shane McGirr, and things played out right to form as the pair spent the day trading times across the eight Moonraker Forest Rally Stages. McGirr and Ben Taggart bent an axel in their Lada VFTS on the opening loop, but by mid-day service sat just 5.1 seconds off Conlon.

With all his experience though McGirr wasn’t able to reel in the ever-quick Conlon & Paul McPhillips, and for a second year in a row the Ford Escort Mk2 would return victorious after an incredible day of action with 4.9 seconds to spare. Third place would go to Stewart McClean & Gerard Neeson, capping a remarkable day for the pair in their Vauxhall Nova.

Mac Kierans swapped McRae for McKenna as he sat alongside Jack in his Class 16 Honda Civic for a class win.

Killian McArdle was with Pete McCullagh in his Mitsubishi Evo, but failed to finish.

The J1000 side of things was frantic from the start, with Tommy Cronin & Derek Butler racing into an early lead leaving the Derreennaling opening test with a lead of over 5 seconds to rival Tommy Moffett & Domhnall Lennon.

Moffett would respond with two fastest times to hold a slender lead after three stages, but Cronin put in a charge on the longest stage of the day and built a buffer to keep Moffett at bay in second with another strong haul of points.

‘Show and Shine’ success

Monaghan Motor Club held a static ‘Show and Shine’ car show at the weekend, which saw some wonderful machines on display.

The event was organised with the proceeds going to two local and worthwhile charities, Monaghan Crocus Cancer Support and SOSAD Monaghan.

The weather thankfully held out until the last raffle prize giveaway, with the sunshine adding to the event’s success.

All support and attendance was much appreciated, with a special word of thanks to the great organising team that was led by Fintan Larmer.

Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan secured their third Irish Tarmac Rally win on the trot, clinching a maiden Donegal International Rally victory. The Derry driver finished the 20-stage event 55.5 seconds ahead of Matt Edwards and David Moynihan who fought back from tenth after differential trouble on stage one, with Sam Moffett and Keith Moriarty third.

It was Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes who started the Donegal International Rally strongest, though. The defending winners completed Friday’s extremely bumpy stages around Donegal Town with a 4.9-second lead over Devine’s Volkswagen Polo R5.

Moffett was on fire in the June heat aboard his Hyundai i20 R5 – winning four of the six stages on Donegal’s opening day.

Garry Jennings and Sam Moffett fought for third on Friday with the latter moving ahead of his fellow Donegal Rally winner on stage four.

The heavens opened on Saturday morning to give Donegal’s 100+ crews a tyre choice headache as they left Letterkenny’s service area.

Devine was fastest on a wet Carnhill stage, beating Josh Moffett by 5.3 seconds and moving into a 0.4-second lead.

Moffett responded straight away on Saturday’s second test, a greasy Garrygort. His Hyundai i20 R5 was fastest through stage eight by 1.1 seconds, retaking the lead from Devine.

The Donegal Rally duel continued as the cars approached the famous Knockalla hairpins. Devine attacked from the Portsalon startline, putting thoughts of cold tyres, cold brakes, and wet roads to the back of his mind. His Volkswagen Polo R5 coped with the last-minute braking and rewarded Devine’s efforts with a time 7.2 seconds faster than Josh Moffett.

Devine further extended his lead over Moffett to 15 seconds over stages 10, 11, and 12. But just when it looked like he had found an ominously smooth groove, the rally was to turn back towards Moffett’s favour.

A set-up change in service left Josh Moffett feeling much happier aboard his Hyundai, especially on the drier sections. The technical tweaks did the trick as he finally broke Devine’s grip on Carnhill with Moffett finishing closest to Edwards’ breathtaking benchmark.

As Moffett found his mojo, Devine had made a mistake. An overshoot on one of Carnhill’s greasy junctions cost the rally leader several seconds and halved his advantage over Moffett.

Edwards made it a hat-trick of stage wins on Saturday’s Garrygort finale. His turn of speed through Saturday moved him from seventh to fourth, ending the day 5.1 seconds behind third-placed Sam Moffett.

Josh Moffett managed to sneak a further 2.6 seconds out of Devine’s rally lead on Garrygort to finish day two 4.7 seconds behind his Irish Tarmac Rally Championship rival.

Overnight leaders, Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan started Donegal’s final day in perfect fashion. The Circuit of Ireland and Rally of the Lakes winners set the fastest times on High Glen and Atlantic Drive to build a 17.7-second lead over Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes heading into Fanad Head.

Devine’s grasp on victory faced a different threat on Fanad Head when rain rolled into the coastal test. He hoped his pre-Fanad advantage would be enough when he approached the wet sections with caution. What he didn’t know, though, was that Josh Moffett’s Donegal International Rally defence had come to blows near the end of the 17.9-kilometre test.

Searching for every second in his chase of Devine, Moffett slid wide on a medium left-hander and his Hyundai i20 R5 clattered into a bank. The impact broke the Hyundai’s rear right wheel, putting Moffett out of the rally with three stages remaining.

Devine now held a 53.1-second lead over Sam Moffett with a single pass of High Glen, Atlantic Drive, and Fanad Head left to go.

Devine and O’Sullivan kept their composure, and maintained a high pace of driving, to win Donegal’s final stage – an impressive way to secure their first-ever Donegal International Rally win. Matt Edwards usurped Sam Moffett in High Glen’s wet conditions, secured a runner-up finish in his Polo R5.

Ryan Caldwell may have admitted to being inexperienced taking his Skoda Fabia R5 around some of the country’s most famous stages, but the wise Arthur Kierans was alongside him to pass on some of the secrets. They had a strong run as they clocked up the miles and built confidence.

Brendan Cumiskey and Daragh Mullen brought the Fiesta Rally3 to the hills and had a fault-free event, while Paul Barrett and Kevin Reilly had to avail of Rally2 to make it to the finish in their Citroen C3, showing consistency throughout the weekend.

Dylan Eves and Ryan Farrell reigned supreme in Donegal International Rally’s Rally4 category, finishing 59.2 seconds ahead of Shane Quinn and Patrick Brides.

Rally of the Lakes winner, Ioan Lloyd set Donegal’s initial pace, winning all of Friday’s six stages. Lloyd had built a 40.9-second advantage over fellow Peugeot 208 Rally4 pilot Keelan Grogan and was an incredible 28th overall over stage six.

Both Lloyd and Grogan failed to make it through Saturday’s very first stage meaning that out of nowhere, Eves and Quinn were now locked in a battle for the category win. Quinn briefly sneaked ahead by 0.1 seconds on Saturday’s penultimate stage before Eves pumped in a rapid time through Garrygort to lead overnight by 17.3 seconds.

A fastest time, 25.1 seconds faster than any of his Rally4 rivals, through High Glen 2 put Eves and Farrell in a dominant position with two tests remaining. He continued to extend his lead to eventually finish 59.2 seconds ahead of Quinn with Joseph Kelly completing the top three. Jason McConnon and Daniel McConnon were out in their Peugeot 208 R2 and a steady run saw them get more miles under their belt and a fifth in Class finish in RC4.

Kevin Gallagher and Ryan Moore brought their Darrian T90 safely home to a massive two-minute, 19-second modified victory over Damien Tourish and Domhnall McAlaney.

Gallagher was down in fifth position after Donegal’s opening Donegal Bay test. Instead, it was Kevin Eves who was setting searing pace in his Toyota Corolla. He led Richard Moffett’s Toyota Starlet by four seconds after stage two.

Modified’s top two encountered trouble as early as stage three, though. Eves lost 28.1 seconds when a mistake punctured and bent a cross member in his rear-wheel-drive Corolla. Moffett was forced to retire on the same stage with mechanical issues.

It propelled Gallagher into a lead he wouldn’t let go of for the rest of the rally. Daniel McKenna briefly held second in modifieds on Friday before he was forced to stop on day one’s final test with technical trouble.

Stage wins on all eight tests through Saturday increased Gallagher’s lead to nearly one and a half minutes over Eves who was now focusing on keeping Tourish behind.

Tourish, who hasn’t competed on a closed-road rally since last year’s edition, was pressuring Eves’ runner-up spot before Eves’ Toyota Corolla gave up the ghost with two stages to go.

David Moffett and Martin Connolly completed the modified podium after fighting back from a one-minute time-sucking spin on the rally’s second stage. Following on from their victory in Laois recently, Eddie Doherty and Killian McArdle were fourth Modified in a stacked field.

Anthony Hand and Peter Deery had held second in Class 11R for most of the event, but inherited the lead with just the final few stages left to take a well deserved win.

Bernard McGinley and Shane Farrell had been working their way up the timesheets in the same class and moved up to third with just one stage remaining, but a storming performance on the last stage of the rally promoted them a step higher on the podium to take second by just a second.

Mickey Conlon and Donal Lennon took second in Class 12, but most importantly collected a haul of championship points.

Piaras O Ceallachain guided Brian Lavelle to second in Class 13.

James McCarville was back in action in his Class 13 Escort and had been running well before needing Rally2 to get him back out on the stages, and John McQuaid and Thomas Treanor failed to make it to the end in their Class 14 Escort.

In the Junior category over Sunday’s stages, Gary Cassidy/Gary McCrudden and Ben McIntyre/Andrew Wedlock were tied for first after High Glen’s opener, 3.5 seconds ahead of Jack McKenna/Damian Doherty.

Cassidy moved ahead on Atlantic Drive, going 3.7 seconds faster than McIntyre who was now just 0.2 seconds ahead of McKenna.

A series of stage cancellations left Donegal’s final Fanad Head test as the Junior’s shoot-out for victory.

McKenna set the timesheets alight with his effort, 4.9 seconds quicker than anyone else to clinch the Junior Donegal Rally victory by one second over Cassidy.

Mohan and Mac in action in Latvia

FIA Junior World Rally Championship frontrunners Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan contested the Latvian round of the ERC. They had two very different but equally important reasons for entering the event in a locally sourced Ford Fiesta Rally3. They wanted to get some experience of high-speed gravel roads ahead of the Junior WRC counting Rally Estonia next month. Rally Liepaja will be included in next year’s Junior WRC and Kelly and Mohan had always said that this year was a learning year ahead of a more serious attack in 2024. It was a case of mission accomplished, a solid 24th overall and sixth in a class that was won by Northern Ireland’s Jon Armstong.

“ERC Latvia done, good event, really fun stages, superfast, obviously we came here to learn, first time on really, really fast gravel so happy with the progress, ok the result was not great but we can build on it. We came here to gain experience, we got it, so let’s see if we can take it to Estonia,” said the Donegal driver.

Australia-based Aghabog man Mac Kierans was on pacenote duty for Max McRae in an Opel Corsa Rally 4. They finished sixth in the Junior category. They led the category- by 0.1 of a second – after Saturday’s opening leg but a one-minute time penalty after an early check-in for a technical zone shoved them down the order. They were unable to recover the lost time and eventually finished fifth.

“It started off very well, we were straight on the pace of the junior competitors, then the final super special stage of sat evening we took the overnight lead. It was very short as I clocked in a minute early into a technical zone on Saturday evening, this gave us a one-minute penalty dropping us from first to seventh overnight,” said the Monaghan man.

“Sunday, we went on a charge to try and make back some time but unfortunately with a number of quick stage times we could only climb back up to fifth overall in the Junior ERC.” “It was good to get to the end, stages are unbelievable, cut up on second pass on Sunday but very good, good event for us overall.”

The Irish Tarmac Rally Championship is perfectly poised heading to its biggest event of the year, round five, the Donegal International Rally.

Several crews have staked a strong claim on the coveted Irish Tarmac title but last year’s champions, Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes, have consistently recorded podium finishes to once again lead the championship heading to Donegal.

Driving the same Hyundai i20 R5 that brought them success on the Donegal International Rally 12 months ago, Moffett and Hayes have only managed one victory from the ITRC’s first four rounds.

A repeat of Moffett’s dramatic Donegal win this time around would make him a strong favourite for his third Irish Tarmac title.

Managing to do the Donegal double is not going to be simple, however. Especially with 2022’s long-term rally leader, Callum Devine, coming into form at a dangerous time in the season.

Robert Barrable is a dark horse who could well spring a surprise this weekend. The Dubliner has adjusted well to his Citroen C3 Rally2 – narrowly missing out on victories in West Cork and Killarney.

Previous Donegal Rally winners, Sam Moffett, Garry Jennings, and Declan Boyle, have shown glimpses of their spine-tingling speed this year and join a host of top names capable of winning Ireland’s only three-day rally.

As always, there is a strong Monaghan contingent making the trip to the hills for the monument of Irish motorsport.

Brendan Cumiskey is entered in his Polo R5, with Paul Barrett contesting in Citroen C3 Rally2. Arthur Kierans is back alongside Ryan Caldwell in their Skoda Fabia R5.

If there is ever a rally where modifieds come to the fore, it has to be Donegal. The two-wheel-drive competition always goes up a level at the Donegal International Rally.

Fresh from victory at the Laois Heartlands Rally, Eddie Doherty and Killian McArdle have performed incredibly well in his Ford Escort MKII. Their string of top finishes puts them in a threatening position to clinch this year’s modified title. They are seeded just behind Daniel McKenna and Andrew Grennan.

Moffett brothers Richard and David are rarely far from the pace and will also be contesting for victory in their Toyota Starlets. Darragh Kelly and Martin Connolly are the respective co-drivers. John McQuaid and Thomas Treanor will be another local crew fighting it out in Class 14. Kiane Treanor and Piaras O’Ceallachain will also be on the notes in the fastest modified section.

James McCarville is entered in a Class 13 Escort, Micky Conlon and Domhnall Lennon are in Class 12 and Anthony Hand and Peter Deery will be fighting in Class 11F.

The Rally4 category has been one of the best classes in the 2023 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. With seven or eight potential winners on each Irish Tarmac event, it is no wonder that there have been four different victors so far this year. It will be the home event for Dylan Eves, who has Ryan Farrell on the notes once again. The crew will be hoping to build on their consistent run of form so far this year.

Jason and Daniel McConnon will go to Donegal in their Peugeot 208 R2.

18 Junior crews are set to take on the Donegal International Rally this year. Junior BRC frontrunner Kyle McBride is seeded at the front ahead of Gary Cassidy and Gary McCrudden.

Jack McKenna has been the man to beat in Class 16 at a number of rallies this year and he is seeded number four.

With a number of drivers all in the junior championship mix and ready for a Donegal challenge – it should be an interesting battle over Sunday’s famous stages.

Killian McArdle stood on the top step of the podium in Laois, as he and driver Eddie Doherty took the win at the Laois Heartlands mini-stages. The pair left the event’s Portlaoise HQ seeded second on the road and opened the day with a third fastest time behind Chris O’Callaghan and Barry Meade’s similar MKII Escorts. A fastest time on the second stage and a retirement for O’Callaghan put them within two seconds of the lead. Barry Meade would retire from the lead after an awkward one-wheel landing over a big jump, and Doherty/McArdle capitalised with another fastest time to inherit a 4.3 second lead over Declan Gallagher’s Starlet.

Two more fastest times on stages four and five had the crew entering the final stage with a seven second buffer to Gallagher. The Milkman responded with a last-stage effort but it wasn’t enough as he’d finish 3.3 seconds behind.

The two crews were in a league of their own, with Frank Kelly finishing third overall, over 48 seconds further back. Alan Smyth had Monaghan’s Gary McCrudden on their notes in his Class 14 Escort. They finished fourth overall on what was a very hot day of rallying. Michael Carbin and Dean O’Sullivan were one place further back and first Class 20 in their Mitsubishi Evo.

Ashling McArdle guided Des Lyons to second in Class 11F and 25th OA. Thomas Treanor was on the notes for Graham Kelly and the Escort G4 crew finished just ahead of James McCarville and Conal McNulty.

Mohan maintains JWRC momentum in Italy

Conor Mohan and Billy Coleman Award winner Eamonn Kelly contested the Junior element of Rally Italia Sardegna. They endured a tough and demanding rally on their way to sixth in the category. The Sardinia-based rally was one of the most difficult of the season so far, changeable weather conditions and extremely rough roads made it one of the most demanding rallies of the season so far. The Donegal driver, the class winner in Croatia in May, was almost lost for words after he was asked to describe the conditions he faced during the rally.

“Glad to get to the end, it’s been a tough event, it is very hard to describe how crazy it is, but I enjoyed every bit of it,” he said. “It’s crazy, it was a savage challenge and I never done anything like that before.”

Kelly is sixth in the championship standings after Italy, the third of five rounds. Mohan is fifth in the co-driver classification. Next up is Estonia in July but with double points on offer in the final round in Greece, the series remains wide open.

William Creighton and Liam Regan took the win in the category to extend their championship lead, with the result meaning that a Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver has won every Junior round so far this year.

There was a grandstand finish to the Hotel Kilmore Cavan Stages Rally – a counting round of the Motorsport Ireland Triton Showers National Rally Championship and the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship.

Eventual winners Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty entered the final stage near Drung 0.3 of a second in arrears to Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan.

The Hyundai i20 crew dug deep over the challenging test, their task not helped by the melting tar caused by the day’s high temperatures, to turn the deficit into a 1.8-second victory.

“It was all or nothing, we took a lot of chances out there this evening,” saidMoffett at the finish ramp at the Hotel Kilmore.

“It was a bit dusty out there this morning and in the end, the tar was slightly melting which made for a challenging day, but we are delighted. There is still a lot to play for in the championship, we needed a victory, it was important.”

It was their second win of the 2023 Triton campaign after coming out on top on the Circuit of Kerry in April too.

Earlier in the day Moffett survived a hair-raising spin on stage five and overcame a mysterious engine management fault that resulted in the car’s engine cutting out.

Round one winners Devine and O’Sullivan were credited with a poor time on stage one, attributed to a malfunction within the event’s timing system and this threw their concentration in the early part of the rally.

When the time was eventually corrected, just ahead of stage seven the Volkswagen Polo crew found themselves in the rally lead in the thick of a battle for overall honours.

Third seeds Desi Henry and Paddy Robinson made their maiden championship appearance of the year and finished where they started in third.

“We had a few altercations with Cavan ditches, they jumped out in front of us,” said Henry.

His Citroen C3 Rally2 also developed an engine management system similar to the one Moffett experienced.

“We overshot a junction, stalled and then the engine management system went into reboot mode for some reason,” he added.

Cathan McCourt and Barry McNulty were fourth in their first outing in a new Ford Fiesta. He admitted that he took the early part of the rally to get acquainted with his new mount.

Stephen Wright and Ger Conway were fifth in Class in their Fiesta R5

Just like the main rally, the modified category was decided on the last stage. Kevin Eves and Chris Melly entered the final stage some five seconds behind long-time rally leaders Daniel McKenna and Andrew Greenan.

The Toyota Corolla driver threw caution to the wind to take the category victory by just 0.1 of a second over his Ford Escort rival. Dessie Keenan and Jason McKenna rounded out the top ten in their Ford Escort. The Monaghan crew have not rallied since the Midland Moto Stages Rally in March and admitted it took until the latter part of the rally to get up to the same speed as their busier rivals.

The event was, as always, well supported by Monaghan crews who took to the roads just a short hop across the country boundary.

Niall Maguire and Conor Foley took the Subaru Impreza S12 to 13th overall, while Michael Carbin and Dean O’Sullivan were 20th O/A and 1st in Class in their Mitsubishi. Just behind Carbin was Brendan Cumiskey and Martin Connolly, who were first in Class 4 in the Ford Fiesta Rally3.

Dylan Eves and Ryan Farrell were the Drive of the Day winners in their Ford Fiesta, and took 3rd in the very competitive RC4 class. Like many other battles during the day, there was nothing in it by the end and they were just three seconds off the top spot.

In Class 3, Jason and Daniel McConnon were on for a strong result until steering issues on the final loop demoted them to 4th in Class.

Paul Barrett/Kevin Reilly (Citroen C3 Rally2) and Shane Maguire/Paul Maguire (Ford Fiesta R5) were trading times in Class 5 throughout the rally and getting quicker all afternoon, until issues on the last stage dropped Maguire back down the field.

In Class 9, Patrick Fitzpatrick and James McEneaney had a strong event to take a convincing class win.

Cathal Sheridan and Peter Deery had been leaded Class 10 in the red Nova before retirement.

Gary Cassidy and Killian McArdle had to settle for second in Class 11F in their Honda Civic. Ashling McArdle was calling notes for Des Lyons and took fourth. Jack Maguire/Keith McConnon would finish sixth in the same class.

In Class 11R, Martin McPhillips and Peter Farrell were 3rd in their Corolla Twin Cam, while Martin McPhillips (Newbliss) guided Barney Greenan to 5th in class. It was a story of what could have been for Anthony Hand and David McCrudden who were second in class after the opening stage but forced to re-enter under Rally2 and bounced back with quick times.

Justin Smyth and Gregory McQuillan took Class 12 ahead of James Cassidy and Domhnall Lennon.

In Class 13, Raymond Conlon and Gavin Doherty were 3rd, Trevor Burke was on the notes for Mervyn Deane and finished 5th and Declan Tynan was alongside Gene McDonald to finish 9th in class. Monaghan co-drivers Piaras O’Ceallachain and Paul McPhillips were early contenders in the class, but both respective crews retired before the end of the day. James McCarville’s rally only lasted the length of the first stage. Gerard McGivney and Donal Crossan were also early retirees from the event.

McKenna and Keenan made sure the county was represented on the Class 14 podium, and David Moffett and Eric Calnan were just behind the leading bunch before the Starlet jammed into 1st gear on the last stage and they were forced to drive through at a more relaxed pace. Johno Doogan and Paul Lennon recovered from early troubles to prove their speed on the stage times. Richard Moffett and Darragh Kelly rolled out of the modified lead near the end of Stage 3. Gary McPhillips and Paul Sheridan were another local crew to show early speed, but failed to make the finish.

Monaghan’s Jack McKenna and Damien Doherty won the Junior Rally in a dominant fashion, this was the Honda Civic crew’s third maximum score from as many starts this season.

In Class 15, Brian Comiskey and Declan Campbell led the way ahead of Patrick Connolly and John McCarville.

Round 4 of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship will take place in Waterford on the 2nd of July for the Ravens Rock Stages Rally.

Kierans crews in the UK

Max McRae and Mac Kierans had a short lived Jim Clark Rally when the driveshaft in their Opel Corsa Rally4 gave in on the first stage and caused damage that put them out for the weekend. Mac’s father Arthur had some better luck, making it the full distance of the rally alongside Alan Carmichael to take sixth in the BRC1 class.