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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.

On a day that seemed to bring with it every sort of condition, from morning rain to afternoon sunshine that made every one of the six stages a challenge, the Junior 1000 series once more delivered a roller-coaster day on the Sean Conlon Tipperary Forest Rally with Tommy Moffett taking his first victory in the series.

The time sheets from Stage 1 definitely required a second look when Jack Kennedy & Colin O’Toole went 9.3 seconds quicker than anyone on the opening 10.1km Goatenbridge test. Another fastest time on Stage 2 had many thinking we were going to see a similar outcome to the championship opener in Killarney, but Kennedy’s event ended abruptly on Stage 3 when he left the road.

A number of other contenders would hit trouble early on but as all around them faltered, Tommy Moffett and Domhnall Lennon seized their opportunity in their Toyota Aygo.

The brother of previous forestry rally championship overall winners Sam and Josh, Tommy was 13 seconds down after the first two tests, but never looked back as he won each of the remaining four stages and romped home to a substantial 54 second victory in the hotly contested class and with it a huge championship point haul, and adding to his second placed finish on the opening round in Kerry.

Sharing the podium with Moffett were Ross Ryan and Peter Keohane in second and Tommy Cronin and Karl Egan third.

In the main field would be Mark Donnelly and Sean Ferris who would return to Cahir as victors and claim a back-to-back winning start to the 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship. Although he would finish the day atop the podium with 19.8 seconds to spare, it was not Donnelly who would lead at the end of the opening test, but instead a similar Ford Fiesta R5 of Pat O’Connell and Mark Wylie led the way by seven tenths of a second, and the pair would set identical times on the 2nd stage. When O’Connell’s challenge ended due to a mechanical issue on the very slippy Ballydrehid test, Donnelly would return to service with a 15.8 second lead.

Hot on the in-form Donnelly’s tail, today being his third victory in 2023 after the Championship opener in Killarney and the non-championship Fivemiletown rallies, would be 2022 Forest Championship runners-up Jordan Hone & Paul Hone in the sister AP-Art run Ford Fiesta. Jordan used all his experience to bring the car home in second place come the end of the day.

It would be Vivian Hamill & Andrew Grennan who would bring their VW Polo GTi R5 home in third place. The experienced pair had a real battle on their hands to hold of young-gun Ryan Caldwell who would finish fourth alongside Arthur Kierans in a Skoda Fabia R5.

Derek Mackarel and Eamonn Creedon had a start to finish victory in their Class 20 Mitsubishi Evo. They mixed it with the R5 machines to take 9th Overall.

The 2WD battle was a real ding-dong affair as the times swung in all manner of directions as reports of incidents filtered back from the stages. In the end, as the champagned sprayed and the trophies were handed out, it was the incredibly unique Lada VFTS of Shane McGirr & Liam McIntyre who would claim the victory.

Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey were within a whisker of the lead cars times as the results rolled in. In the end 10.9 seconds would separate the pair.

Sharing the Podium with the Lada and McQuaid’s Ford MK2 Escort was the Ford Fiesta Rally4 of Dylan Eves amd  Ryan Farrell who were setting blistering pace in the FWD car. The result also sees Dylan claim a strong haul of points in the dual-surface Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series, an MI Academy backed series developing future rally talent.

All eyes are now set on Ballyvourney and the re-scheduled Moonraker Forest Rally which is now scheduled for June 25th.

Mohan gains more global experience

There was Irish representation at the WRC Rally Portugal. Josh McErlean and co-driver John Rowan finished second in the WRC2 challenger category, seventh in the WRC2 overall class and 12th overall, equalling his career-best from Belgium in 2021. They were driving a Hyundai i20 N Rally2, prepared by Irish team PCRS Rallysport in what was a long and difficult event.

The second Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy car was driven by Billy Coleman Award winner, and JWRC Croatia winners Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan. The crew were given the chance to drive the car – only their third gravel event in Rally2 car – as part of the academy’s plan to share its use with several drivers over the season. The Donegal/Monaghan pairing faced a steep learning curve during this rally event, losing a load of time on the opening stage when a routine puncture change went wrong. Later in the day, they were late for the final stage following exhaust failure on a road section. 

They had to rely on SuperRally rules to get themselves to the finish after retiring Saturday with mechanical problems. Nevertheless, Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy Co-ordinator Sean McHugh said they were happy with their performance and pace over the weekend.

“We had a weekend of ups and downs,” said Kelly. “But we were here to learn and we learned a hell of a lot. It was an experience never to be forgotten.”

Kelly and Mohan’s next event is the Junior WRC counting Rally Sardegna in a few weeks’ time. After three days of gravel rallying in Portugal, Kelly said he is more than ready for whatever the Italian roads will throw at them.

Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan successfully defended their Killarney Rally of the Lakes crown to take their second Irish Tarmac win of the year by a well-managed 25.1 seconds.

The Volkswagen Polo R5 crew fought back from a puncture on the Moll’s Gap opener to grab the rally lead on stage four.

Hometown hero Rob Duggan set a blistering time through stage one to grab an early 9.8-second lead on his first R5 outing since 2018. Robert Barrable was the best of the rest in second while Meirion Evans completed the top three. Duggan extended his advantage on Healy Pass but his sensational start was to endure its first setback on the next test.

Galway International Rally winners, Meirion Evans and Jonathan Jackson, set the second-fastest time through Healy Pass but a roll on Cod’s Head put their Polo R5 out of the running. Devine and Josh Moffett were the only drivers to complete the stage before Evans’ off temporarily stopped the stage. The Derry driver flew through the bumps, jumps, twists, and turns of the epic Cod’s Head test, going 14.5 seconds faster than Moffett.

The crews who completed stage three at road speed were given Moffett’s time, putting Devine right back in the mix after his stage one puncture. Devine and Barrable battled for the remainder of the day, trading stage wins with Devine finishing day one’s eight stages with a 7.5-second overnight lead.

Devine was the fastest out of the blocks on Sunday morning’s Moll’s Gap opener. Fourth-placed Josh Moffett showed a glimpse of his usual pace on Ballaghbeama, setting the third-fastest time. The reigning Tarmac champion had extended his advantage over his brother Sam to 9.7 seconds after stage ten.

Sam Moffett’s intentions to bounce back on the succeeding Moll’s Gap test didn’t come to fruition. Instead, his rally-long brotherly battle ended when his Hyundai i20 Rally2 slid into a chicane backwards.

Devine kept his cool through two passes of Gortnagane and Knockrower East to seal another crucial victory in his Irish Tarmac title hunt. Duggan slid into a bank on Killarney’s penultimate test, solidifying Barrable’s second runner-up finish of the year.

Championship leader, Josh Moffett, cruised home in third to secure more important points.

Gary Kiernan had been battling for third in modifieds when late retirements for Kevin Eves, Jason Black and Chris Armstrong handed the Cavan driver maximum points with a 37 second gap to Eddie Doherty.

John McCarthy made it a Ford Escort Mk2 lockout on the modified podium and in turn secured Class 13’s top spot.

Johno Doogan with Paul Lennon alongside finished 3rd in Class 14 and 11th OA, while Piaras O’Ceallachain guided Brian Lavelle to 2nd in Class 13 and 13th OA. Co-driving for Eugene Meegan in the BMW 1M, Paul McPhillips came home 6th in Class 14 and Ryan Farrell guided Dylan Eves to 3rd in the very competitive RC4 category. Calum Maguire navigated Jordan Jervis to 6th in the Junior event.

Brendan Cumiskey and Martin Connolly’s weekend ended after Stage 4. Martin McPhillips and Peter Farrell were sitting 5th in Class 11R before retirement after Stage 14. Raymond Conlon, James McCarville and Shane Farrell were all competing in Class 13 but failed to finish. Arthur Kierans was in the Historic category, navigating for Trevor Wilson in a Porsche 911. However the crew failed to reach the end after a competitive start.

May Day Stages

Stephen Wright had number one on the Jennings Fuels and Lubricants May Day Stages Rally, but it was Aaron McLoughlin and Darren Curran who took the win at St Angelo.

Wright did lead after two stages but dropped well down the order on Stage 3. He did bounce back with three top five stage times to prove his ability and speed.

Martin McPhillips had a start to finish Class 2 victory, co-driving Martin Collins in a Honda Civic.

Sean Craig was co-driver for Derek Robinson in a Talbot Sunbeam and finished 65th OA.

Ryan Farrell was in action again, sitting in with Damien McGauran, however they failed to finish.

Monaghan co-driver Conor Mohan guided Donegal’s Eamonn Kelly to victory in the second round of the FIA Junior WRC, Rally Croatia.

It was an emotional event for the competing crews, as they took to the stages in memory of Craig Breen, who died during a pre-event test for the rally. Breen’s Hyundai team donned a special tricolour livery for the event, with other cars having their own tributes to the Waterford driver.

Sweden winner William Creighton was the early pace-setter in the JWRC, and finished the opening day with a slim nine second advantage. Kelly/Mohan were fifth in the ever-competitive one-make series. A string of second and third fastest stage times, as well as retirements for Creighton and other competitors meant that Kelly/Mohan climbed to third in the category after Saturday’s run of stages. They were only 30 seconds from the second step on the podium and had a comfortable buffer to the cars behind.

There were just four stages to contest on Sunday, and the drama unfolded from the beginning, long-term leader Laurent Pellier developed engine trouble in his Ford Fiesta Rally3, which saw his advantage fall rapidly before he was forced to retire on the penultimate stage. This would have promoted Belgium’s Tom Rensonnet to the lead if he hadn’t developed issues of his own and dropped a minute on the second to last stage. This left Kelly/Mohan in the lead with just one stage remaining, and a 31 second lead over Rensonnet. As they had done for the entire weekend up to that point, the pair kept their nose clean on the final stage to take a historic victory on the world stage.

Speaking at the stage end, Kelly said it was a special result after a difficult period for the Irish rallying community.

“It’s been a mad week and weekend and I just can’t believe it. It is the stuff that dreams are made of. You grow up watching all that’s going on and never thought I’d be part of something like this,” he said.

“It’s been an emotional week for everyone Irish as well so there’s no question about who you could dedicate this win to. There was a man up there in the sky shining down on us and this win is for him.”

In the JWRC points are awarded for fastest stage times, and this allowed William Creighton to extend his championship lead despite reentering the rally after his Saturday morning roll. Kelly and Mohan’s win places them sixth in the championship, just four points off second place.

The next round of the JWRC, Rally Italia Sardegna, takes place on 1 June.

In the main WRC field, Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin took the victory, with Ott Tanak second and Esapekka Lappi third in his tricolour Hyundai. Thierry Neuville took the powerstage victory after crashing out of the lead on Saturday. Evans dedicated his victory to Breen. The Irish national anthem was played and tricolours draped over the winning car in a subdued podium.

Mackarel masters Mayo

Closer to home, Derek Mackarel took victory in the Mayo Motorclub loose surface autocross on Sunday. Each competitor was allowed three timed runs and in a competitive field, his best run in his Mitsubishi Evo was over four seconds faster than his nearest rival. On the day, Derek was also presented with the trophy for winning the 2022 championship in Mayo