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The emergence of a new star in the making, a huge haul of valuable points and numerous tales of mechanical woe, it’s fair to say that last weekend’s Willie Loughman Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally had a huge host of storylines that may well prove pivotal in the tale of the 2024 MIJRS story once we reach the finale. Over six stages and 65km of action, the fortunes of our rising rally stars played out across the woodlands of the South-East.
Before the event even kicked off, much chat was about the efforts being made by Cian Caldwell & Keelan Grogan to simply make the start and compete for a haul of points in the chase for the huge prizes on offer with funding to the value of €75,000 through the Motorsport Ireland Academy. Competing in the British Rally Championship in Wales on Saturday, the pair wasted no time having cars ready to go again leaving the Rhu Glenn Hotel in Waterford barely 15 hours later.
For Grogan, the effort would ultimately be in vain as his day would end on the final stage of the event when he retired his Peugeot 20 Rally4 from a strong second position in the Class 2 battle, while for Caldwell it was a positive return to form in the similar Peugeot following a poor season start on the Killarney Forest Rally, but there will also some disappointment on losing out on second place on the final test.
Pipping Caldwell to that second place was Tommy Moffett, the 2023 J1000 champion continuing his really impressive development behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta Rally 4 he would finish the Carrick-on-Suir event 2.9 seconds clear of last year’s MIJRS winner and the result sees him move second in the 2024 standings. Mossie Costello made a strong return following an accident on the recent Mayo Stages Rally to claim a fine fourth place and a strong haul of MIJRS points.
The championship race though can be defined by the difference in fates of a pair of Fiesta’s. For Craig Rahill, he would go quickest on the openings stage, but mechanical woes saw him tumble down the standings and ultimately retire on Stage 4, while for Dylan Eves a remarkably smooth drive saw him romp home to a comfortable victory, and with it he extends his lead to eight points in the MIJRS standings after just 3 rounds, adding a Carrick Forest win to another on round two’s Mayo Stages Rally.
In Class 2A, while claiming the events ‘Drive of the Day’ for his performance on Stage 5, last weekend’s event was one to forget for Jack Harris as a loose Turbo hose in his Ford Fiesta R2T caused him to limp through the opening stage and having to re-join under super rally conditions. This left the door open for his MIJRS rivals, and Jack Kennedy pounced to claim victory, with Ciara Duggan also continuing an impressive development in her Ford Fiesta R2 to grab second place.
In the J1000 series, much will be made of the meteoric rise of Oisin McShane, the youngster claiming victory on only his second event, but the true mark of the talent was the incredible time set on the final stage to claim the win. Trailing the experienced Ross Ryan by more than 10 seconds, McShane left nothing on the table to claim victory, with Ryan resigned to second and the pair joined by Tommy Cronin on the podium, those points enough to see him lead the MIJRS standings.
The opening stage of the event would be won by David Travers, a clear indication of his pace but once more unfortunate mechanical issues would hamper any podium prospects and he would finish fourth, ahead of the ever-improving Ger Hartigan and the impressive debutantes Morgan Moore & David Slattery.
Our J1000 leader coming into the event Danny Brady would suffer mechanical woes before reaching the opening stage putting him well out of contention, but a fastest stage time in the afternoon was a clear indication of the pace he possesses, and with five rounds still to go there is a huge amount of opportunity left to remain firmly within the MIJRS title race.
For our crews in Class 2 & 2A, they renew their MIJRS battle on the tarmac lanes of the Carlow Stages Rally on May 19th, while our J1000 crews also head onto sealed surface next when they tackle the Wexford Rallysprint on June 16th.