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“Its not every day you become a national champion!” beams Jack Harris as he stands before an excited bunch of friends, family and service crew. He’s right to be delighted, as over a challenging 82km route, he delivered a true Champions drive to claim the MIJRS Class 2A title on last weekend’s Cork Forest Rally.
Over the course of the season, the battle for the Class 2A title, as with any MIJRS class, has been remarkable exciting to witness, as the brightest young talent in Irish Rallying do battle across both Tarmac and Gravel surfaces and eight high-speed events to claim huge developmental prizes aimed at pushing them to the next level in their Rally career.
Introduced in 2024, Class 2A is the home of older R2 & R2T machinery which is more affordable to purchase and run, making it the ideal opportunity for drivers taking their first steps up the Rally Pyramid. This year, the battle between a trio of J1000 graduates was enthralling, as Jack Kennedy, Ciara Duggan and Jack Harris all claimed victories amongst highs and lows across the year.
Harris though, guided throughout by navigator Aaron O’Regan, was the standout star, and victory in Cork marked his fourth maximum points haul of the season. The plan to drive smart and aim for a win to secure the title took a blow with a broken wheel and puncture on the morning loop, but passing the stricken Fiesta of Ciara Duggan on Stage 7 the title was secure, with the cherry on top being a Class win on the event and a top-30 finish in a 104 car field.
While Harris claimed the title, the fight for second place is now red-hot with Jack Kennedy level on points with Ciara Duggan with two rounds to go with the pair both on 41 points! Kennedy finished second in the MIJRS Class 2A standings in Cork, and will continue his Tarmac learning by tackling the Ulster Rally this weekend.
While Class 2A was drama filled, Class 2 was all go aswell as the action unfolded across the eight Ballyhoura Mountains based stages. With Dylan Eves missing from the entry, Tommy Moffett aimed to take advantage and move up in the standings, but his fine start would come undone with issues on Stage 2 that would see him drop well out of contention for a strong points finish. Oran England was another casualty, showing remarkable pace on his Gravel debut his similar Ford Fiesta Rally4 would retire from 4th place on the final loop.
Mossie Costello showed ever improving pace, matching England on a number of stages, but would fall short of an MIJRS podium. 2023 Rally1 winner Jack Brennan made a return to the series with a fine drive to third having suffered a puncture at the same location as Jack Harris, but he would fall 6.7 seconds short of Cian Caldwell who made the switch back to the Ford Fiesta Rally4 which brought him MIJRS success last year.
While all else around him had issues, Craig Rahill delivered a real cool and calm drive on his way to a third straight MIJRS Class 2 victory, and with it has laid down a remarkable marker for his quest for the title. With 12.2 seconds to spare, the Cavan ace had held the lead from start to finish, making calculated pushes on early stages before bringing his Ford Fiesta home to the win.
In J1000, the title took a real swing when co-leader Danny Brady ground to a halt on the opening stage with a broken driveshaft, allowing his closest rival Oisin McShane to race home to a 20-second victory over Tommy Cronin, with David Travers in third. The win for McShane makes it a trio of victories this season, while the podium finish for Travers sees him move up to second place in the standings.
After this weekend, there is a short turnaround for the J1000 field as they head to the Carrick Sprint on August 24th, while our other classes head to the tarmac lanes of the Galway Summer Rally on September 1st.
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