Harris claims start-to-finish Class 2 victory at Moonraker

Jack Harris and Aaron O'Regan grabbed a start-to-finish Class 2 victory at round three of the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series (MIJRS), securing a ten-second win over Ben McFall on the Moonraker Forestry Rally.

The Ford Fiesta pilot started the day with two stage wins to build a 6.4-second lead over McFall and Damian McAuley. McFall punched in a fastest time on stage three to keep the pressure on, but Harris responded again after service to secure an important MIJRS Rally4 win.

"Delighted to come away with the win, we set our pace early on, picking up stage wins on all but one stage," Harris said. "We hope to really build on this momentum as the year goes on.”

"Big thanks to McConnell Motorsport in service and Aaron on the notes for the faultless job and to all my sponsors for their continued support.”

McFall was unable to match Harris' initial pace, dropping 1.9 seconds on stage one and 4.5 seconds on stage two. A 2.1-second stage win on stage three kept him in the hunt going into the midday service, but in the end he had to settle for the runner-up spot. Despite missing out on victory, McFall still leads the MIJRS Class 2 standings by five points over Oran England.

England found conditions tricky on the Moonraker, with differing characteristics on corners throughout the bumpy stages. A second-fastest time on stage two moved him and Darragh Mullen up two places to third, a position they held for the rest of the day, not far off the pace of Harris and McFall.

The Peugeot 208 Rally4 made set-up changes at midday service which helped but with two of three stages cancelled on the second loop, he had to settle for third.

Ross Ryan and James Deane finished fourth in their Ford Fiesta Rally4, 7.7 seconds clear of Robert Cronin and Paddy Heffernan.

Moonraker Forestry Rally MIJRS Class 2 top five:

1 Harris/O'Regan (Ford Fiesta Rally4)

2 McFall/McAuley (Ford Fiesta Rally4) +10.0

3 England/Mullen (Peugeot 208 Rally4) +15.8

4 Ryan/Deane (Ford Fiesta Rally4) +32.8

5 Cronin/Heffernan (Opel Corsa Rally4) +40.5

MIJRS Class 2 standings after round 3/8:

1 McFall - 57

2 England - 52

3 Ryan - 44

4 Cronin - 43

5 Byrne - 42

McShane edges epic Class 2A battle

Oisin McShane and Niall Myers grabbed a dramatic 0.9-second Class 2A victory after an epic battle with James McShea and Grace O'Brien on the Moonraker Forestry Rally.

McShane took an initial 4.8-second lead on stage one before McShea bounced back with the fastest time on stage two. McShane eked his advantage out to five seconds at the halfway point, setting up a tense finale.

A 4.1-second fastest time on stage five wasn't enough for McShea to snatch victory away from McShane, who held on for a thrilling win in his Peugeot 208 R2.

David Travers and Jack Kennedy looked to have thrown away a podium finish after two overshoots on stage three, but they inherited third from Ryan Caldwell on stage five when Caldwell picked up a puncture one kilometre into the test. The Ford Fiesta R2T crew sealed the podium finish by 27.6 seconds over Tommy Furlong and Patrick O’Sullivan.

The result gives Travers a five-point championship lead heading into the next round.

Moonraker Forestry Rally MIJRS Class 2A top five:

1 McShane/Myers (Peugeot 208 R2)

2 McShea/O'Brien (Peugeot 208 R2) +0.9

3 Travers/Kennedy (Ford Fiesta R2T) +1:10.1

4 Furlong/O'Sullivan (Ford Fiesta) +1:37.7

5 Dineen/Duggan (Ford Fiesta) +2:24.7

MIJRS Class 2A standings after round 3/8:

1 Travers - 53

2 Caldwell - 48

3 Furlong - 43

4 Hallinan - 42

5 McShea - 40

Ormond grabs J1000 win after dramatic finale

Daniel Ormond and Mairead Duane topped a thrilling J1000 battle on the Moonraker after James Spillane and Maurice McElligott retired from the lead on the rally's final stage.

Spillane and McElligott had led J1000 from stage three but suffered an electrical issue aboard their Seat Mii one kilometre into the deciding stage, handing victory to Ormond.

A fastest time from Ormond was enough to secure the win, 45.7 seconds clear of Dean Bonner and Patrick Durning in their Volkswagen Up.

A second-fastest time on the final stage from Conor Fogarty and Des Sherlock helped them climb three places on the deciding test to finish third. They finished 46.2 seconds clear of Darragh McEnroe and Jack Brunton, who lost over four minutes on the final stage after sliding into a ditch on a fast right-hander.

The rally had started with Matthew Wray and Joe McNulty storming into an early 4.8-second lead before dropping over four minutes on the next stage with a gearbox issue.

Stage two winners Frank Wharton and Mossy Costello moved up four places into a 1.2-second lead over Spillane before dropping out on the next stage.

Yeats Ridge winner James Wray suffered disappointment on the same stage as his brother Matthew - retiring after an off on the Moonraker's second test.

Moonraker Forestry Rally MIJRS J1000 top five:

1 Ormond/Duane (Volkswagen Up)

2 Bonner/Durning (Volkswagen Up) +45.7

3 Fogarty/Sherlock (Volkswagen Up) +5:02.6

4 McEnroe/Brunton (Volkswagen Up) +5:48.8

5 Furlong/Furlong (Peugeot 107) +7:51.3

MIJRS J1000 standings after round 5/10:

1 Gardiner - 59

2 McDermott - 51

3 Furlong - 48

4 Travers - 47

5 Kelly - 47

Future events

Round six of the MIJRS J1000 takes place at the Willie Loughman Carrick Forest Rally on 27-28 June.

Round four of the MIJRS’s Class 2 and Class 2A categories take place at the Carlow Stages Rally on 17 May.