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After seven wonderful events across both the Gravel lanes of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship and the twisting tarmac roads of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship, the fate of the 2024 MIJRS is set to play out to a conclusion this weekend with the season ending Clare Forest Rally, the eight and final round of the 2024 series.
The sole national dual-surface competition, the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series (MIJRS) is designed to develop future stars of the sport, with competitors ranging from 14-24 years of age competing across its classes, with prize funding to the tune of over €70,000 on offer through the Motorsport Ireland Academy as well as a further €15,000 prize fund sponsored by Race & Rally on offer.
With incredible rewards on offer, this year has seen the largest number of drivers competing in the history of the MIJRS, with forty competitors making an appearance across the seven rounds to date, with eleven of these drivers claiming a class victory such has been the tightness of the competition.
Introduced in 2024 as a way to encourage drivers to explore a more affordable route into Homologated machinery, Class 2A became a three-way fight right from the off amongst a trio of exciting J-1000 graduates in Ford Fiesta R2 & R2T’s. Ciara Duggan would have her finest hour to date claiming the class win on the Carlow Stages Rally, but victory on the Galway Summer Rally, the final Tarmac event of the year, saw Jack Kennedy pip Ciara to claim second place in Class 2A.
While Duggan & Kennedy had been nip and tuck all year, the true star of the Class 2A battle was Jack Harris, the Donegal youngster wrapped up the title with a dominant victory last time out on Gravel in Cork, with it claiming a fourth victory of the season, support up to the value of €10,000 as part of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy the following year and a nomination for the Billy Coleman Award shortlist!
A similar prize is up for grabs in Class 2, and headed to Clare to fight for victory is now a two horse race. Capitalizing on the absence of his rivals in Galway, 2023’s J1000 champion Tommy Moffett has put himself right into the mix, with the destination of the crown now firmly between the Ford Fiesta Rally4 pairing of himself and Craig Rahill.
With a four-point advantage on calculated scores, the series counted on the three best Gravel scores and three best Tarmac scores, its all in Rahill’s hands in Clare, where he know a strong finish will guarantee him the title. While first and second in the standings are destined to be between Rahill and Moffett, there is also a real battle on for third position and the last of the prize packages.
Dylan Eves had a strong start to the season scoring strongly including wins in Mayo & Carrick-on-Suir, but his season has faltered since and this has opened the door for Mossie Costello to potentially grab a dramatic final day prize, but anything less than a MIJRS class victory may see him fall short.
The busies class of all without doubt this year has been in J1000. Competing over a different calendar to the rest of the MIJRS field, their MIJRS battle closes on October 19th with the Laois Gravel Rallysprint. Open to drivers between 14-17 years of age, this year saw the field tackle all four rounds of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship, a pair of Gravel Rallysprints which included Imokilly and the aforementioned Laois, and a duo of tarmac Rallysprints in Wexford & Carrick-on-Suir.
With two rounds to go, there are now four drivers still in with a shot of taking the title, but plenty more can still grab the massively rewarding podium spots. Of those in the title race, David Travers & Tommy Cronin may not have tasted victory so far this year, but their experience and strong scoring throughout sees them firmly in contention as we head towards the seasons end.
For Danny Brady, the highs of victories in Killarney & Wexford will be mixed with the disappointment of retirements elsewhere, but to be in with a shot of the title even after a rollercoaster season is testament to the raw speed, but even then all of our contenders need both two remarkable results and a whole heap of luck to disrupt the remarkable story that could be Oisin McShane securing the title on his debut season!
Right from the off, the Derry youngster has shown massive pace on both surfaces this season and a drive that saw five stage victories on his first ever rally was a marker of what lay in store. Victories in Carrick-on-Suir and Cork Forest Rallys and the Imokilly Rallysprint have seen McShane open up a seven-point advantage over his nearest rivals, and he knows a strong finish in Clare could see him secure the title and close off an incredible first season in the sport.
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