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Its a case of ‘into the west’ this weekend as the second stop of the 2024 Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series (MIJRS) calendar sees crew head to Ballina to take on the eagerly anticipated Mayo Stages Rally, and the first battle on tarmac this year.
Contested on both loose and sealed surfaces across both the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship and the Triton Nation Rally Championship, the MIJRS is Irelands sole national Dual Surface series designed to develop the brightest young talent in Irish Rallying.
The prizes on offer to competitors in the series are remarkable, with prize packages totalling over €70,000 offered through Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy supports as well as an additional €12,000 prize fund sponsored by Race&Rally for crews competing in Classes 2 & 2A in Stellantis vehicles.
A bumper entry in Mayo comes on the back of an incredibly exciting season opener at the recent Killarney Forest Rally, with record numbers of drivers registering for the 2024 MIJRS, most notably among the J1000 field with twenty entrants. While these youngsters will not compete this weekend in Mayo, they will do battle next with the Imokilly Gravel Sprint on March 30th. The J1000 class was won in Killarney by Danny Brady, with Tommy Cronin and Cian Caldwell joining him on the podium.
One of the real stories from Killarney’s season opener was the performance of the trio of Class 2A crews who have graduated from the J1000 ranks into the newly formed, budget-friendly approach of progression within the sport by moving to R2 & R2T machines. This Sunday will see round 1 winner Jack Harris do battle once more with Ciara Duggan within the class, both in Ford Fiesta’s.
In Class 2, the battle is set to be titanic, as a strong field of stars look set to tackle the 110km route that Mayo Motorsport Club have laid on. Round 1 winner Kyle McBride is not entered, so it gives title rivals like Dylan Eves, Craig Rahill & Mossie Costello the opportunity to build on their strong season opening results and gain points in their Ford Fiesta Rally4’s.
Cian Caldwell will be aiming to put a disappointing retirement behind him as he aims to kick start his title defence in 2024, while many will be interested to see the progression of Kallum Graffin who makes his debut at this level in a Peugeot 208 Rally4 having also come through the J1000 ranks.
The Mayo Stages Rally kicks off with the first of eight special stages just after 9am on Sunday, with crews set to take on 110km of high-speed tarmac lanes around the town of Ballina. After this, focus will switch back to Gravel for the Carrick-on-Suir Willie Loughman Forest Rally on April 14th.
Full championship information and registration details can be found at www.MIJRS.ie