Thrilling MIJRS Finale in Donegal

After an incredible season of thrilling action right across every corner of the island and remarkable battles and performances, the destination of the hugely coveted podium prizes in the 2025 Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series (MIJRS) are set to be played out this weekend on the highly anticipated season ending Donegal Forest Rally.

Contested across select rounds of both the Irish National Rally Championship and the Irish Forest Rally Championship, the dual-surface MIJRS is a series designed to progress the skills of our brightest young rally talents, and the prize packages on offer match the commitment of the series and its supporters.

Once more this year, the winners in both Class 2 and Class 2A of the MIJRS will receive a coveted Billy Coleman award shortlist nomination, while with the support of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy there are prize packages on offer right across the podium finishers in both of these classes, as well as J1000, to a value of €50,000!

Heading to the last round of the season, here is how things look in the class battles;

Class 2A

It’s a simple scenario for Jack Kennedy & Ross Ryan, if either come out on top they claim the title. The incredible battle to the end of the season is as a result of a stellar season for the pair of incredible young stars who have shared the win on all seven rounds so far this year.

Heading to Donegal, Jack Kennedy holds an advantage in the points, but he is yet to count his Gravel drop score. The most experienced driver in Class 2A have competed in last years series, Kennedy began the year with wins on the opening brace of Tarmac rounds in his Ford Fiesta R2, the Midland Stages Rally and Circuit of Kerry, as well as adding a max score with victory on the Cork Forest Rally.

Ross Ryan made the jump up from J1000 in 2025 and took very little time getting up to speed in his Ford Fiesta R2T, notching the first of his four wins on the Tipperary Forest Rally, before repeating the trick three more times with wins on the Mayo Forest Rally, Ravens Rock and Fastnet Stages.

Also in the hunt for a podium finish on his debut season in a Class 2A car is Tommy Furlong, currently tied with Ryan on points he is guaranteed to finish at least third, but should Ryan not finish he could grab second on what has been a really impressive debut year for the Wexford youngster.

J1000

Another battle is set to go down to the wire is the race for the 2025 MIJRS J1000 title, the first step on the ladder to a future in the sport the class now attracts well over 20 entrants on each event with youngsters from 14-18 competing on a range of Rally and Sprint events across the season.

In pole position heading to the final round is James McShea who has shone remarkably on his debut season, taking wins in Mondello Park way back in December, before adding a brace of wins in Tipperary and Mayo. With a strong points haul, McShea knows that finishing 4th or better will secure the title, no matter what his rivals do in Donegal.

Keeping McShea sweating right to the end is Kyle Drury, he arrives to the final event of the season off the back of a win last time out in Cork and a remarkable season that has seen him finish no lower than third on any round he has competed on.

Behind Drury & McShea, David Travers and Jack McDermott are also in the running to still claim a podium finish in the standings, with Travers in particular still in with an outside chance to take the outright Championship having seen his chase boosted early in the season with wins in Carlow and on the Moonraker Forest Rally.

Class 2

With Cian Caldwell securing the Class 2 title on the recent Fastnet Stages and with it claiming the first Billy Coleman Award shortlist spot in the process, the battle in Class 2 is to secure second and third places, and the prize packages on offer as a result through the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy.

Jack Byrne arrives in Donegal holding a slender advantage in the standings after securing a breakthrough first victory in Bantry, and the circuit star turned rally ace is hopeful that his consistent approach could see him finish the year in the MIJRS prize positions as he continues his development in the sport, and especially on Loose Surface events like Donegal Forest Rally.

Oran England will rue a costly retirement on the Fastnet when he reflects on his year in the MIJRS, he will be looking to get back on the pace quickly in his newly acquired Peugeot 208 Rally4, but the best he can hope to achieve is now third in the standings which is nothing at all to be sniffed in what is also a debut Rally season for another former circuit racing star.

Ben McFall arrives to Donegal with one task in mind and that is to secure second in the standings, a costly retirement in Tipperary at the start of the season can be long forgotten with a strong points finish and the former NI Junior Rally Champion will be aiming to impress once more having taken the MIJRS win on the Cork Forest Rally this year in his Ford Fiesta Rally4.

In a similar machine this weekend is local man and last years Class 2A winner Jack Harris, and like McFall a costly mistake in Tipperary can become a drop score with a strong result on his home event. With a huge swing still possible in the points following the final round, it is mathematically possible for Harris to jump from fifth in the standings right up to second, but there is a huge amount of drama still in store.

Round 8: Donegal Forest Rally

The season ending Donegal Forest Rally will see crews take on six high speed gravel stages with a route totalling just shy of 69km of special stage action. With the Donegal Motor Club event returning for the first time since 2019, none of the MIJRS crews across the various classes would have been old enough to compete on the event all those years ago, so it’s a massively level opportunity for all twenty-six registered MIJRS drivers competing this weekend. The action kicks off Saturday morning with Stage 1 live at 09:17 with the J1000 crews first on the road.