2009 National Junior Rally Championship

Review: Opening Half of the 2009 Season

Posted: August 12, 2009 1:16 PM

The 2009 season started with a blanket of snow for the opening round in Mitchelstown and it was Kilkenny driver Craig Breen that grabbed an early lead in the championship. Breen didn’t have things all his own way as he was pushed firstly by Limerick man John Byrnes and also by Co. Monaghan driver Vincent McAree. Breen then backed up his success by taking top honors on round two on his home event in Carrick on Suir. For round three the championship moved the Lismore, Co Waterford for the Moonraker Forestry rally organised by the Munster Motor Club. This time out it was the turn of Vincent McAree to take victory and move into second place in the championship. Vincent’s win came with some controversy at the finish as he was first accredited in fifth position because of his time on stage 5 when he stopped at fellow Junior competitor Kevin Gallagher crash but when the times were adjusted it was the man from Clontee that claimed top points. Round four the Cavan Stages signified a change in surface from the gravel of the forestry events to tarmac for the next five rallies and also signified restructuring and revisions to the championship regulations. NJRC coordinator Motorsport Ireland noticed a major fall off in competitor registrations from 2008. The downturn in the economic climate was the biggest deterrent; budgets for prospective competitors entering the series were not as readily available as other years. The major changes in the regulations at this time were, the season now consists of fourteen events and the best performance from any five events will count towards the Championship. A minimum of four events must be completed in order to qualify for an award. Further amendments included:

• Class E (Super 1600 and 1600cc Kit Car Variants as defined by FIA Appendix J) has now been dropped

• Section 8 of the Regulations (RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF CARS) Restrictions of the use of ONE Chassis have now been lifted.

The needs for this action are were two fold, firstly the NJRC was formed to hone and encourage the skills of young talent and secondly the NJRC is the only route to the qualification process for the Billy Coleman Award and every effort needs to be made to attract as many suitable candidates as possible.

Back on the stages the tarmac events started in Cavan Town with the Headquarters in Kilmore Hotel. Clerk of the Course Marty Sherlock had organised a very testing event with a nine-stage layout. A knock on effect of adding the extra events to the calendar was that it gave drivers more options as to the events they would choose to take part in and this became very apparent as only two of the registered drivers made the trip to Cavan. In class six from Monaghan was Vincent McAree and from Galway entering class eleven in his Honda Civic we had Jonathan Cunningham. Over the opening loop stages McAree, reported that his car felt very soft and he couldn’t commit 100% to cornering or on the bumpy sections. In service Vincent had his mechanics stiffen the suspension which allowed him to push a lot harder on stage four but on stage five broke the diff on a hard landing over a crest ending his rally. Cunningham also suffered bad luck. On the opening stage he picked up a double puncture losing over seven minutes and from this point was just fighting for pride. He did manage to set four fastest stage times in the hotly contested class and came away from the event with six points.

Only seven days after the Cavan event the championship moved to the picturesque village of Adare, Co. Limerick for the Circuit of Munster Junior Rally. Round five had a far more competitive feel with four registered drivers taking part and the event also welcomed two more competitors to the championship. Jonathan Cunningham started out favourite, John Byrnes was next in the seedlings, with fellow Limerick man John O’Connor coming in at number three. Chris Malloy entered in the Peugeot 206 and standing on eight points in the championship had to pull his entry on Saturday night with engine problems with the 206. Lining out the first time in the championship we had Kevin O’Connor (Younger brother Of John) driving a RWD Peugeot 205 and from Co. Kerry Brendan O’ Mahoney. Brilliant summer sunshine and high temperatures greeted the drivers with the stages based around Castletown West. It was a total transformation of fortune for Jonathan Cunningham as the Claregalway man punched in fastest time on the opening stage, took a start to finish win and take over the lead in the Junior Championship. Kevin O’ Connor in the RWD Peugeot 205 made a fine introduction to the championship on his home event and took third overall and six points to open his account. Our other new driver to register was Brendan O’Mahoney from Killarney, Co. Kerry driving a Peugeot 205 gti and was very pleased to gain six points from his first outing in the championship in a car that’s a lot more underpowered than the machinery around it. John Byrnes out for the first time in the MDR Motorsport Citroen C2R2 suffered from a lack confidence in his brakes and felt an unbalance in the bias but still managed to finish fourth overall. On his home rally the circuit of Munster turned out to be an event to forget for John O’ Connor. John used the junior event in Carlow a few weeks earlier as preparation and came away with a victory but the Newcastle stages and sticky tar from the high temperatures caused him to over shoot on the opening stage and he was off the road in a drain on the next test. Over the second loop, John suffered gearbox problems and lost fifth gear but still managed to bring the car home and picked up some points and adds to his total.

Round six was scheduled in the midlands for the Mullingar based Northeast Restricted Mini Stages but the event had to be cancelled so the championship then returned to Carrick on Suir for the second time this season. The Ravens Rock Junior Rally was staged on the last weekend in June and turned out to be a Limerick affair. In the week preceding the Carrick on Suir based event the junior rally had attracted five registered drivers from the NJRC but just before the weekend Chris Malloy from Clonmel decided to enter the main field and Brendan O’ Mahoney from Killarney, Co. Kerry had to withdraw his entry. We were then left with three drivers from Limerick, John and Kevin O’ Connor from Askeaton and John Byrnes from Cappamore to fight for success in south Tipperary. Conditions deteriorated as the day progressed and by the time the junior competitors joined the action the stages were wet and very greasy. The O’Connor brothers were fastest out of the blocks with older of the two (John) in the G3 Escort recording a time of 6.15 and Kevin driving the RWD 205 going two seconds quicker. John Byrnes took the third best time of the seven strong junior field and was fourteen second down. The cars returned to service next and the famous Slievenamon stage was up next, during his recce on Saturday John O’ Connor couldn’t find a right feel for the stage, John commented after the rally that “The first part of the stage was fast and flowing but after the halfway point the stage got very narrow, plus our recce was carried out in dry conditions”. John went on to say that “the second half of the stage had sections of the road surface made from a mass concrete base and I wasn’t able to trust the grip on these sections”, this reflected in his stage time as he dropped forty five seconds to his brother. The next stage “the Gap” effectively ended John’s quest for glory. He described it as his “Biggest Nearly Off” “I was in third gear powering out of a fast corner when I lost the rear of the car on the greasy tarmac and got dragged into the grass verge. I must have clipped a rock as I suffered a punctured. I knew I would lose too much time by stopping so I took the lesser of two evils and drove to the end”. By now John had dropped over three minutes in that stage and four minutes nineteen sec in total to his younger brother. John Byrnes had a much better experience through Slievenamon. He was able to find a rhythm early in the stage and recorded a time of 10.11. Over the Gap stage John reported a clean run and was very happy with his pacenotes. With a much improved car setup from his outing in Limerick and with some more refinements and testing before the Carrick rally John was now showing his ability. He went on to set fastest time on the last stage and finished second overall. The day belonged to 19-year-old Kevin O’Connor. The young Limerick man gave a fine demonstration of controlled driving leading the junior class from start to finish. Kevin did have luck on his side, on the opening stage he slide wide on an acute junction cracking the rear right wheel and picked up a slow puncture, but the tyre did not deflate and he was able to make it to the end of the stage. The Slievenamon stage defiantly proved that it was to be Kevin O’ Connors day, he again sustained a damaged wheel after a hard impact with a ditch but this time was lucky enough to not pick up a puncture and went on to set his second fastest time of the day. Over the Gap test and Ballyneill the last stage Kevin didn’t take any risks and went on to take his maiden victory. The only negative aspect to the results was that as there were only three drivers taking part and all in different classes they each only extend their championship points total by six.

Last time out
The championship reached the halfway point at the ALMC Stages Rally on the nineteenth of July. The eagerly awaited event was based in the City North Hotel, Co. Meath and attracted a top line up of NJRC competitors. Kevin O’Connor the victor on round six in Carrick on Suir was full of confidence and was now hoping to make it two wins in a row. Second on the Ravens Rock John Byrnes was happy with his progress in the MDR Motorsport backed Citroen C2R2 and was now ready to push for the top spot. The championship welcomed back Co. Donegal man Kevin Gallagher. Kevin was making his first appearance of the year on tarmac and hadn’t been involved since his crash on the Moonraker forestry. Championship leader Jonathan Cunningham was back in the fray after not competing in Carrick and wanted to hold on to his lead at the top of the table. The championship also welcomed back Co. Waterford’s Craig Breen, who was absent since the forestry rounds earlier in the season. Breen opened his account with two wins, had twenty points in the bank and now came to Co. Meath with M-Sport’s new Fiesta the R2. Kevin Gallagher was the fastest out of the blocks and set the pace with a time of 8.28. Non championship driver Martin Mc Cormack was in second place, one second down with the Honda Civic of Jonathan Cunningham in third nineteen seconds away with the engine suffering from a misfire. Breen was in fourth twenty one seconds off the time of Gallagher blaming an electrical gremlin causing a loss of power. John Byrnes was in fifth with a time of nine minutes and was happy with his setup but stated that it was hard to commit fully as the stage was very slippery in places. Kevin O’Connor was the first to fall by the wayside as he only got four kilometres into the first stage when the right front wheel sheared off the car and his rally was over. Mc Cormack moved into the lead on stage six with Gallagher slotting into second and Breen moving up one place to third but still complaining of those electrical problems and the slippery conditions. John Byrnes dropped to sixth with a time of 11.59 after breaking a drive shaft near the end of the stage. Cunningham was to suffer the worse luck as he first had an overshoot and then hit a bail and got stuck in the stage, after losing a lot of time he did manage to get back to service but by now was 23 minutes down.

The second loop was to take in the only run over the Kentstown stage for the junior competitors. Kevin Gallagher’s good fortune was to run out here as he crashed out at a T junction. Kevin stated afterwards that he just braked too late and pulled a wheel off the car. Craig Breen was happy with the new R2 over this stage, as he got his earlier problems sorted in service and set fastest time with 7.45 and moved into second place. John Byrnes climbed to fourth after getting his driveshaft replaced in service. Championship leader Cunningham was still running be it down in ninth but knew if he could make it to the finish he would pickup valuable points. Stage eight was cancelled so all remained was the last test of Bellewstown Hill. Byrnes was the only driver to move on the leader board as he now claimed third from Alan Bardon in the Honda Civic. Breen finished in second place and took eight points in class D and Jonathan Cunningham rescued a total of eight points by finishing in class G. At the finish Breen was very happy with his first result in the Fiesta R2 stating “there’s a lot more to come from the car. It’s a big step forward from my ST model. The longer wheel base makes it more stable, there’s way more top end power and is delivered better through the gears, the sequential gearbox makes gear changes a lot faster. It’s just a great package and can only get better”. John Byrnes was also happy with his day’s rallying and feels himself and the car is heading in the right direction. Jonathan Cunningham finished in ninth place but was the happiest by virtue of making the last time control he picked up eight points and still has top stop in the championship standings. “I didn’t have a great run today, a misfire on the opening stage, an off on stage six and a new co. driver for the rally made it very eventful but getting to the finish is the most important thing.” Jonathan stated at the finish.

Review: Opening Half of the 2009 Season

Posted: August 12, 2009 1:16 PM

The 2009 season started with a blanket of snow for the opening round in Mitchelstown and it was Kilkenny driver Craig Breen that grabbed an early lead in the championship. Breen didn’t have things all his own way as he was pushed firstly by Limerick man John Byrnes and also by Co. Monaghan driver Vincent McAree. Breen then backed up his success by taking top honors on round two on his home event in Carrick on Suir. For round three the championship moved the Lismore, Co Waterford for the Moonraker Forestry rally organised by the Munster Motor Club. This time out it was the turn of Vincent McAree to take victory and move into second place in the championship. Vincent’s win came with some controversy at the finish as he was first accredited in fifth position because of his time on stage 5 when he stopped at fellow Junior competitor Kevin Gallagher crash but when the times were adjusted it was the man from Clontee that claimed top points. Round four the Cavan Stages signified a change in surface from the gravel of the forestry events to tarmac for the next five rallies and also signified restructuring and revisions to the championship regulations. NJRC coordinator Motorsport Ireland noticed a major fall off in competitor registrations from 2008. The downturn in the economic climate was the biggest deterrent; budgets for prospective competitors entering the series were not as readily available as other years. The major changes in the regulations at this time were, the season now consists of fourteen events and the best performance from any five events will count towards the Championship. A minimum of four events must be completed in order to qualify for an award. Further amendments included:

• Class E (Super 1600 and 1600cc Kit Car Variants as defined by FIA Appendix J) has now been dropped

• Section 8 of the Regulations (RESTRICTIONS ON THE USE OF CARS) Restrictions of the use of ONE Chassis have now been lifted.

The needs for this action are were two fold, firstly the NJRC was formed to hone and encourage the skills of young talent and secondly the NJRC is the only route to the qualification process for the Billy Coleman Award and every effort needs to be made to attract as many suitable candidates as possible.

Back on the stages the tarmac events started in Cavan Town with the Headquarters in Kilmore Hotel. Clerk of the Course Marty Sherlock had organised a very testing event with a nine-stage layout. A knock on effect of adding the extra events to the calendar was that it gave drivers more options as to the events they would choose to take part in and this became very apparent as only two of the registered drivers made the trip to Cavan. In class six from Monaghan was Vincent McAree and from Galway entering class eleven in his Honda Civic we had Jonathan Cunningham. Over the opening loop stages McAree, reported that his car felt very soft and he couldn’t commit 100% to cornering or on the bumpy sections. In service Vincent had his mechanics stiffen the suspension which allowed him to push a lot harder on stage four but on stage five broke the diff on a hard landing over a crest ending his rally. Cunningham also suffered bad luck. On the opening stage he picked up a double puncture losing over seven minutes and from this point was just fighting for pride. He did manage to set four fastest stage times in the hotly contested class and came away from the event with six points.

Only seven days after the Cavan event the championship moved to the picturesque village of Adare, Co. Limerick for the Circuit of Munster Junior Rally. Round five had a far more competitive feel with four registered drivers taking part and the event also welcomed two more competitors to the championship. Jonathan Cunningham started out favourite, John Byrnes was next in the seedlings, with fellow Limerick man John O’Connor coming in at number three. Chris Malloy entered in the Peugeot 206 and standing on eight points in the championship had to pull his entry on Saturday night with engine problems with the 206. Lining out the first time in the championship we had Kevin O’Connor (Younger brother Of John) driving a RWD Peugeot 205 and from Co. Kerry Brendan O’ Mahoney. Brilliant summer sunshine and high temperatures greeted the drivers with the stages based around Castletown West. It was a total transformation of fortune for Jonathan Cunningham as the Claregalway man punched in fastest time on the opening stage, took a start to finish win and take over the lead in the Junior Championship. Kevin O’ Connor in the RWD Peugeot 205 made a fine introduction to the championship on his home event and took third overall and six points to open his account. Our other new driver to register was Brendan O’Mahoney from Killarney, Co. Kerry driving a Peugeot 205 gti and was very pleased to gain six points from his first outing in the championship in a car that’s a lot more underpowered than the machinery around it. John Byrnes out for the first time in the MDR Motorsport Citroen C2R2 suffered from a lack confidence in his brakes and felt an unbalance in the bias but still managed to finish fourth overall. On his home rally the circuit of Munster turned out to be an event to forget for John O’ Connor. John used the junior event in Carlow a few weeks earlier as preparation and came away with a victory but the Newcastle stages and sticky tar from the high temperatures caused him to over shoot on the opening stage and he was off the road in a drain on the next test. Over the second loop, John suffered gearbox problems and lost fifth gear but still managed to bring the car home and picked up some points and adds to his total.

Round six was scheduled in the midlands for the Mullingar based Northeast Restricted Mini Stages but the event had to be cancelled so the championship then returned to Carrick on Suir for the second time this season. The Ravens Rock Junior Rally was staged on the last weekend in June and turned out to be a Limerick affair. In the week preceding the Carrick on Suir based event the junior rally had attracted five registered drivers from the NJRC but just before the weekend Chris Malloy from Clonmel decided to enter the main field and Brendan O’ Mahoney from Killarney, Co. Kerry had to withdraw his entry. We were then left with three drivers from Limerick, John and Kevin O’ Connor from Askeaton and John Byrnes from Cappamore to fight for success in south Tipperary. Conditions deteriorated as the day progressed and by the time the junior competitors joined the action the stages were wet and very greasy. The O’Connor brothers were fastest out of the blocks with older of the two (John) in the G3 Escort recording a time of 6.15 and Kevin driving the RWD 205 going two seconds quicker. John Byrnes took the third best time of the seven strong junior field and was fourteen second down. The cars returned to service next and the famous Slievenamon stage was up next, during his recce on Saturday John O’ Connor couldn’t find a right feel for the stage, John commented after the rally that “The first part of the stage was fast and flowing but after the halfway point the stage got very narrow, plus our recce was carried out in dry conditions”. John went on to say that “the second half of the stage had sections of the road surface made from a mass concrete base and I wasn’t able to trust the grip on these sections”, this reflected in his stage time as he dropped forty five seconds to his brother. The next stage “the Gap” effectively ended John’s quest for glory. He described it as his “Biggest Nearly Off” “I was in third gear powering out of a fast corner when I lost the rear of the car on the greasy tarmac and got dragged into the grass verge. I must have clipped a rock as I suffered a punctured. I knew I would lose too much time by stopping so I took the lesser of two evils and drove to the end”. By now John had dropped over three minutes in that stage and four minutes nineteen sec in total to his younger brother. John Byrnes had a much better experience through Slievenamon. He was able to find a rhythm early in the stage and recorded a time of 10.11. Over the Gap stage John reported a clean run and was very happy with his pacenotes. With a much improved car setup from his outing in Limerick and with some more refinements and testing before the Carrick rally John was now showing his ability. He went on to set fastest time on the last stage and finished second overall. The day belonged to 19-year-old Kevin O’Connor. The young Limerick man gave a fine demonstration of controlled driving leading the junior class from start to finish. Kevin did have luck on his side, on the opening stage he slide wide on an acute junction cracking the rear right wheel and picked up a slow puncture, but the tyre did not deflate and he was able to make it to the end of the stage. The Slievenamon stage defiantly proved that it was to be Kevin O’ Connors day, he again sustained a damaged wheel after a hard impact with a ditch but this time was lucky enough to not pick up a puncture and went on to set his second fastest time of the day. Over the Gap test and Ballyneill the last stage Kevin didn’t take any risks and went on to take his maiden victory. The only negative aspect to the results was that as there were only three drivers taking part and all in different classes they each only extend their championship points total by six.

Last time out
The championship reached the halfway point at the ALMC Stages Rally on the nineteenth of July. The eagerly awaited event was based in the City North Hotel, Co. Meath and attracted a top line up of NJRC competitors. Kevin O’Connor the victor on round six in Carrick on Suir was full of confidence and was now hoping to make it two wins in a row. Second on the Ravens Rock John Byrnes was happy with his progress in the MDR Motorsport backed Citroen C2R2 and was now ready to push for the top spot. The championship welcomed back Co. Donegal man Kevin Gallagher. Kevin was making his first appearance of the year on tarmac and hadn’t been involved since his crash on the Moonraker forestry. Championship leader Jonathan Cunningham was back in the fray after not competing in Carrick and wanted to hold on to his lead at the top of the table. The championship also welcomed back Co. Waterford’s Craig Breen, who was absent since the forestry rounds earlier in the season. Breen opened his account with two wins, had twenty points in the bank and now came to Co. Meath with M-Sport’s new Fiesta the R2. Kevin Gallagher was the fastest out of the blocks and set the pace with a time of 8.28. Non championship driver Martin Mc Cormack was in second place, one second down with the Honda Civic of Jonathan Cunningham in third nineteen seconds away with the engine suffering from a misfire. Breen was in fourth twenty one seconds off the time of Gallagher blaming an electrical gremlin causing a loss of power. John Byrnes was in fifth with a time of nine minutes and was happy with his setup but stated that it was hard to commit fully as the stage was very slippery in places. Kevin O’Connor was the first to fall by the wayside as he only got four kilometres into the first stage when the right front wheel sheared off the car and his rally was over. Mc Cormack moved into the lead on stage six with Gallagher slotting into second and Breen moving up one place to third but still complaining of those electrical problems and the slippery conditions. John Byrnes dropped to sixth with a time of 11.59 after breaking a drive shaft near the end of the stage. Cunningham was to suffer the worse luck as he first had an overshoot and then hit a bail and got stuck in the stage, after losing a lot of time he did manage to get back to service but by now was 23 minutes down.

The second loop was to take in the only run over the Kentstown stage for the junior competitors. Kevin Gallagher’s good fortune was to run out here as he crashed out at a T junction. Kevin stated afterwards that he just braked too late and pulled a wheel off the car. Craig Breen was happy with the new R2 over this stage, as he got his earlier problems sorted in service and set fastest time with 7.45 and moved into second place. John Byrnes climbed to fourth after getting his driveshaft replaced in service. Championship leader Cunningham was still running be it down in ninth but knew if he could make it to the finish he would pickup valuable points. Stage eight was cancelled so all remained was the last test of Bellewstown Hill. Byrnes was the only driver to move on the leader board as he now claimed third from Alan Bardon in the Honda Civic. Breen finished in second place and took eight points in class D and Jonathan Cunningham rescued a total of eight points by finishing in class G. At the finish Breen was very happy with his first result in the Fiesta R2 stating “there’s a lot more to come from the car. It’s a big step forward from my ST model. The longer wheel base makes it more stable, there’s way more top end power and is delivered better through the gears, the sequential gearbox makes gear changes a lot faster. It’s just a great package and can only get better”. John Byrnes was also happy with his day’s rallying and feels himself and the car is heading in the right direction. Jonathan Cunningham finished in ninth place but was the happiest by virtue of making the last time control he picked up eight points and still has top stop in the championship standings. “I didn’t have a great run today, a misfire on the opening stage, an off on stage six and a new co. driver for the rally made it very eventful but getting to the finish is the most important thing.” Jonathan stated at the finish.

Championship Points after Round 7 - ALMC

Posted: June 15, 2009 5:05 PM

Place Name Points
1 Jonathan Cunningham 30
2 Craig Breen 28
3 John Byrnes 26
4 Vincent McAree 14
5 John O'Connor 12
= Kevin O'Connor 12
7 Kevin Gallagher 8
= Chris Malloy 8
9 Brendan O'Mahoney 6

Motorsport Ireland
(Click on Championships)

Amendments to NJRC Regs
(Class E Dropped, One Chassis rule dropped, Wexford Jnr rally to reply Northeast)

Posted: June 8, 2009 1:25 PM

Download Amendments to NJRC Regs

Motorsport Ireland Announce Revisions to 2009 National Junior Rally Championship

Posted: May 5, 2009 1:48 PM

At the start 2008 season Motorsport Ireland were delighted to announce the new format for the Billy Coleman Award and the creation of the National Junior Championship for Drivers. Last season proved to be a great success and at the beginning of the current season it was hoped that the National Junior Rally Championship (NJRC) would grow in popularity, but like all forms of sport and particularly Motorsport the downturn in the economic climate has dictated that budgets for prospective competitors entering the series are not readily available. Having said that, the NJRC is the only route to the qualification process for the Billy Coleman Award and every effort needs to be made to attract as many suitable candidates as possible.

The Tipperary Forestry Rally in February got the season under way and from the outset the number of registered competitors were significantly down on last year. Now with the first three rounds completed Motorsport Ireland have made the unprecedented decision to revise and restructure the remainder of the 2009 championship. The major changes in the regulations are, the season now consists of fourteen events and the best performance from any five events will count towards the Championship. A minimum of four events must be completed in order to qualify for an award.

The new events added are the Junior Rallies of the following. Circuit of Munster, Ravens Rock, ALMC, Clare Stages and Donegal Harvest.

In total the full championship has a good geographical spread, still retains its uniqueness with both tarmac and gravel surface events and gives young drivers the opportunity to advance their career. By selecting junior rallies it is hoped that competitors will be able to compete in the NJRC for a fraction of the cost of main field events

A set of the full Revised Regulations can be downloaded from the National Junior Championship webpage on the MSI website. It is hoped that the changes to the championship will have a three-fold effect,

1. That the changes will entice more drivers into the NJRC,

2. That by making these modifications at this time in the season emphasizes Motorsport Irelands commitment to the NJRC and the Billy Coleman Award

3. That by attracting more competitors it will increase the entries for clubs at this difficult time.

In turn with the revisions to the calendar MI are announcing a major shake up of the PR for the championship. For the remainder of the 2009 season MI are going to give a key overhaul to the Junior Championship homepage on the MI website. This will include, previews for each round, reports on each event as they happen, adding profiles of the registered drivers and event photos. John Quill as registrar will work with all forms of the Motorsport media to highlight the championship and bring the series to a new platform for the future.

As the Cavan Stages Rally is the next event and its closing date is May 4th competitors interested in registering for the NJRC should contact the registrar immediately along with putting in an entry for the event.

Revised Championship Rounds Below:

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More Details:

Motorsport Ireland

Mc Aree to tackle NJRC in Peugeot 206

Posted: February 22, 2009 10:54 PM

Vincent Mc Aree is undertaking, another assault on the 2009 National Junior Rally Championship. The 2008 NJRC Runner up will start the 2009 campaign with one event under his belt, the Sean Conlon Forest Rally which seen him take a second place in class 9.

Plagued with mechanical problems all-day Vincent was very happy with his performance in the Peugeot 106
"We were delighted to see the finish line, the rear bearings collapsed in the back axle and it was like driving a mk2 escort all day, also on the final stage the brakes were none existent, but we had a great days rallying and the stages were excellent"

Due to the incompletion off his Peugeot 206 rebuild they were unable to register on round one off the championship. But Carrick-on-Suir sees them debut there Peugeot 206 „We have done two or three events before in this car but have spent some money over the winter on the rebuild, the 206 may not be as competitive as our rivals in the C2R2,s but hopefully we‚ll give them a run for their money‰

The opportunity to compete in 2009 has been made possible by their sponsors; Mc Aree Engineering, V-Mac Silos, T-Met Recycling, Ballygowan Building Developments and Silverstone Tyres.

Byrnes and Sheil set for NJRC

Posted: February 6, 2009 1:32 PM

John Byrnes has secured a deal to drive a Citroen C2R2 in the Irish Junior Rally Championship. The C2R2 has been acquired from the stables of Excel Rallying. John’s first event will be championship opener Sean Conlon Forest Rally. He will be accompanied by long term navigator Kenneth Sheil from Loughrea Co. Galway. The two are no strangers to the loose taking the runner up spot in the 2007 Junior Forest Championship. Kenneth, a former class three National Champion co driver will bring invaluable experience to the tarmac rounds later in the season.

The Irish Junior Rally Championship is contested over 4 Forest rallies and 4 Tarmac rallies and competitors from the championship will be selected for the Billy Coleman Award. The Billy Coleman Award winner will be provided with financial backing and guidance to help them reach the pinnacle of the sport the World Rally Championship. The two are also set to contest the Excel Rally Championship. The Excel Championship will provide an excellent spring board for competitors due to the prizes on offer; the ultimate prize being a fully supported drive in a super 1600 in the National Tarmac Championship.

The opportunity to compete in 2009 has been made possible by the pair’s long term and new sponsors; Croom Precision Medical, Kirby Group Engineering, Munster Motorsport, Ballyneety Tyres, Tina Network Systems, Silverstone Tyres and Excel Rallying.

Details

Posted: January 20, 2009 5:46 PM

The 2009 National Junior Rally Championship is set to get underway at The Sean Conlon Memorial Forest Rally on February 8th 2009.

The winner of each class and two other wild cards will go forward to the interview process for the Billy Coleman Award

AMENDMENTS TO APPENDIX 16 OF MI YEARBOOK:
The best performance from three forestry and three tarmac events will count towards the Championship. A minimum of three events in each discipline must be completed in order to qualify for an award.

Registration for the Championship is compulsory and no competitor may register after round 3.

Full details will be on the MI website

Motorsport Ireland

Revised Championship Rounds

Posted: January 20, 2009 5:44 PM

1. 8 Feb Tipperary Forest Rally
2. 1 March Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally
3. 12 April Munster Forest Rally
4. 24 May Cavan Stages Rally
5. 31 May Circuit Of Munster Junior Rally
Cancelled- 14 June North East Mini Stage
6. 28 June Ravens Rock Junior Rally
7. 19 July ALMC Rally Junior Rally
8. 15 August Cork Forest Rally
9. 6 Sept Castle Mini Stages Rally
10. Wexford Junior Rally - 13 September 2009
11. 20 Sept Clare Stages Junior Rally
12. 4 Oct Munster Cork 20 Junior Rally
13. 10 Oct Donegal Harvest Junior    

Motorsport Ireland