Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series Round 5 Report
Posted: October 28, 2019 8:42 AM
In the fifth round of the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series, Brian Brady collected his second maximum points of the championship; the Meath man took the lead on the first stage of Ravens Rock Rally and held it all the way to the finish flag at the Waterford based event.
The points haul by Brady sees him jump from fourth place to second place in the overall Dual Surface standings and sets up an enthralling battle for the top spot with three rounds to go.
Despite experimenting by switching to Hoozier tyres for the first time and also penning his own notes for the first time, both decisions proved worthwhile for Brady as he now looks forward to the next championship round with an eye on another maximum score.
Shane Kenneally drove his Honda Civic to a decent second place, just unable to match Brady’s pace on tar but looking forward to Cork Forestry, as he feels more comfortable and knows he can challenge more on gravel, the Waterford driver having already achieved a maximum points score at the Moonraker Rally back in April.
Jason Murphy drops from second to third in the championship after using this tarmac round as one of his dropped scores but the South Mayo driver is looking forward to the ‘Gravel Grand Prix’ in Cork, an event that he has fond memories from as it has seen him secure his back to back Irish Forestry J1000 titles in the previous two years.
Michael Cunniffe slips one place to fourth as he also didn’t feature on the Ravens Rock entry list but a trip south to Cork could reignite his championship bid.
Ruairi Mac Artain’s eleventh-hour decision to travel to Waterford resulted in him borrowing rims and tyres and leaving his Honda Civic in gravel set up, but the nineteen year old Louth driver was very happy with the outcome, on his first tarmac rally to come away with third place points and move level with Omagh’s Gareth Deazley in the championship. Deazley’s drive at Ravens Rock seen him improve his times all day, narrowly missing out on third place after battling with aforementioned Mac Artain, and eventually having to settle for fourth place.
Attention now switches back to gravel for the penultimate pair of rounds, the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally on July 27th and 28th, each day will count as separate Junior Rally Series rounds. Saturday will see the crews tackling six classic forest stages with approximately 70km of competitive action, the highlight is certain to the fearsome Boggeragh Drive stage, a massive 18.5 KM, the longest Gravel stage used anywhere in the 2019 Irish Forest Championship, which will be ran twice.
Sunday will see the JRS drivers head into the Ballyhoura Mountains where eight stages totalling 80km sees a mix of traditional forest lanes, as well as sweeping expanses of modern Wind Farm roads.
The Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series is part of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy initiative, to promote and assist competitors focused on developing their motorsport future.
The series is taking place over dual surfaces; tar and gravel, and the best performances in 5 out of 8 rounds will count.
Two gravel rounds (Cork Forest Rally, 2 days counts as two rounds) and one tar round (Galway Summer Stages) still remain on the calendar to qualify for the championship, competitors must be under 25 (1st of January) and start a minimum of two events on each surface. Eligibility is reserved to those who hold a current competition license issued by Motorsport Ireland and only cars built to the Class 16, J1600 regulations are eligible for the series
A prize fund of training and coaching up to the value of €20,000 on Motorsport Ireland events is on offer, plus a nomination to the Billy Coleman Award.
On The Limit Sports TV Program on Line
Posted: October 28, 2019 8:22 AM
JOSH MOFFETT/ANDY HAYES WIN RAVEN’S ROCK RALLY
Posted: October 28, 2019 8:20 AM
With victory on the Waterford based Kilsheelan Limestone Quarries/Dooley’s Hotel Raven’s Rock Rally, Monaghan’s Josh Moffett (Ford Fiesta WRC) and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes have tightened their grip on the Triton Showers National Rally Championship. On what was their fourth win of the current campaign, they finished 18.3 seconds ahead of title rivals, Clonmel’s Roy White and his Cork co-driver James O’Brien, also in a Ford Fiesta WRC. Wexford’s Richard Moore (Ford Escort) and co-driver John McGrath were a distant third – two minutes and 55.6 seconds further behind.
Monaghan’s Shane Maguire (Mitsubishi) and his Limerick co-driver Anthony Nestor won the Motorsport Safety Team Group N category.
Meath’s Brian Brady/Gary McNamee (Honda Civic) took a facile victory in the Junior category.
Moffett was best on the opening stage near Grange to the south-west of Dungarvan where he was 1.6 seconds faster than White with the Ford Focus WRC of Hugh Hunter another 2.1 seconds further behind. Welsh driver Sebastien Ling (Citroen DS3 R5) was some 14 seconds behind Hunter in a top six that also included the two-wheel drive cars of Richard Moore (Ford Escort) and Welsh ace John Dalton (Darrian T90 GTR).
Even though he spun and overshot, White was best on S.S. 2 and moved 2.4 seconds ahead of Moffett. Hugh Hunter retired when his Ford Focus WRC hit a wall and damaged the steering. That promoted Dalton into third - 23.5 seconds further behind and 8.3 seconds in front of Cork driver David Guest (Skoda Fabia S2000). Sebastien Ling (Citroen DS3R5) bowed out on the second stage when he hit a wall.
Out on the third stage White and Moffett set identical times with White arriving at the Dungarvan service with that 2.4 seconds advantage as Moffett declared that he was finding it difficult to commit to the stages. The pair had moved well clear of the opposition with Dalton 42.5 seconds adrift in third and Guest another 9.3 seconds in arrears. An untroubled Richard Moore (Ford Escort) was fifth while Waterford driver Keith Power (Mitsubishi) was sixth overall and untroubled.
Burnley driver Daniel Harper (Mini WRC) on his first tarmac rally within the jurisdiction of Motorsport Ireland in some ten years, was seventh, he lost brakes about four kilometres from the end of the second stage. Shane Maguire (Mitsubishi) in eighth place led the Motorsport Safety Team Group N category as the remaining places in the top ten were occupied by the Escort of Monaghan’s Mickey Conlon and Wexford’s Tomas O’Rourke (Mitsubishi Evo IX). Local driver Simon Reid (Escort) broke a front shock absorber half way through the second stage.
Out on the second loop as Moffett tried to get back to his usual pace, disaster struck for White. On S.S. 4, he had no handbrake, spun and stalled his Fiesta WRC, on S.S. 5, fifth gear broke and on S.S, 6, he was stymied by a rear differential problem. The net result was that he dropped to second - 24 seconds behind Moffett. Moore powered his way through to third albeit a minute and 42.2 seconds behind. Dalton was fourth, Guest in fifth had to contend with the lack of gear display in his Skoda. Power in sixth had to change a wheel due to a massive vibration but the odd combination proved a trifle difficult.
English driver Harper improved his times on the second loop, he was seventh in general classification followed by the Escorts of Tomas Davies and Mickey Conlon and the Mitsubishi of Donegal’s Aaron McLaughlin. Tomas O’Rourke crashed his Mitsubishi on the fifth stage and while Shane Maguire lost time with a puncture on S.S. 6 he still had a comfortable advantage over the Mitsubishi EvoX of Neil Tohill.
Moffett went on to take his fourth win of the season and edges closer to the Triton title and the Vard Memorial Trophy. White’s second loop issues ultimately cost him a shot at victory but he was pleased with his pace, he was fastest through the Power Stage to secure an additional Triton point.
In a dramatic final stage Moore regained third after a titanic battle with Dalton, who was three seconds ahead entering the stage only for Moore to storm through and snatch the spot albeit by 1.4 seconds. Guest and Harper completed the top six.
Power was untroubled as he came home as the top Carrick on Suir Motor Club driver. The top ten was rounded out by Welsh driver Tomas Davies (Ford Escort), Donegal’s
Aaron McLoughlin (Mitsubishi Evo IX) and Motorsport Safety Team Group N winner
Shane Maguire (Mitsubishi).
Results
Posted: October 28, 2019 8:19 AM
1 Josh Moffett/Andy Hayes (Ford Fiesta WRC) 66m 39s,
2 Roy White/James O’Brien (Ford Fiesta WRC) 66m 58s,
3 Richard Moore/John McGrath (Ford Escort MkII) 69m 53s,
4 John Dalton/Gwynfor Jones (Darrian T90 GTR) 69m 55s,
5 David Guest/Jonathan McGrath (Skoda Fabia S2000) 70m 35s,
6 Daniel Harper/Chris Campbell (Mini WRC) 71m 32s,
7 Keith Power/Tommy Cuddihy (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo) 71m 51s,
8 Tomas Davies/Eurig Davies (Ford Escort MkII) 72m 02s,
9 Aaron McLaughlin/Darren Curran (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) 72m 13s,
10 Shane Maguire/Anthony Nestor (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 Gp N) 72m 52s.
Motorsport Safety Team Group N award: Shane Maguire/Anthony Nestor.
rally.ie Two wheel drive award: Richard Moore/John McGrath.
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