Tipperary Sean Conlon Forestry Rally - 14 May 23

Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series Preview - Round 3

Posted: May 12, 2023 3:43 AM

After an opening battle on Tarmac on the recent Midlands Stages Rally, the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series returns to Gravel this weekend as a large number of registered competitors make the trip to Tipp to tackle the Sean Conlon Memorial Tipperary Forest Rally. Based out of the historic town of Cahir, Sunday will see the drivers tackle six high-speed loose-surface stages in the Forests around the town, with 53km of competitive action in store.

Ireland’s sole Mix-Surface championship, the MIJRS is quickly becoming a vital step in the development of a host of upcoming and exciting Irish rallying talent and already this season its clear just how close and enthralling the battles are set to be for the 2023 crown.

Designed for future stars under the age of 25, the Rally4/R2 class is the spearhead of the Championship, and the winners here are competing for some incredibly prizes that are designed specifically with their development in the sport at the core. Not only will the winner receive a Training & Coaching program to the value of €15,000 through the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, but they will also receive a nomination for the Billy Coleman Award. 2nd and 3rd place in the Class will also receive support packages.

With the Championship standings calculated on a bases of ‘Best 2 Gravel Scores’ plus ‘Best 2 Tarmac Scores’ plus ‘Best Other Score’, many have taken the opportunity to try and build a score early as we get into an exciting back-to-back fortnight with the Cavan Stages Rally on May 28th hosting Round 4 of the Series.

In the Rall4/R2 Class, MIJRS Championship leader Casey Jay Coleman makes a switch this weekend to a Peugeot 208 and will be buoyed by claiming maximum points on the Killarney Forest Rally season opener, and a strong result on Tar on the Midlands. Seeded right behind Casey Jay on a bumper entry list are the Ford Fiesta equipped pairing of Dylan Eves and Cian Caldwell, with Eves aiming to make amends from issues experienced on Round 2 while Caldwell continues an impressive start to the year.

Conor Wilson and Dan Nash, again both in Ford Fiesta Rally4’s, will be aiming to build on strong point scores in Killarney, and will be excited to see the times as they filter in from the Tipperary Forest Rally stages. In the Rally5 class, Jack Brennan aims to continue an exciting year of progress across both surfaces as he competes in the Motorsport Ireland Academy liveried Renault Clio.

Having not contested the Midland Rally, the MI Junior Rally Series J1000 Class returns this weekend with what is set to be another incredible battle with a huge field of competitors set to start the latest round of their championship following the postponement of the Moonraker Forest Rally in April which was due to be the 2nd Round. Number one seed this weekend is Killarney winner Jack Kennedy, with his perch at the top of the standings the target for many of his rivals.

Chief among those chasing Kennedy will be the likes of Tommy Moffett, Ross Ryan, Danny Brady and Jack Harris who will be relying on their experience of the last few years to try and top the time sheets, although there is also the threat of the flying newcomer Callum Graffin who finished a remarkable 5th on his debut event on Round 1.

Conor Ryan and Ryan Caldwell will be aiming to see good progress in times following the skills picked up at the recent J1000 Tuition Day in Tynagh, while Tommy Cronin, Tommy Furlong, Charlie Browne, Ger Hartigan, Ciara Duggan and Aaron Hughes aim to improve their fortunes after hitting issues on the season opener.

The action kicks off on Sunday morning with the first stage going live at 10:33, and for any competitor under the age of 25 wishing to compete in the series further information on the MIJRRS series can be found under the Events & Championships section of the Motorsport Ireland website.

Irish Forest Championship: Round 2 Preview

Posted: May 10, 2023 4:43 AM

After a break of nearly three months, excitement is reaching fever pitch once more as the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship kicks into gear once more with the return after a break of this weekend’s Sean Conlon Memorial Tipperary Forest Rally, the second round of the 2023 season.

Following the postponement of the Moonraker Forest Rally in April, a bumper entry for the Tipperary Forest Rally, returning to the Championship after an absence of nine years, shows the incredible buzz surrounding loose surface rallying in Ireland this year, and an exciting 6-stage event lies in store in the vicinity of Cahir this Sunday.

Starting off with the 10.1km Goatenbridge test, the longest of the Rally, the road will be opened by another staggering entry of Junior 1000 crews, with nineteen youngsters between the ages of 14-17 set to tackle the Tipperary Light Car and Motorcycle Club event.

Killarney victors Jack Kennedy & Colin O’Toole are top seeds in their VW Up!, but buoyed by skills learned on the recent J1000 Tuition day in Tynagh expect to see some incredibly tight battles with the likes of Tommy Moffett & Domhnall Lennon, Jack Harris & Aaron O’Regan, Ross Ryan & Peter Keohane and Tommy Cronin & Karl Egan all chasing Kennedy’s Championship lead.

Following the J1000’s, an impressive field of 2WD Crews will tackle the 53.2km route punctuated by a service halt in Cahir Mart at mid-day. The changing face of the sport is clear to see with the familiar rear-wheel-drive crews like the Ford Escort MK2 pairings of Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey and Steven Corey & Ella Ryan, as well as the unique Lada VFTS of Shane McGirr & Denver Rafferty sharing the top seedings with a host of young guns in impressive front-wheel-drive machinery.

The cohort of Rally4 Cars are led away by Casey Jay Coleman who swaps to a Peugeot 208 for the latest round of the Sligo Pallets backed Championship, but he knows it’s set to be an incredible battle once more with both Dylan Eves & Ryan Farrell and Cian Caldwell & Liam Egan in Ford Fiesta’s that have been incredibly quick on both surfaces this year so far.

At the head of the field though the number one spot is reserved for Mark Donnelly & Sean Ferris, with their Ford Fiesta Rally2 in fine form having claimed victory on the opening round of the championship in Killarney, as well as the non-championship Fivemiletown rally in Northern Ireland.

Chasing Donnelly though is a field absolutely bursting with talent, with Vivian Hamill & Andrew Grennan in a VW Polo at number 2, 2022 Forest Championship Runners up Jordan Hone & Paul Hone seeded third, and Stephen McCann & Tommy Hayes in a similar Ford Fiesta to the Hone’s.

Mixed into the top 6 though are two entries of note, with double champion Owen Murphy returning to the woods alongside Anthony Nestor in a Citroen C3 Rally2, while the breakthrough star of Round 1 was surely Ryan Caldwell & Arthur Kierans who finished in a remarkable 3rd Place on his 4WD debut and their Skoda Fabia R5 starts at number 6.

With six challenging stages in store, this Sunday is set to be an incredible day of loose surface action as the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship returns to the Sean Conlon Tipperary Forest Rally, and all eyes will be on the high-speed forestry tests once the first cars leave Cahir Mart at 10am.

Seeded Entry List

Posted: May 9, 2023 5:41 AM

1 Mark Donnelly/Sean Ferris (TBA) [5]
2 Vivian Hamill/Andrew Grennan (VW Polo GTI R5) [5]
3 Jordan Hone/Paul Hone (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
4 Owen Murphy/Anthony Nestor (Citroen C3 Rally2) [5]
5 Stephen McCann/Tommy Hayes (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
6 Ryan Caldwell/Arthur Kierans (Skoda Fabia RS) [5]
7 Keith Power/Mikey Breen (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
8 Pat O’Connell/Mark Wiley (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
9 David Condell/Michael Coady (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
10 Derek Mackarel/Eamonn Creedon (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [20]
11 Ashley Dickson/Martin Brady (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
12 Stephen Dickson/Dermot McCafferty (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
14 O Connor PJ/Denny Greaney (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
15 John Carroll/Ray Fitzpatrick (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [20]
16 Lukasz Czapnik/Piotr Szadkowski (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
17 Shane Murray/Gary Hade (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
18 Jenna McCann/John McCabe (Ford Fiesta R5) [5]
19 Paul McCann/Stephen Joyce (Ford Fiesta Rally2) [5]
20 Pauric Sheridan/Sean Brunton (Ford Fiesta) [20]
21 Damien Quinn/Karl Smyth (Subaru Impreza) [4]
22 Stephen Cullen/Seamus O’Grady (Toyota Corolla) [20]
23 Eoin Neville/Brendan Quinn (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) [4]
24 James Lowry/Killian Cronin (Subaru Impreza WRX) [15]

201 Hugh McQuaid/Declan Casey (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
202 Shane McGirr/Denver Raffery (Lada VFTS) [13]
203 Steven Corey/Ella Ryan (Ford Escort Mk2) [14]
204 Mike Jnr O’Connor/Barry Attridge (Opel Manta GTE) [13]
205 Casey Jay Coleman/TBA (Peugeot 208 Rally4) [2]
206 Dylan Eves/Ryan Farrell (Ford Fiesta Rally4) [2]
207 Cian Caldwell/Liam Egan (Ford Fiesta Rally4) [2]
208 Donal Connolly/Danny McLaughlin (Ford Escort Mk2) [12]
209 Alan Commins/Joseph O’Brien (Ford Escort Mk2) [12]
210 Raymond Jnr Benskin/Nicky Hegarty (Ford Escort) [13]
211 Brian Little/Ciara Griffin (Ford Escort G3) [12]
212 Sam Stewart/Alan Johnston (Ford Escort) [11R]
214 Conor Wilson/Sean Marsh (Ford Fiesta Rally4) [2]
215 Mike Feeney/Ger Clancy (Honda Civic) [11F]
216 Evan Russell/Richie Long (Ford Escort) [12]
217 Dario Tempesta/TBA (Honda Civic) [11F]
218 Michael Fitzgibbon/Carrie Moroney Ryan (Honda Civic) [11F]
219 Eugene Ward/Eoin Collins (Ford Fiesta) [11F]
220 Darragh Kelly/Eoin Kelly (Peugeot 208 R2) [2]
221 Jack Brennan/John McGrath (Renault Renault Clio Rally5) [1]
222 Brian Grant/Andrew Purser (Ford Fiesta R2T) [2]
223 Graeme Colfer/Alex Cudden (Peugeot 206 Cup Car) [11F]
224 Diarmuid Lynch/Maebh Griffin (Ford Escort Mk2) [13]
225 Sean William Benskin/Angiee Michniewicz (Ford Escort) [12]
226 Padraig McCarthy/Eoghan McCarthy (Peugeot 206 Cup Car) [11F]
227 Christy Butler/Ann Hutchinson (Honda Civic) [11F]
228 Kevin Dempsey/Brian Martyn (Peugeot 206 Cup Car) [11F]
229 ED Muldoon/Mark Byrne (Suzuki Swift) [11F]
230 Ian McCarthy/Patrick O’Sullivan (Honda Civic) [11F]
231 Dan Nash/Gavin Downey (Ford Fiesta Rally 4) [2]
232 Eugene Cronin/Anthony Cronin (Toyota Corolla) [11R]
233 Adam Semple/Niall McCarron (Ford Escort G3) [11R]
234 Podge Cronin/Josh Radford (Honda Civic) [11F]
235 Alan McCormack/TBA (Ford KA) [9]
236 Walsh Mac/Sharon Walsh (Honda Civic) [3]
237 Francis Kelly/Charlotte Egan (Ford) [9]
238 Paul Roche/Keith McCarthy (Ford Fiesta ST) [2]

301 Jack Kennedy/Colin O’Toole (VW UP) [21]
302 Tommy Moffett/Domhnall Lennon (Toyota Aygo) [21]
303 Jack Harris/Aaron O’Regan (VW UP) [21]
304 Ross Ryan/Peter Keohane (Citroen C1) [21]
305 Tommy Cronin/Karl Egan (Toyota Aygo) [21]
306 Danny Brady/Conor Smith (Peugeot 107) [21]
307 Kalum Graffin/Matt Edwards (Skoda Citigo) [21]
308 Cameron Crozier/Aine Phelan (Nissan Micra) [21]
309 Patrick Gahan/Sean McCarthy (Toyota Agyo) [21]
310 Conor Ryan/Conor Hade (Skoda Citigo) [21]
311 Bobby Conn/Stephen Conn (Citroen C1) [21]
312 Ryan Caldwell/Darren Caldwell (Skoda Citigo) [21]
314 Tommy Furlong/Niall Furlong (Skoda Citigo) [21]
315 Ciara Duggan/Damien Duffin (Toyota Aygo) [21]
316 Aaron Hughes/Des Sherlock (Nissan J1000 Micra) [21]
317 P J McDermott/Johnny Baird (Toyota Agyo) [21]
318 Ger Hartigan/Conor Kelly (Citroen C1) [21]
319 Charlie Browne/Justin McAuley (Nissan Micra) [21]
320 David Travers/TBA (Peugeot 107) [21]

Event Poster / On Line Entry / Regulations / Sportity

Posted: April 6, 2023 2:25 PM

Tipperary Sean Conlon Forestry Rally - 14 May 23 - REGULATIONS

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