Two in a row for Josh Moffett in Triton Showers National Rally Championship
Keith Moriarty and Josh Moffett took their second motorsport ireland national rally championship victory in a row this past weekend in Birr.
Josh Moffett took a start-to-finish victory on Sunday’s Birr Stages Rally – the third round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship. This was the second win on the trot for the Citroen C3 Rally2 crew who also won Josh’s home rally, the Monaghan Stages two weeks prior. They also pocket the €3,500 prizemoney for winning the Citroen C3 Rally2 for the second time.
Moffett and Moriarty exerted their authority on the rally on the opening stage and were never really troubled all day. Their only blemish on their fine performance all day, by their own admission was their failure to win the final PowerStage and bag extra Triton Showers National Rally Championship points. Conscious of their non-finish in Mayo the additional bonus points could be very important at the end of the season.
“We had a good steady run,” said Moffett who recorded his fourth win on the event. “The last two rallies have been dry and we are getting more and more comfortable with the car.”
Their closest rivals, Josh’s brother Sam and co-driver James O’Reilly were 17.6 seconds in arrears at the end of nine demanding stages in County Offaly but did win the PowerStage.
“I lost the rally in the first three stages,” he said. “I just was not on it but the bonus points are important.”
There was an epic battle for third place and any one of five drivers could have taken the final podium spot. In the end, David Kelly and last-minute stand-in co-driver Arthur Kierans recorded his best result to date. The Donegal-based Volkswagen Polo R5 driver said: “I really enjoyed the day and huge thanks to Arthur for jumping in at the last minute.”
Daniel Cronin and Donnchadh Burke (Polo R5) were fighting the demons of their off-road excursion in Monaghan and while they kept Kelly and Kierans honest for most of the day they had to settle for fourth at the finish. Son and father Michael and Declan Boyle were also in the fight for the final podium position. At the finish, Boyle Junior and co-driver Dermot McCaffery got the upper hand and the Polo R5 crew were just six seconds in front of Michael’s father Declan at the end.
“I am delighted to finish fifth, I am getting my confidence back after a few bangs,” said Michael.
Declan, and co-driver Patrick Walsh, reunited with their Citroen C3 Rally2 after a one-off outing in Monaghan in a Ford Fiesta, were delighted to be in a tight battle with Michael all day. He said: “It was good to be racing against him.”
Triton Showers man Paul Barrett and co-driver Darragh Kelly were another in the hunt for the final podium position but a spin on the penultimate stage cost valuable seconds and they eventually finished seventh in another Citroen. “It is all positive, we had a very good day, and good pace but the slight mistake cost us,” he said.
Eighth-placed Aidan Wray and Peter Ward admitted they need to find more speed in an effort to stay with the frontrunner as they made it four Volkswagen Polo R5s in the top ten. Gary Kiernan and Conor Smith were one place behind but their progress was hampered by a faulty pop-off valve in their Ford Fiesta R5 and had to wait until the problem was solved ahead of the final loop of three stages before they set competitive times.
For the second rally in a row, Kevin Gallagher won the Modified category. The Darrian T90 GTr drivers had Ryan Moore back on the notes for this event and they enjoyed a rally-long battle with Chris O’Callaghan and Kaine Trainor. O’Callaghan challenge was foiled in the penultimate stage when a bolt broke in a suspension strut and they had to drive cautiously through the final test to finish 11th overall and first in the Ford Escort Mk2 Challenge element of the rally.
CLASS TWO
For the second rally in a row, Gareth Deazley and Oisin Joyce won the important Class 2 in their Ford Fiesta Rally4 with Matthew Boyle second and Tommy Moffett third. Just 15.2 seconds separated the top three and 2.4 seconds stood between Boyle and Deazley.
HISTORIC RALLY
The Historic category was won by Ronan Campbell and Denny Greaney. The Ford Escort Mk2 crew finished 58.6 seconds clear of the similar machine of David Armstrong and Ashley Trimble.
JUNIOR RALLY
The Junior element of the rally served up another epic showdown with a total of just 3.6 separating the top three cars.
Jason Wilkinson and Ciaran McGinley came out on top, just 2.3 seconds clear of Kyle McDaid/Shane Maguire who snatched the runners-up spot from Ronan Dorrian and Mickey Joe Browne by just 1.3 seconds on the final stage. Dorrian and Browne lead after six stages but were overhauled by their county men over the final loop - all three drivers hail from Donegal!
Triton Showers National Rally Championship moves to Carlow for round four of the championship on May 19.