MIJRS returns to the woods for Carrick Forest Rally
Keelan Grogan among crews aiming to score strongly on latest MIJRS round. Pic by Cian Donnellan.
The knobbly tyres are back on this weekend as the third stop of the 2024 Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series (MIJRS) calendar sees crews head into the Forests of the South-East with the eagerly anticipated Willie Loughman Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally, the second loose surface battle of the season.
Contested on both loose and sealed surfaces across both the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship and the Triton Nation Rally Championship, the MIJRS is Ireland’s sole national Dual Surface series designed to develop the brightest young talent in Irish Rallying. The prizes on offer to competitors in the series are remarkable, with prize packages totaling over €70,000 offered through Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy supports as well as an additional €12,000 prize fund sponsored by Race&Rally for crews competing in Classes 2 & 2A in Stellantis vehicles.
Heading into the six-stage Forest event and the third round of the year, the Class 2 series is led by Dylan Eves who claimed a hugely important victory on the recent Mayo Stages Rally, the tarmac opener, and he now holds a three point advantage over Craig Rahill in a similar Ford Fiesta Rally4, with both set to do battle once more this weekend.
Last year’s J1000 champion Tommy Moffett has taken no time showing his incredible talent in the step up to Class 2 and he lies third heading back to the much more familiar gravel stages in Carrick, and similar to Mossie Costello the opportunity to continue learning in their Ford Fiesta’s is a massive development aim.
In a pair of Peugeot 208 Rally4’s, both Cian Caldwell and Keelan Grogan will be aiming to make a mark and kickstart what has been a disappointing season so far with both failing to finish on the season opening Killarney Forest Rally.
In Class 2A, the opening two rounds have been dominated by Jack Harris in his Ford Fiesta R2T, but once more there is set to be a great battle in store between our MIJRS trio as Jack Kennedy & Ciara Duggan continue to show incredible progression stage-by-stage in their Ford Fiesta R2’s.
The largest battle of all will be in J1000 yet again, with 26 registered drivers looking forward to the high-speed 62km battle in the forests. The field is led away by Killarney winner Danny Brady, but predicting a winner from the entry list is impossible when there is talent such as Tommy Cronin, Ryan Caldwell, David Travers, Ross Ryan, Oisin McShane or Tommy Furlong right at the sharp end.
For some drivers such as Ger Hartigan, Cameron Crozier, Conor Ryan & Charlie Browne, the experience of these stages last season will be a massive advantage as they continue to show progression and aim to implement skills learned at the recent MI Academy Tuition Day in Tynagh. For other drivers though, this weekend is a second or even first ever rally, and we wish them all the very best as these youngsters make their very first steps in our sport, ad the MIJRS J1000 series is a remarkable place to come and learn amongst what is the single biggest class battle in Irish rallying at present.
The action kicks off early Sunday morning, with the first of the J1000 crews leaving Waterford at 8.30am, with the prize presentations scheduled for 5pm outside the Rhu Glenn Hotel.
Full championship information and registration details can be found at www.MIJRS.ie
Cian Donnellan
MIJRS PRO