The Rose Hotel Kerry Winter Rally report

Monaghan’s Richard Moffett successfully defended his Rose Hotel Kerry Winter Stages Rally crown with a start to finish lead on the 2024 edition of the rally.

Despite a change in co-driver since his last victory here in 2022, Moffett put in a storming performance to blitz the field around him across the day's six stages.

Moffett led at the opening service halt after the first two runs through Mount Eagle and Headleys Bridge, leading by 6.8 seconds to Jonathan Pringle and Killarney man Conor Murphy was in third. One of the pre-event favourites Rob Duggan was out after the opening stage with brake issues. Also out at the early stages was Ryan Loughran, who blew a prop shaft before the start of stage 1, but he returned under the super rally for the final 4 stages.

But stage 3 was a costly one for the men attempting to take the title from Moffett. Both Jonathan Pringle and Conor Murphy retiring from the event at this juncture which took all pressure off the would be champion. Johno Doogan was promoted to 2nd with Limerick’s Chris O’Callaghan up to 3rd and it was a race on between the pair for the runners up spot.

But Moffett kept his head out front, getting the tyre choice spot on at the service halts and keeping those behind him at bay. He had a 33.6 second lead when he reached the final service of the day at the MTU Kerry North Campus. The race for 2nd was tight, with Chris O’Callaghan chasing down Doogan, with 4.2 seconds the gap between the pair heading into the final two stages. Other notable performances up to that point was Vincent O’Shea at 5th overall while Dean Raftery was having a storming run at 8th overall in the Rally 3 spec Ford Fiesta.

But it was Moffett who kept his cool over the final loop. He went 15 seconds faster on the final run over Mount Eagle than he managed on the first stage of the day which set him on the road for victory. It was a victory drive through the final test for Moffett, who went on to win the event by 34.9 seconds. The battle for 2nd rumbled on until the finish line, with Monaghan’s Johno Doogan winning the battle over Limerick’s Chris O’Callaghan by 4.9 seconds.

Donegal’s Donagh Kelly and Rory Kennedy took historic honours on the day, beating their nearest challengers John O’Donnell and Paddy Robinson by 1.2 seconds in their BMW M3.

Competitors spoke very highly of the new service park for the event. The MTU Kerry North Campus was used for the event for the first time for a rally event for the first time. With the venue named as one of the three host venues for the World Rally Championship if Ireland is to potentially host the event, it was great to see drivers and spectators enjoying the service area and the compliments for the facility are most welcome