Longford Calling for MIJRS Opener
Jack Brennan amongst bumper MIJRS field for Longford Stages Rally. Pic by Cian Donnellan.
The start of a new season is always exciting. After months of anticipation, the countdown is getting ever closer to arriving at the very first stage of the year, knowing that a whole new and exciting year of adventure lies in store, bringing with it countless highs and sometimes unfortunate lows. For the class of 2025, the beginning of the MIJRS season is extremely exciting.
Designed to be the ultimate proving ground for the brightest young talent in Irish Rallying, the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series brings together the skills required of drivers to compete at the highest levels by having rounds across dual surfaces, with this weekend’s Midland Motor Club event on Tarmac being followed in a few weeks’ time with the Carlow Forest Rally, contested along gravel lanes near Arklow.
The huge learning incentive for young drivers, the series capped at Under-24, is bolstered by a sizeable prize package on offer with thanks to the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, with funding on offer to the top-3 in both Class 2 & Class 2A totalling €44,000, with the massive incentive aswell of both class winners receiving a nomination for the Billy Coleman Award, a life changing prize that recognises Ireland’s Outstanding Young Rally Driver of the Year.
While some come into the 2025 MIJRS season with huge experience of events and their cars, as many if not more of the registered drivers are about to experience either new machinery or even a whole new surface this weekend, with one in particular about to start his very first event!
In Class 2A, last year’s runner up Jack Kennedy leads a quartet of entrants in his Ford Fiesta R2, a car he showed incredible pace in last time out in a season that was high pointed by a pair of MIJRS class wins on both surfaces, but this time he will have to especially contend with the returning Darragh Kelly in a Peugeot 208 R2. The Northern Irish star competed solely on Tarmac in 2024 so will be a formidable opponent for Kennedy this weekend.
Just as formidable may be the pair of rookies in the Class, with Ross Ryan & Tommy Furlong graduating from the Junior 1000 Series in the Forest Championship. While Ryan has at least had one taste of Tarmac having competed in Banna at the end of last year, this will be Furlong’s first experience of his Ford Fiesta R2. The pair had some remarkable battles in J1000 down the years and both step up to Class 2A with huge rally experience at just 18 years of age, so it will be fascinating to see how the times fare out once the opening stage kicks off Sunday morning just after 9am.
The final registered entrant in Class 2A is Cameron Crozier, but unfortunately it looks like he may miss out on starting the event such is the popularity this year, but as another graduate of the J1000 series it will be exciting to see how he performs this year stepping up to homologated machinery for the first time.
In Class 2, a remarkable nine drivers take on the 97km route laid on by Midland Motor Club as they begin their MIJRS campaign for 2025, with our 2023 Winner Cian Caldwell leading the pack in his Peugeot 208 Rally4. Aiming to forget an at times frustrating year, Caldwell has the skill and proven talent to really make a mark on this year’s standings right from the off but he will have a whole host of competition to deal with.
In similar Peugeot’s are a pair of award-winning Jacks from the South East with hugely different Rally experiences. Jack Brennan, the 2023 Billy Coleman winner, returns to the series after a busy year that saw him experience the European & British Rally Championships and will be looking to reclaim a title he won previously in J1000 and Class 1, while the total unknown is Jack Byrne.
A hugely successful Circuit racer and the recipient of the 2023 Sexton Trophy for Young Racing Driver of the Year, Byrne switches his attack this year from the circuits of Europe and the Renault Clio Cup to the MIJRS and a whole new world of rallying. Another newcomer to the series is Robert Cronin, the latest star from the fabled West Cork family will compete in an Opel Corsa Rally4.
Amongst those returning to the series for 2025 are Dan Nash, Oran England and Tommy Moffett, all in Ford Fiesta Rally 4’s. England and Moffett showed remarkable pace last season, with Moffett ultimately finishing second in the standings while England claimed a pair of event podiums finishes, while for Nash it’s a return after a break of nearly two years where he will be aiming to show the great pace he had at the time.
The final two entrants offer an exciting addition to the proceedings. Jack Harris dominated Class 2A last term, claiming the MIJRS title and a Billy Coleman Award nomination with a round to spare, and for 2025 he makes the step up to Class 2 and Rally4 machinery for the very first time. In a similar position is Ben McFall who also jumps into a Fiesta but having come from 4WD machinery and a Mitsubishi Evo in which he claimed some remarkable results in Northern Ireland in his debut season.
Contested over eight rounds, the season opening Donegal Forest Rally had to be postponed due to damage caused by Storm Eowyn meaning instead its Longford that plays host to the first outing of the year. The J1000 battle kicked off in December with a pair of Rallysprint events won by Oisin McShane & James McShea, and they resume their battle along with the rest of the MIJRS field on March 23rd at the Carlow Forest Rally.
Cian Donnellan
MIJRS PRO