Rahill and Harris net Rally4 wins in Spain and Kerry

The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy enjoyed a double Rally4 victory over the weekend after successes for Craig Rahill and Conor Smith on Rallye La Llana, and Jack Harris and Aaron O’Regan on the Circuit of Kerry.

Rahill and Smith entered Spain’s two-day Rallye La Llana to gain experience on the asphalt roads before the European Rally Championship’s Rally Sierra Morena. The Peugeot 208 Rally4 crew seized eight stage wins from ten on their first asphalt event outside the UK or Ireland.

The Cavan driver built a healthy lead over Friday’s five stages, taking an eventual one-minute and 14-second Rally4 victory. It was a performance good enough to finish among Spain’s Rally2 regulars.

“We have had a great weekend here at Rallye La Llana,” said Rahill. “There has been a lot learned, and it has been a great test for next weekend - the first round of Junior ERC.

“We had a good test on Wednesday to get the car nicely set up, and I am delighted with the pace we showed against the locals over the two days of rallying.

“The stages are completely different to home, wide roads with a consistently high-grip surface. They are demanding but enjoyable and it was great to get a good test on the hard-compound Hankook tyres ahead of this weekend. The tyres worked really well in the conditions.

“It all gives us good confidence heading into this weekend but we know we will have to find another step in pace to challenge Junior ERC’s frontrunners.”

Closer to home, Jack Harris and Aaron O’Regan secured their first Rally4 victory together on the National Rally Championship’s Circuit of Kerry Stages Rally.

Harris grabbed the Class 2 initiative on the Circuit of Kerry’s opening Camp Mountain test, taking a 3.9-second lead. The Donegal driver survived wishbone damage and a puncture on stage two but maintained his pole position.

Two more stage wins extended Harris’s lead, which he was able to control with successive top-three times.

“I am delighted to take my first win in the Rally4 class,” the 19-year-old remarked. “It wasn’t plain sailing, unfortunately, as we had an impact to the front-right wheel on stage two, which bent the wishbone and punctured the wheel.

“We were able to get back to service and went out in the afternoon, managing our lead to bring it home and top the MIJRS Championship.”

MI Rally Academy co-driver Killian McArdle completed his ERC warm-up on Rallye La Llana with Ford Fiesta Rally3 pilot Casey Jay Coleman. The Irish duo completed all ten stages to finish inside the top 20.

Back in Tralee, academy co-driver Shane Byrne had been third on the Circuit of Kerry alongside Desi Henry before an accident on stage three forced their Citroen C3 Rally2 into retirement.