Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally championship leader Josh Moffett has been handed a golden opportunity to extend his lead at this weekend’s Waterford City Ford Raven’s Rock Rally.
The Monaghan driver currently has a three-point advantage over Derry Callum Devine after the opening three rounds.
However, Devine, the winner of the Midland Moto Rally at the start of the season has decided to skip Sunday’s rally and a third victory on the bounce for Moffett would give the Hyundai i20 Rally 2 driver a solid lead as the season moves passed its halfway mark.
The co-driver’s championship is also likely to be turned on its head in Waterford too.
That is currently being led by Devine’s navigator Noel O’Sullivan but Moffett’s man Keith Moriarty is only three points adrift.
But nothing is certain in rallying and several drivers are waiting in the wings to disrupt the leader’s best-placed plans.
Daniel Cronin makes his second Triton Showers National championship appearance of the year. He has not contested a rally since the Circuit of Kerry in April as his brother Keith has been using the family Volkswagen Polo GtI in the British Rally Championship.
Former Triton Showers National Rally champion Declan Boyle starts at four – the number one slot has been left vacant in memory of absent friends including Craig Breen who was a member of the organising Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club.
David Guest is another driver returning to the fray after skipping Cavan last month and the Circuit of Kerry in April.
Tyrone’s Seamus Leonard will start his first national rally this year and the Ford Fiesta driver will start in front of Michael Boyle who is currently in seventh place in the Triton Showers National Rally Championship title race.
Melvyn Evans is the top overseas driver in his self-prepared Polo while the Citroen C3 Rally 2 crew of series sponsor Paul Barrett of Triton Showers starts at nine, one place ahead of another overseas competitor.
James Ford has been concentrating on Irish International Rally this year but the Raven’s Rock Rally marks his first one-day outing this season.
Completing the top ten is former Triton Showers Champion, Tim McNulty.
The Modified section is led by the Darrian of James Stafford. Eddie Doherty, winner of the recent Laois Heartlands Rally will be hoping to put his recent run of good from use on his home rally.
The third seed in the Modified section is the returning Rob Duggan. He has not driven his Ford Escort since the 2022 Donegal International Rally.
Top locals include Keith Power in a Ford Fiesta Rally 2.
Event sponsor James Boland, fresh from his outing on the Ypres Rally in Belgium will compete in a Ford Fiesta Rally 4.
Rally HQ for the event will be the Viking Hotel, located on the Cork Road in Waterford City. The hotel is ideally located just off the N25 making it a prime location for both
competitors and spectators.
Clerk of the Course Simon Reid said: ‘We are really looking forward to a great day’s rallying. It is the first time since 2012 that the stages for this event are back in County Kilkenny, two of which have not been run since 2007 and one being a completely new stage.”
Motorsport Ireland licence holders took the top three places in the Junior British Rally Championship element of the Ypres Rally in Belgium over the weekend. A total of six Motorsport Ireland crews tackled the legendary event in West Flanders over the weekend. Casey Jay Coleman paired up with Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy co-driver Lorcan Moore for the first time and netted almost instant results. The Ford Fiesta crew were the top-placed BRC Junior team after 18 stages and two days of rallying in the area famed for World War 1 history. It was Coleman’s biggest result to date and came on the back of a bad run of luck. He inherited the category lead of Friday night after rivals hit trouble and a mature drive on Saturday ensured he held station and secured the category win. They were the only Irish crew that did not use Rally Two rules to get to the finish.
“Me and Lorcan gelled very well,” he said at the finish, “We learned a lot, it was great to experience a rally as big as Ypres.”
Kyle McBride and Liam McIntyre were second in the category, but much like the Jim Clark Rally last month, they did so the hard way. An off-road excursion on Friday night left their Ford Fiesta badly damaged. A huge effort from almost all of the service park had them back out on Saturday morning. The ECU failed on Saturday morning meaning they had to rely on Rally Two rules for a second over the weekend.
“It was a tough weekend with a lot of mistakes and issues,” he said. “A huge thanks to the whole team and all the other lads for keeping us going on Friday night,”
He retains second in the Junior category of the British Rally Championship. The category is being led by Kyle White and Sean Topping who finished third in Belgium. Like McBride, they had a difficult weekend and overcame several issues, including an engine fire and an off-road incident on Friday. Nevertheless, they were happy with their pace and the result opens up the title fight in the British championship.
Johnnie Mullholand and Eoin Treacy were fancied frontrunners in the rally but an engine problem on Saturday put an end to their rally. The Ford Fiesta crew reported a smokie engine on Saturday morning and when their team examined it they found a damaged spark plug which indicated an internal issue and they elected to withdraw the car.
Niall O’Sullivan and Rally Academy co-driver Grace O’Brien were another Irish crew to rely on Rally Two rules to get to the finish. They found one of many Flanders ditches on Saturday but after being recovered from the stage they were able to continue.
“This is my third attempt at the Ypres Rally and my first finish,” said the Clare driver.
James Boland and John McCay had the honour of being the top Irish driver on Friday night but a broken wishbone on Saturday paid to their maiden attempt at a Belgian Rally.
Co-driver Darragh Mullen was another Irish co-driver on the lengthy retirement list. He and his driver Fraser Anderson had mechanical trouble in their Ford Fiesta at the event’s first service on Friday night and retired on the spot. However, they were able to donate parts to McBride’s effort to keep him in the rally.
Meanwhile, in Kenya, Irish co-driver Aaron Johnston helped Toyota to a one-two-three-four result in the Safari Rally. Sitting alongside Takamoto Katsuta, the Tyrone co-driver finished fourth after setting several fastest over the gruelling four-day event.
