ERC Victory for Coleman & Moore in Barum
Casey Jay Coleman & Lorcan Moore celebrate Barum Rally success. Pic by @World - Red Bull Content Pool
It truly was a case of Czech-Mate as Casey Jay Coleman rounded off his debut season in the M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy by taking a dominant victory on the season ending Barum Czech Rally Zlín, and with it the young Clonmel star claims a remarkable 2nd place finish in the M-Sport Poland backed series.
Based out of Zlín in the South-East of Czechia, the Barum Rally is a legendary Tarmac event that attracts some of the finest driving talent in the world year after year, and it has been a round of the European Rally Championship (ERC) continuously since the mid-80’s.
Competing in a Ford Fiesta Rally3 and joined by Lorcan Moore in the Navigators seat, the event would start strongly for Coleman as the opening six stages saw times being set amongst the top three runners in the M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy, but as can happen so often in rallying a huge amount can change in a single stage.
Over the 18.1km Bunc test, Coleman would pass two of his rivals as they hit issues, and finishing over 40 seconds clear of his nearest rival saw Casey Jay & Lorcan race into an overnight lead. Understandably overjoyed at the performance on the opening day, Casey Jay had this to say to the thousands watching the action live on ERC TV;
"I really enjoyed the afternoon. I was annoyed with myself this morning after making some small mistakes, but we’ll keep doing what we’re doing and push on. Second in ERC3 and leading the M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy means it’s been a good day’s work but it’s a hard rally."
With a sizeable buffer of a lead overnight, the key plan was now to manage the advantage and bring the result home which was executed perfectly. A steady run over the opening stage of Sunday morning was followed by a brilliant performance on the 20.6km Podhoran test which saw Casey Jay Coleman take over 36 seconds from his closest rival, and truly cemented his hold on the lead.
By the finish ramp in Zlín, the advantage had increased even further as Casey Jay Coleman & Lorcan Moore finished the legendary event with just shy of two minutes to spare from local crew Daniel Polasek & Zdenek Omelka, and with it claimed a very first victory for the Irish pair in the M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy.
Taking the win in Barum on the final round of the season, Coleman secured a second-place finish in the standing which is a remarkable feat in a debut season at European level that has seen the youngster compete at events in Spain, Hungary, Poland and Italy before this weekend in Czechia. The victory also sees Casey Jay claim the Pirelli prize package for his victory, with 12 new tyres for his next European Rally Championship event.
To top off an incredible event, Coleman & Moore finished second overall in the ERC3 class, one of the most hotly contested feeder series in European Rallying as a huge array of the sports most talented youngsters make their first foray into 4WD machinery. The result in Barum follows another podium finish for Coleman on the recent Rally di Rome Capitale. A lot of this success is as a result of a brilliantly prepared car, and special mention must go to Noel, Ryan & Rory Loughran of RLA Autosport who have perfectly run the Ford Fiesta Rally3 right across the season.
The European Rally Championship continues with the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion in Wales between September 5th and 9th, with the season ending Rally Croatia at the start of October.
