Harris claims Class 2 victory after tense battles
Jack Harris and Aaron O'Regan grabbed the Class 2 victory on the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally after a thrilling battle with Danny Brady and Oran England throughout the day. The Ford Fiesta Rally4 crew claimed the class lead on stage three after setting a brace of fastest times.
It was Brady who started the day on the front foot though, going 7.9 seconds quicker than nearest rival England on the opening Glenannar test. The Cavan youngster overshot coming into a chicane on stage two, damaging his front bumper which then caused his brakes to overheat.
After losing the lead to Harris on the third stage, Brady went fastest again on stage four to move within four tenths of Harris. England was also close behind in third, just 5.6 seconds back after battling through a broken spring.
The top three shifted on stage five, Streamhill with England setting the fastest time to move into second. But it was Brady who retook the Class 2 lead by 1.6 seconds. Disaster struck on the way back to service for Brady. He had to retire on the road section with a mechanical issue.
Then it was England’s turn to suffer misfortune when his Peugeot 208 Rally4 suffered gearbox trouble that would eventually stop them before the final stage. That left Harris and O’Regan to claim a 46.1-second victory over Jack Byrne and Dylan Harrington with Ross Ryan and James Deane rounding out the top three.
Ben McFall kept heart despite handling issues early in the day to climb from eighth to fourth, gaining crucial points for his championship challenge.
"We had a fantastic day at the Jim Walsh, winning two of the first three stages and heading into service with the Rally4 lead," Harris said. "After stage seven we had a great run and were ten seconds faster than our rivals to go into the lead of the two-wheel-drive battle. Unfortunately we got red-flagged on stage eight and lost the two-wheel-drive win but that's the way it works sometimes.”
Cork Forest Rally MIJRS Class 2 top four:
1 Harris/O'Regan (Ford Fiesta Rally4) 43:10.6
2 Byrne/Davies (Peugeot 208 Rally4) +46.1
3 Ryan/Deane (Fiesta) +55.7
4 McFall/McAuley (Fiesta) +1:28.8
MIJRS Class 2 standings after round 5/8
1 Harris - 82 points
2 Byrne - 76
3 Ryan - 74
4 McFall - 73
5 England - 71
McShane dominates Class 2A, winning every stage
Oisin McShane and Niall Myers claimed a dominant Class 2A victory on the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, taking every stage win in the class and finishing an incredible fourth in the two-wheel-drive standings.
The Peugeot 208 R2 pilot led from stage one to the finish, controlling the event on the fast and flowing Cork stages. McShane's 5.8-second advantage over James McShea on stage one set the scene for the rest of the day as the two J1000 champions once again set a high benchmark for Class 2A pace.
McShea remained consistent in second place, fighting back from brake problems that upset his rhythm over the first two loops. The Class 2A rookie was unable to match McShane's ultimate place but still impressed given his limited gravel experience. The two crews were setting stage times more akin to the higher specced Rally4 cars, another sign of their future promise.
Ryan Caldwell and Ben Thompson were third after stage one but their hopes were stalled by a one minute penalty on the next stage. That put Tommy Furlong into the final podium place which he controlled through the day despite coming under increasing pressure from Tony Dineen. Ford Fiesta R2 ace Dineen reduced Furlong's third-place advantage from 20 seconds to five seconds over the second half of the event but it just wasn't enough to usurp his rival.
Caldwell ended up in fifth after climbing back up the leaderboard following his early penalty.
"It was a good day for us in Cork, taking every stage win in Class 2A and finishing fourth in two-wheel-drive," McShane said. "Enjoyable stages, very fast and committed and I was happy with my pace considering it was my first day in the car. Thanks to everyone for helping me.”
McShane is now tied on points with McShea at the top of the MIJRS standings with Furlong only a further three points back.
Cork Forest Rally MIJRS Class 2A top five:
1 McShane/Myers (Peugeot 208 R2) 43:53.1
2 McShea/Callaghan (208) +45.6
3 Furlong/O'Sullivan (Ford Fiesta R2) +2:43.4
4 Dineen/Duggan (Fiesta) +2:48.4
5 Caldwell/Thompson (208) +3:47.8
MIJRS Class 2A standings after round 5/8
1 McShea - 76 points
2 McShane - 76
3 Furlong - 73
4 Travers - 70
5 Caldwell - 63
Travers sprints to Top J1000 at Imokilly Forest Event
A counting round of the #J1000 MIJRS category took place at the recent Imokilly Forest Rally Sprint, 15 registered drivers between the ages of 14 and 19 lined up to see who would come out fastest over four timed runs in Lyradane Forest in Grenagh, Co Cork.
Quickest on the first run was Daniel Ormond, showing the same pace in his VW UP that seen the Tipperary teenager take top points on the first gravel event of the season back in Boggeragh. Leading a large contingent of KDMC2 drivers, James Spillane was only 1.3 seconds in arrears in his Seat Mii and 1.6 seconds ahead of another Tipperary teen, Conor Fogarty in another VW UP. Kilkenny’s James Travers was 0.9 off the podium in his Peugeot 107.
The second running seen Ormond again go fastest but time loss for Spillane seen him drop out of the podium places with Fogarty and Travers capitalizing.
Disaster stuck for Ormond on the third run with him dropping a whopping 3 mins and plummeting down the leaderboard, James Travers set fastest time on 3 to move into first place with Fogarty also hitting trouble and dropping from the top 3 which seen Donegal’s Dean Bonner move his VW UP into second and another KDMC2 driver David Slattery now third in his Hyundai i10.
On the final run of the day Ormond recovered to go 2nd fastest but with the earlier time loss and cumulative times counting it was only enough to see the top points scorer in Round 5, the Moonraker Rally finish Imokilly in 14th MIJRS points position.
It was Travers and his navigator and father; James, who held on to take the win, the Kilkenny teen following in his brother David’s tyre marks in winning a MIJRS round and claiming maximum points. Bonner and Spillane were 2nd and 3rd (Spillane going quickest on the last stage) with David Slattery having to settle for 4th. Conor Fogarty finished 5th while Clare’s Finn Gardiner was 6th in his Skoda Citigo (and continues to lead the Championship). 7th was Sean McMackin from Tyrone, also in a Skoda Citigo while Dubliner James Kelly was only 0.8 behind in 8th in his Peugeot 107. 9th was Holly Dunnion from Meath who continued to pick up championship points which seen her move into 3rd place standings in her ex Danny Brady Peugeot 107. 14 year old Sean Ryan, younger brother of MI Rally Academy driver Ross Ryan drove his Peugeot 107 to 10th, 0.5 of a second ahead of 11th placed Darren McEnroe from Meath in his VW UP. Aidan O’Leary, also part of the very successful KDMC2 program was 12th in his Toyota Aygo, 13th was Wexford’s Katelyn Furlong in her Peugeot 107 with aforementioned Ormond in 14th just ahead of Gareth McGettrick who recovered from a stage one maximum to set top 3 times during the final 3 stages.
MIJRS J1000 standings after round 7/10
1 Gardiner - 59 points
2 Travers - 55
3 Dunnion - 52
4 McEnroe - 51
5 McDermott - 51
Matthew Wray claims maiden J1000 win
Matthew Wray and Rory McCann sealed Junior 1000 honours on the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally after a thrilling battle with his brother James that ended with the Yeats Ridge Forest Rally winner's retirement on stage five.
The Wray brothers started the day locked in combat, with James setting the early pace on stage one with, holding a 4.5-second advantage over Matthew. Frank Wharton and Daniel Ormond were close behind in third and fourth driving similar Volkswagen Ups. Matthew struck back immediately on stage two, taking the lead with the fastest J1000 time to take a 0.8-second lead.
Wharton's run came to an end on stage two with Gareth McGettrick jumping an incredible 10 places on the same test to fourth, highlighting the closeness of J1000 competition.
Conor Fogarty and James Spillane were both within 3.1 seconds of McGettrick’s fourth position after stage three, Coolfree, before McGettrick’s retirement on Cork’s fifth stage.
James Wray was another high-placed retiree on the Streamhill test, clipping and shearing his wheel while in second position. That handed Matthew Wray a 17.5-second lead over Daniel Ormand which he maintained through the rest of the event.
Ormand and co-driver Mairead Duane eventually finished 19.7 seconds back in their Up, over a minute clear of Fogarty who claimed the last podium position.
Spillane was as high as third in J1000 before his retirement, with James Travers Jnr and Oscar McShane rounding out the final top five positions.
Cork Forest Rally MIJRS J1000 top five:
1 M Wray/McCann (Volkswagen Up) 52:07.8
2 Ormond/Duane (Up) +19.7
3 Fogarty/Sherlock (Up) +1:21.1
4 J Travers/Joyce (Peugeot 107) +1:55.0
5 McShane/Deazley (Up) +2:03.6
MIJRS J1000 standings after round 8/10
1 Travers - 72 points
2 Dunnion - 62
3 Gardiner - 60
4 Kelly - 60
5 Fogarty - 59
Future events
The next event for Class 2 and Class 2A’s competitors is the Galway Summer Rally, running on Sunday 23rd August. The next J1000 round takes place two weeks later on the Donegal Hillclimb.
Pics by Andy Walsh, Ciandon, W.L.C. Pictures & SJM Rallying