After a remarkable season of drama, excitement, high speed commitment and the odd dose of luck here and there, it would be James McShea who would become the 2025 Irish Forest Rally Championship J1000 title, and with it claim the hugely coveted Craig Breen Foundation prize fund for 2026, an incredible opportunity for the Donegal youngster.

Having started the season with a mechanical retirement in Carlow and a challenging drive to a fifth-place finish on the Moonraker, McShea soon began to show remarkable promise. Guided by Grace O’Brien, the fifteen-year-old took his very first victory in Tipperary, before repeating the trick a few weeks later bringing his VW Up! home to the win in Mayo.

In what was his debut full season in the sport, McShea had his eyes now focused on reeling in Championship leader Kyle Drury. Finishing second to the Cavan star in Cork, McShea knew that he needed to both beat Drury and finish in the top two on the season ending Donegal Forest Rally, and the first box was ticked on the opening stage as Drury slid off the road and ended his season early. In an incredibly composed drive McShea and Grace O’Brien returned to Letterkenny in the required second place to grab the title at the death, just a single point separating the pair.

McShea comes from a hugely successful Rally family, with his father Niall being crowned the PWRC Champion in 2004, his mother Noreen a multiple class winning Navigator and Driver and his grandfather James McDaid being a legend of Irish rallying.

With the first Championship of his career secured, James McShea now has an incredibly year in store with thanks to the Craig Breen Foundation, as they continue the support established in 2023 by the WRC star to nurture and develop the future stars of Irish Rallying starting their careers in the formative Junior 1000 class. The Foundation has supported over thirty driver that competed on events in 2025 with Fuel and Event Expenses vouchers, but for the Championship top 3 the rewards are incredibly special.

Having taken the title, James McShea will join runner up Kyle Drury in travelling to Norway this week to receive tuition at the John Haugland Winter Rally School, a legendary training ground for the biggest stars in the sport. Over two days on a frozen lake, the pair of youngsters will learn a huge amount of car control skills and techniques as well as join an illustrious alumni list that includes World Champions and previous Craig Breen Foundation supported visitors Tommy Moffett, Oisin McShane & Ross Ryan.

Later in the year, McShea will travel to Portugal to join the Sports&You team on a round of the Portugese Rally Championship. Sports&You worked with Craig in 2023 as the Hyundai Portugal team, and they continue to support the Foundation by offering a Testing Session and mentorship from their star drivers in a Hyundai i20 Cup car, while also making McShea and his family a member of the team for the event weekend.

McShea and Kyle Drury, as well as third placed David Travers, will also receive a funding package from the foundation to put towards competing in 2026. This support has been a huge help to those gone before them, with Oisin McShane showing remarkable pace in his debut events in a Peugeot 208 R2, while Ross Ryan secured a Billy Coleman Award nomination for his performances in Class 2A.

At the Irish Forest Rally Championship prizegiving in Sligo recently, the Craig Breen Foundation also provided a financial prize package to those competing in the newly introduced J1000 Challenge Trophy, designd to encourage those in non-VAG machinery within the series. The very first winner was Sam Gorman from Donegal, he finished a remarkable season in his Nissan Micra as the only Junior driver in the series to finish all six events. He finished ahead of the Kerry pairing of Frank Wharton and David Slattery Jr.

The work of the Craig Breen Foundation continues as they get set to enter their third year of commitment to supporting the future of Irish Rallying. A newly revamped website launched in November and has a host of information on the work the Foundation does, while a merchandise shop allows supporters to contribute towards ensuring continuing success of the next generation of Rally stars.