McFall masters Yeats Ridge to claim Class 2 victory

Ben McFall and Damian McAuley grabbed a commanding 15.1-second Class 2 victory on the Yeats Ridge Forestry Rally, kicking off their Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series (MIJRS) campaign with a near-perfect performance in their Ford Fiesta Rally4.

The event was making its debut and featured stages in both County Sligo and Leitrim run by Connacht Motor Club.

McFall moved into the lead on stage two and never looked back, claiming six fastest times to stamp his authority on what proved to be a strong start to his second season in Rally4. The Ulster duo finished second in the overall two-wheel-drive standings, showcasing their pace against the modified runners.

Jack Harris and Aaron O'Regan bounced back from an accident last year to claim a hard-fought runner-up finish. Harris looked imperious early on, leading the rally after the opening stage with a time 0.7 seconds quicker than Jack Byrne.

The battle between Harris and McFall intensified as the rally progressed, with Harris finishing multiple stages within a second of the Rally4 winner. Despite his best efforts, Harris had to settle for second, but he will take heart from a strong return to form.

Jack Byrne and co-driver Dylan Harrington secured the final podium position with 4.1 seconds to spare, a spot they held from the second stage onwards.

The battle for fourth was decided on Yeats Ridge’s final test. Danny Brady and Liam Callaghan had controlled the position, and a third-fastest time on the rally’s penultimate test put him within 3.7 seconds of a podium finish.

Disaster was to strike his Fiesta Rally4, though, when its alternator failed, forcing Brady to retire with one kilometre remaining.

A runner-up time on the final Tullynamoyle test ensured Oran England and Darragh Mullen inherited Brady’s fourth spot. England spent the day adjusting his Peugeot 208's set-up, tyres, and pacenotes in what proved to be a valuable learning experience.

Robert Cronin and Paddy Heffernan rounded out the top five, just over ten seconds clear of Ross Ryan and James Deane.

Yeats Ridge MIJRS Class 2 top five:

1 McFall/McAuley (Ford Fiesta Rally4) 38:51.9

2 Harris/O’Regan (Fiesta) +15.1

3 Byrne/Harrington (Peugeot 208 Rally4) +33.9

4 England/Mullen (208) +38.0

5 Cronin/Heffernan (Opel Corsa Rally4) +2:05.4

McShea makes dominant start to Class 2A campaign

On his first event since graduating as the 2025 MIJRS Junior 1000 champion, James McShea dominated proceedings in Class 2A alongside co-driver Grace O’Brien.

The Peugeot 208 R2 pilot mastered the slippery, loose surface stages outside Sligo to win the front-wheel-drive class by almost one-and-a-half minutes. Fastest times on all but three stages highlighted their strong performance.

2024 MIJRS J1000 champion, Oisin McShane, took an early 7.1-second lead with co-driver Niall Myers alongside and looked set to provide serious competition. McShea responded on stage two, reducing the gap to 4.1 seconds and setting up what looked to be an epic battle between the last two J1000 champions.

Unfortunately, McShane's challenge ended on stage three when he dropped out with an ECU issue. He returned under super-rally regulations to prove his pace was genuine, setting a hat-trick of fastest times, including a tied time with McShea on stage seven.

Ryan Caldwell and Breen McNamee finished second as Caldwell learned his new car, while David Travers Jnr and Brian Martyn nursed their Ford Fiesta R2T home in third with clutch issues that had plagued them since the opening loop.

Yeats Ridge MIJRS Class 2A top five:

1 McShea/O’Brien (Peugeot 208 R2) 40:26.5

2 Caldwell/McNamee (208) +1:29.0

3 Travers/Martyn (Ford Fiesta R2T) +2:29.8

4 O’Meara/Seaman (208) +3:10.5

5 Dineen/Duggan (Fiesta R2) +4:28.5

Wray brothers battle for J1000 honours

James Wray and Peter Ward grabbed a 32.3-second J1000 victory in the third round of the MIJRS championship after James’ brother Matthew and Joe McNulty mounted a spirited challenge in a similar Volkswagen Up.

An epic 21.5-second fastest time on stage two, Black Banks, gave James Wray the initiative on the opening loop. The emphatic stage win helped James enter the midway service halt with a commanding 34.3-second advantage over Matthew, who was battling a lack of torque on uphill sections.

Jack McDermott and Paddy Robinson stayed in the mix with a fastest time on stage four, fighting back from a slower opening stage to sit just 10.7 seconds adrift in third with four stages to go.

The competitiveness of J1000 was on full display at the halfway point, with 23 seconds covering the next five crews after the leading trio.

Conor Fogarty and Des Sherlock held fourth and were getting up to speed in a new car. Fogarty was 15 seconds ahead of championship leaders Finn Gardiner and Martin Casey when he was forced to retire on stage seven.

McDermott continued his strong turn of pace in his Skoda Citigo through the afternoon loop, taking more time out of Matthew Wray and moving within 1.2 seconds of him with one stage to go.

Despite going faster than both Wray brothers on Yeats Ridge's decider, McDermott had to settle for third as Matthew clung on in his Up to claim second by just 1.1 seconds.

James Wray was untouchable at the front, his early advantage proving insurmountable as he claimed victory ahead of his brother.

Round two winner James Spillane dropped out on stage three after setting the fastest time on stage one. Spillane and co-driver Maurice McElligott returned under super-rally regulations to set the fastest time on the final stage, showing what might have been for the Seat Mii pilot.

Yeats Ridge MIJRS J1000 top five:

1 J Wray/Ward (Volkswagen Up) 45:21.2

2 M Wray/McNulty (Up) +32.3

3 McDermott/Robinson (Skoda Citigo) +33.4

4 Ormond/Duane (Up) +1:47.6

5 Gardiner/Casey (Citigo) +1:59.3

During the event there was also an in-person Training and Briefing meeting on the Saturday, attended by J1000 and Class 2A competitors, with topics like tracker, Timecards, pre-event preparations, rally signs, and boards covered.

Future events

Next up for J1000 crews is the Limerick Hillclimb on 22 March. Limerick Hillclimb marks round four of the J1000 series, their second asphalt event of the season.

The Birr Stages Rally is the next event for MIJRS’s Class 2 and Class 2A crews, taking place on 29 March.

Pictures by James Burke Photography