Mullen claims Class 2 and Stellantis Cup victory on Birr Stages Rally

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy co-driver Darragh Mullen finished at the top of the Rally4 standings on the Birr Stages Rally alongside Oran England, claiming top MIJRS and Stellantis Rally Cup points after a commanding performance in their Peugeot 208 Rally4.

Three fastest times and a lock-out of top-three stage times in Class 2 ensured they finished the nine-stage event with a 19.7-second Class 2 victory.

"We are super happy with how the weekend in Nenagh went," reflected Mullen. "The stages were tricky and we were kept on our toes with trying to find grip, but it was a brilliant day. The Stellantis Cup and Class 2 is a great boost to our campaign. It wasn't handed to us either as it was nip and tuck all day swapping stage times between the Rally4 crews but that's what this class is all about… close competition. The work Oran, myself and the team put into the pacenotes and the car during and after Mayo really paid off.”

Ross Ryan and James Deane finished third in Class 2 aboard their Ford Fiesta Rally4. A string of runner-up times had their Fiesta shoot up the standings, from seventh to third by stage seven, and they hung onto the podium position by 2.4 seconds over Robert Cronin.

"It was nice to get third after a tricky day of rallying on my first day in the car on tarmac," Ryan commented. "The pace was high so it was good to be mixing it with all the top Rally4 drivers.”

Ryan MacHugh and Academy co-driver Declan Boyle built up their speed throughout the event, moving up from 11th overall after stage one to finish sixth in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, their best result since stepping up to Rally2 machinery.

Killian McArdle was another Academy co-driver in top-tier machinery. Alongside Joseph Kelly, they steadily improved their speed through the day to set two top-ten times aboard their Toyota Yaris Rally2 towards the end of the event after a gearbox sensor issue on the first two stages.

"I am very happy with our day in Birr," said McArdle. "We made a big step forward in terms of pace from West Cork. Unfortunately a gearbox sensor issue on the first two stages dropped us quite a bit of time but once we got it sorted we had a good couple of runs. We learned a lot about the car and made a few set-up changes to suit which worked out well.”

Jack Byrne and Academy co-driver Dylan Harrington suffered a puncture that cost them over three minutes on stage two after setting the fastest time on Birr's opening test, while Jack Harris and Aaron O'Regan's hopes were dashed with a puncture on stage two before eventually retiring on the penultimate stage.

Elsewhere, the MI Rally Academy's Junior WRC hopefuls Craig Rahill and Conor Smith finished fourth overall on Croatia's Quattro River Rally. The Ford Fiesta Rally3 duo topped their class and gained valuable experience ahead of the next round of Junior WRC, Croatia Rally.

"We had a great weekend in Croatia and are delighted to get the class win and come away with fourth overall," said Rahill. "We used this weekend in preparation for the Croatia Rally in two weeks' time. It was our first time in the Rally3 on tarmac so we had a lot to learn. We felt comfortable in the car straightaway, built on our confidence, and tried out different set-ups over the weekend.”