Mullen victorious in Class 2 as Academy crews overcome tricky Mayo Stages Rally
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy co-drivers had to be at their best on Sunday’s Mayo Stages Rally to battle through a barrage of wet weather on Ireland’s west coast.
Darragh Mullen added another Class 2 win to his name, steering Oran England to a dominant two-minute, 25-second victory aboard their Peugeot 208 Rally4. The pair moved into the lead from stage two following the retirement of early pacesetters Danny Brady and Academy co-driver Conor Smith.
“Mayo turned out to be a good rally for us across the three challenging stages in very wet and tricky conditions,” said Mullen. “Recce went well, and we put a lot of work into the pacenotes beforehand, which definitely proved to work well once we got into the stages.
“Our plan was to make a steady start, bed ourselves in and get a feel for the car in the wet conditions, especially as Oran still has limited seat time in the Peugeot. We also made the switch to Michelin tyres this weekend ahead of the Stellantis Cup, and we were really happy with how they performed in the rain.”
“A massive thanks has to go to all the marshals who stood out in that weather to make the event possible. Thanks as always to the Academy for their continued guidance and to all the sponsors on the car for helping make it all possible.”
At the sharp end of the overall leaderboard, MI Rally Academy co-driver Declan Boyle opened his National Rally Championship campaign with a top-ten finish alongside Donegal’s Ryan MacHugh.
The Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew delivered consistent stage times throughout the day to secure tenth overall, carefully managing their pace as the rain intensified and conditions deteriorated.
Fellow Academy co-driver Killian McArdle guided Joseph Kelly to 15th overall as they continue to adapt to the Toyota Yaris Rally2 after stepping up from Rally4 this season.
“It was nice to come away with 15th overall in Mayo yesterday,” said McArdle. “Not the nicest conditions for our second rally in the Yaris, it was hard to find confidence in the car, but good to gain some valuable knowledge of what the car will do in very tough conditions. That should leave us ready to hopefully push on and gain more experience now in West Cork.”
Academy athlete Ross Ryan swapped the steering wheel for pacenotes on Sunday, navigating for Richie Power in a Ford Escort Mk2.
The pair overcame the treacherous stages to claim victory in Class 9 and finish 60th overall.
“It was good to finish a tricky rally with conditions like that,” said Ryan. “Unfortunately, the weather meant we only got to do three stages, but Richie was getting more confident as the day went on.”
MI Rally Academy co-driver Paul McPhillips had been leading Class 12 alongside Ford Escort Mk2 man Michael Conlon after a strong drive over Mayo's opening three stages. Unfortunately, their run came to an end on stage four when they slid wide and bent their Escort’s rear axle. A fix in service would have brought them back out for the final loop of stages but they were cancelled due to the bad weather.