Rahill seals second podium of maiden Junior WRC campaign on Rally Chile
Craig Rahill and Conor Smith capped their maiden Junior WRC campaign with a podium finish on Rally Chile, climbing to third to secure their second Junior WRC podium of the year and move inside the top five in the final championship standings.
The Cavan crew managed muddy opening stages to end day one sixth in Junior WRC before going fastest on Saturday's final test to move up to third. More top-three times across Sunday's four stages confirmed their podium finish and a positive end to their maiden season.
“Delighted to pick up a podium in Chile,” reflected Rahill. “We arrived with a goal this weekend to just keep our noses clean and get as much mileage and experience as possible.”
“We were rewarded with a podium in the end which was really special and a great way to finish off an epic season. We really enjoyed Saturday's stages and got into a good rhythm. We picked up a stage win on the final stage which was the longest stage of the rally - that was cool to get.”
The Rally1 crew of Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy secured seventh overall on Rally Chile, backing up their sixth-place finish at Rally Paraguay with another points-scoring performance to complete a strong South American double-header.
An early puncture on Saturday cost them a minute before managing a handling issue. The M-Sport mechanics’ quick work in service helped the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy duo fight back to seventh by the end of the day.
A small overshoot on Sunday dislodged the Puma's front bumper, but the damage was only cosmetic and McErlean brought the car home to secure seventh overall.
"It's been a really positive couple of weeks in South America, and I think we can take plenty away from both rallies," said McErlean. "It's not quite come together in Chile in the same way it did in Paraguay, but we've dealt with the challenges and the cards we were dealt really well. Getting back-to-back finishes well inside the points is really important for us at this stage of the season.”
Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne overcame a challenging Rally Chile debut to gain more South American experience and show flashes of their speed. A clean Friday was followed up by a speedy start to Saturday to move into sixth. Unfortunately mechanical damage after a roll on Saturday's second test forced them out, returning under super-rally regulations for Sunday's final four stages.
"It wasn't the weekend we wanted," reflected Armstrong. "We got caught out by a corner that tightened a little quicker than I was expecting, ran wide, hit a bank and rolled. It was quite tricky getting back behind the wheel on Sunday, but we managed to pick ourselves up throughout the day and finished with a strong run on the Power Stage.”
Making their first start together, Toyota's Takamoto Katsuta and Ireland's James Fulton endured a challenging start to the rally, getting stuck six kilometres into the opening stage. The crew returned under super-rally regulations and set a top-four time on the Power Stage to salvage something from a difficult weekend.
Back at home, Casey Jay Coleman and Killian McArdle showed blistering pace on their Skoda Fabia Rally2 debut at the Wexford Stages Rally before an overshoot cost them a chance of overall victory. The all-Academy crew set the fastest time on stage one by 8.5 seconds and followed up with four more stage wins to lead the rally by 24.4 seconds.
A small overshoot on stage six had them stuck on a grass verge, costing almost four minutes and dropping them to 14th overall. Coleman and McArdle responded with three more fastest times on Saturday before a puncture in Sunday's morning loop failed to slow their fightback, setting two further fastest times to climb to third overall with ten of the event's 18 fastest stage times.
"It's been a crazy weekend in Wexford," said Coleman. "The rally started much better than I anticipated when we set the fastest time on stage one and only got better as we followed up with five more stage wins to lead the rally. It has been great development on all kinds of weather conditions and a great learning experience for both myself and Killian.”
2023 Billy Coleman Award winner Jack Brennan and co-driver John McGrath had an excellent run in their Ford Fiesta Rally3, storming to the class win and fourth overall.
In Rally4, Jack Kennedy and James Deane finished third in the Stellantis Cup Ireland standings after overcoming a difficult start.
"We struggled in the tricky conditions on Saturday morning and intercom issues on the opening loop hampered our progress," said Kennedy. "Nonetheless we managed to finish fourth in Stellantis on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday we were feeling more confident in the car with every stage we completed. We kept our noses clean to come home with third in the Stellantis Cup.”
Academy co-driver Dylan Harrington competed on Belgium's Escort Rally Special alongside John Michael Kennelly. The Irish duo finished fifth overall and first in class on their event debut.
“We had a brilliant weekend out in Belgium for our first time competing there,” said Harrington. “It was a very tricky rally with different levels of grip on nearly every corner and a lot of cuts and gravel pulled out. A massive thanks to all of the lads who helped out in service changing a subframe on Sunday afternoon, only for them we wouldn’t have finished the rally. Thanks to the Academy for all their help and guidance.”
Oisin McShane and Niall Myers, J1000 and Class 2A graduates, were competing in Portugal and finished inside the top 10.
