Rahill wins ERC3 in Rome after epic Sunday comeback
Craig Rahill and Conor Smith claimed victory in the ERC3 and M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy section of Rally di Roma Capitale after a thrilling battle with Finland's Ville Vatanen that went down to the wire.
Lying second overnight on Sunday, 3.7 seconds adrift of Vatanen, the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew dominated the final day with a hat-trick of stage wins to overturn the deficit and seal a 14.8-second victory.
"It has been a great weekend here in Rome," said Rahill. "We had an unreal battle all weekend with Ville and are delighted to come out on top after a big push on Sunday to take 17 seconds back to win by 14 seconds in the end.”
“The car feels very good and is well dialled in on tarmac now so I'm looking forward to more of the same for the remaining two rounds.”
Casey Jay Coleman and Killian McArdle impressed once again to claim third in the M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy. They had been third in ERC3 overnight but had to settle for fourth at the end of Sunday after close battles with France's Lucas Zielinski and local driver Matteo Fontana. The Irish duo are third in the ERC3 standings, just five points off the lead.
“It has been a pretty good weekend for us in Rome,” reflected Coleman. “It is a good result for the championship and we’re very satisfied with our speed, especially on Saturday on some very challenging stages.”
“We knew coming in Rome that it would be one of the most demanding rallies this season so we can be satisfied with the performance and to get the podium in the M-Sport Fiesta Trophy was great. Thank you to the MI Rally Academy and all my sponsors for their support.”
Making it three Academy crews in ERC3's top six, Cian Caldwell and Paul McPhillips came agonisingly close to a top-five finish, just 5.6 seconds away after the two-day event..
"There are plenty of positives to take away from Rome," said Caldwell. "It was quite a challenging weekend with some demanding stages but once we found our rhythm we showed some good speed and we are looking forward to continuing to improve our performances in Poland. Huge thanks to all our sponsors and the Academy for all of their support”
Despite showing strong Saturday pace with a couple of seventh-fastest times putting them ninth overall, William Creighton and Liam Regan were denied a strong result when a puncture on stage six cost them over two minutes, dropping them to 14th at the finish.
"Overall we can look at the weekend as a positive one," said Creighton. "Our pace on Saturday was strong and put us in the mix with some of the fastest Italian drivers who have a lot of experience from the event. I think Rome is the most competitive round of the championship, so to be able to show speed here was important. Unfortunately a small mistake from me resulted in a puncture, costing us a strong overall result. I'm looking forward to the next round in Poland where we can build on this momentum.”
While running fifth in Junior ERC, Kyle McBride and Liam Callaghan's promising rally came to an early end on stage nine after clipping a barrier with two stages remaining.
"It's obviously not the way we wanted the weekend to finish, but there are so many positives to take away," said McBride. "Up until that point we were showing good pace, setting encouraging stage times and, most importantly, learning with every kilometre.”
“From tyre management to understanding how to use the cuts and learning how the roads develop and change throughout the rally, we've gained experience that will stand to us for the rest of the season.”
Back in Ireland, Academy co-driver Dylan Harrington finished second in Class 13 on the Kerry Mini Stages Rally alongside Ford Escort Mk2 driver John Michael Kennelly.