Ravens Rock delivers MIJRS Drama
After just over a month’s break, the 2025 Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series (MIJRS) roared back into life last weekend as the Waterford based Ravens Rock Rally offered our field of future stars a third opportunity to score strongly on tarmac, and to really set up some fascinating battles as the season begins to come towards its conclusion.
Having already battled on the roads of the Midland Stages & Circuit of Kerry rallies, the third of four sealed surface events brought thirteen of our drivers together for Round 5, with a pairing of Gravel events also already in the books in what is Irelands sole National Mixed Surface series, and one aiming to develop the brightest young talent in our sport.
Class 2
With nine stages and 109km of action in store, the 2025 Ravens Rock Rally was always set to be exciting, and after an interrupted opening stage it would be Jack Byrne that would go fastest on the 6.4km Harristown test, the middle stage of the loop. Byrne, the Circuit Racing star in a Peugeot 208 Rally4, would go quicker than the Ford Fiesta Rally4 of Tommy Moffett by just 0.5 seconds, but neither would finish the day with Moffett retiring on Stage 3 and Byrne on Stage 5, both denting their title prospects.
Dan Nash in his Ford Fiesta Rally4 struggled to get on the pace of those around him in the class as he continues his return after a lengthy time away from the sport, but for Robert Cronin in the Opel Corsa Rally4 things really began to click and while he may have finished a bit back from the leading quartet, going quicker by 25 seconds from the first run to the second run over the 18.2km Tory Hill stage is a huge achievement in what is still very much a rookie year.
Two drivers with real intentions to be amongst the championship title race right from the off were Ben McFall & Oran England, and the pair proved that once more in Waterford. For McFall, a costly time loss due to a stage interruption really hampered his day and saw him ultimately finish fourth, but dig beneath the surface and three stage wins tells the tale of a young man really impressing after making the move to the Ford Fiesta Rally4 this year.
In a similar Fiesta to McFall, Oran England is putting together a really strong campaign and this continued on the Ravens Rock as the former Karting star set a consistent pace right across the day and was rewarded with a fine third on the day, and a strong points score now sees him sit second overall in the MIJRS standings as he chases the support packages on offer to the winners with thanks to the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, and the much coveted Billy Coleman Award nomination.
For a driver who we have seen very little of in the series this year, Jack Brennan returned with a bang on his home event and was really on a fast pace throughout, even leading the class at the final Service halt. Ultimately the previous MIJRS Class 1 winner would end up being overhauled and losing out by just 6.4 seconds, but its no shame seeing the form that Cian Caldwell has been in this season!
Four rounds contested, four victories. Not a bad return in any person’s book, but Cian Caldwell has been imperious this term. Having taken victory in the Midlands as well as Tipperary & Mayo Forest events, the Peugeot 208 Rally4 driver started slowly, but a trio of stage wins, two of which came on the events longest stage, was enough to claim the win once more, and the 2023 MIJRS winner now holds an eighteen-point lead in the standings.
Class 2A
A mixed day for our five Class 2 A drivers, for Tommy Furlong in particular it was a disaster right from the off as an off on the second stage forced him to rejoin under super rally, but a determined drive to get the car home secured a haul of valuable points. For Cameron Crozier, it was great to see him make his MIJRS debut in a similar Ford Fiesta R2T to Furlong, and really good consistent run was a great way to get his first points on the board at this level.
Heading into the event as Class 2A leader, it was a frustrating day for Jack Kennedy as he struggled to get on the pace of those around him, and ultimately he would have to settle for third behind the Peugeot 208 R2 of Darragh Kelly who had an exceptional drive to come home second, especially considering the same car wrapped up the NI Junior Rally Championship only the day before at the hands of brother Eoin. The result sees Kelly now sit third in the standings, six points off Kennedy.
Once more though the story of Class 2A was Ross Ryan, as he absolutely blitzed the field to record a clean sweep of stage wins and return to the Finish Ramp with 39.3 seconds to spare over Kelly. With three victories in a row in what is his first season having graduated from J1000, Ryan now holds a four-point advantage in the MIJRS standings heading to a familiar event next time out with the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally on August 10th.
For full information on the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series and to check out the full standings, head to www.MIJRS.ie