Caldwell, Ryan & McShea excel on dramatic Tipp Forest Rally
As the dust settles after an incredible weekends action, the 2025 Tipperary Forest Rally will long be remembered as an incredible high point in the history of the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series as two of our class winners claimed first and second 2WD overall positions on what was a truly dramatic third round of the season.
A dual surface series designed to develop the future stars of Irish Rallying, the MIJRS sees competitors tackle a mixed calendar of events, with the Tarmac roads of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship interspersed with the loose and flowing Gravel tracks of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship.
With the support of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, the winners of Class 2 and 2A will each bag prize funding to the value of €10,000 towards their development in 2026 as well as a coveted nomination for the Billy Coleman Award shortlist, a truly life changing prize for any aspiring driver.
Class 2
The drama in Class 2 started right from the opening loop, as three of the leading contenders in this year’s championship failed to make it to the mid-day service halt. Ben McFall, making his debut on gravel in a Ford Fiesta Rally4, slid off the road near the end of the opening Combaun stage, while it was the legendary Kilworth stage that claimed both Jack Harris & Tommy Moffett in similar machines, with a mechanical failure for Moffett and an off-road excursion for Harris dropping them both out of promising positions.
The leading crews to capitalise were the rather in-experienced pair of Jack Byrne and Robert Cronin. For Byrne, the first experience of gravel was a revelation, and the beaming smile at the end of the event told of the fun had on the loose in his Peugeot 208 Rally4, but it would be fellow MIJRS newcomer Cronin, in a Opel Corsa Rally4, who would show really exciting pace on what is only his second loose-surface event to claim a well-deserved third place finish.
A true standout performance was that of Oran England, the former karting star had only competed on the loose once before and set some truly remarkable times right across the day, including the fastest MIJRS time on the Kilworth stage, and was rewarded with a huge haul of Championship points. But of the winner though, Cian Caldwell laid on a masterclass!
Fastest on each of afternoon’s stages, Caldwell brough his Peugeot 208 Rally4 home not only to MIJRS victory, but as top 2WD Overall against a huge field of some of the finest competitors within the Irish Forest Rally Championship. It was a special day for the Caldwell family as brother Ryan finished third in the J1000 battle. With two wins from three events, Caldwell now holds a two-point lead from Jack Byrne, with Jack Harris in third.
Class 2A
The four-way battle for the MIJRS Class 2A title really stepped up a gear as we saw the crews tackle the gravel stages for the first time this season. The pre-event favourite would have been Jack Kennedy, the most experienced of the quartet having won the opening two events this year but the heat and dust of Tipperary hampered the charge with tyre issues on the opening stage leaving the Wexford youngster third on the event but still in the lead in the series standings.
For Darragh Kelly and Tommy Furlong, the prospect of gravel brought different trepidations pre-event, but both showed remarkable performance. For Kelly, the last loose surface memory was of a large accident on this event two year ago, but all that was put to the back of the mind as the stage miles clicked by and there was delight in making the finish. For Furlong, this was a step into the unknown as he made his first start in the woods in a Ford Fiesta R2T, and the former J1000 star truly impressed. Much more experienced rivals were blown away by the youngster’s pace, and he will be delighted to have come home second in the class and right in the mix with the times of the Class 2 crews.
The true standout performance in Class 2A though was Ross Ryan, and his remarkable drive that saw him bring his Ford Fiesta R2T home to victory in Class 2A, but also second overall 2WD on the event! A spin on the opening stage saw a drop of over 12 seconds, but after that it was all systems pushed to maximum attack as he reeled off five fastest times on the bounce and returned to the podium in Mitchelstown with 45 seconds to spare over Furlong, a top-20 finish on the event and right back into the mix in the hunt for MIJRS success!
J1000
As if the drama in the other classes wasn’t enough, the J1000 season took a massive twist on the final stage of the Tipperary Forest Rally as event and championship leader David Travers, on the hunt for a third straight victory, slid off the road. That opened the door to a hugely exciting last stage duel between Kyle Drury and James McShea, both vying for their first ever victory on a full Forest Rally, with McShea having tasted victory on the Mondello Rally Sprint in December.
At the mid-day service, 6.6 seconds separated the pair, but Drury stretched the gap out to 15.9 seconds after the second running of Combaun. McShea was not to be deterred, and a fastest time on the following Kilcornan test saw the advantage reduced to just 0.3 seconds. All down to the final 10km flat out charge over Kilworth, it would be McShea who would once again go fastest, taking victory by just 1.6 seconds from Kyle Drury who finished second for a third successive event, but now holds a significant advantage in the points standings.
The battle for the final step was just as dramatic, as Rhys McElhinney and Ryan Caldwell would battle it out also on the final stage. Ultimately it would be the experience of Caldwell that came to his rescue as he was able to go quicker than McElhinney and claim the final step on the podium.
After an incredible day’s action, the 2025 MIJRS continues for all crews with the Mayo Forest Rally on May 31st, the Ballina based event sees Gravel Rally action return to Connaught for the first time in a decade, before the season takes a break for a few weeks.