Tipperary Forest Rally Preview
Photo: Cian Donnellan
Round 3 Preview – Sean Conlon Tipperary Forest Rally
With two rounds down, the 2025 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship season is already shaping up to be a cracker. Entries have boomed to levels unseen in the history of Irish Gravel Rallying, online interest in the series is at an all-time high and yet the current standings look as if the clocks have been rolled back 15 years as Pat O’Connell & Mark Wiley, champions in 2010, lead the way as we head to this weekend’s Sean Conlon Tipperary Forest Rally.
For O’Connell & Wiley, a strong top 10 finish on the season opening Carlow Forest Rally was a steady beginning to their campaign, but a remarkable return to the top step of the podium claiming victory on the Moonraker Forest Rally has seen them soar into a three-point lead in the standings. The pair also took victory on the Moonraker in their Championship season, so perhaps this is a sign of what lies in store as the action moves into the pair’s backyard on local stages on the Tipperary/Cork border.
Behind O’Connell & Wiley, Vivian Hamill & Gary Nolan are in hot pursuit as they have taken little time adapting to the Ford Fiesta Rally2 this year and shared the podium last time out, while Niall Devine sits level with Hamill in the drivers’ title race and Michael Coady is just off Nolan in the Navigators battle.
All seemed soo different leaving Arklow and the opening day of the season, as Keith Cronin & Mikie Galvin stormed to victory in their Citroen C3 Rally2, but with the pair concentrating on commitments elsewhere in 2025 the top Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship points went to second placed Jason Mitchell & Paddy McCrudden who impressed in the Irish Gravel debut of a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. 2024 Champions Derek Mackarel & Eamonn Creedon would round off the opening round podium.
Come April and on a sweltering day in Dungarvan, it was all change. Mitchell & McCrudden chose to skip the trip South, leaving the door open for Mackarel & Creedon as well as local star Andrew Purcell & Liam Breenan, although they would retire before the end of Stage 1 with a power steering failure in their Fiesta, while an uncharacteristic mistake from Derek Mackarel would see them also retire on Stage 2 truly throwing the series wide open.
It would be Pat O’Connell & Mark Wiley that would profit the most as they stormed to victory, even with a damaged hand from a tangle with a chicane early on they managed to hold a gap of 3 seconds to Niall McCullagh & Ryan McCloskey, with Vivian Hamill & Gary Nolan just half a second further back in third.
With a bumper entry list received by Tipperary Light Car & Motorcycle Club, it’s the Championship leaders O’Connell & Wiley that lead the field away with Mackarel & Creedon at number two. Mitchell & McCrudden return as do 2024 contenders Niall McGonnigle & Caolan McKenna, while a surprise name in the top 10 is that of Darren Gass & Neil Shanks, the former Irish Tarmac Rally Champion has decided to take on the challenge of stages such as Combaun, Kilworth & Kilcoran.
New for 2025 has been the introduction of a standalone 2WD Championship, and so far, it has been absolutely dominated by Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey as they have brought their Ford Escort Mk2 home to a pair of victories on the opening events, opening a ten-point gap already. The nearest crew are Damien Tourish & Domhnall McAlaney who have a pair of remarkable podium finishes to date in their Historic spec MK2, with FWD hotshot and Class 2 leader Cian Caldwell showing remarkable speed this season to sit third in the 2WD standings, with Jason Porter holding the same spot in the navigator’s race.
Amongst a boom in entries seen so far in 2025, the largest class remains Junior 1000 with an average of 28 youngsters from 14-17 competing on both the Wicklow Forest Rally and Moonraker Forest Rally. With prizes on offer not only from the Sligo Pallets Forest Championship, but in funding from the MIJRS series and the opportunity to win trips to Norway and Portugal with the Craig Breen Foundation, the action has never been soo tight amongst this incredible field of future talent.
The standout performers in 2025 have to be David Travers & Andy Purser who have a pair of event victories under their belts following the move to a new VW Up! for the season, but it has been tight and hard-fought victories all the way. Kyle Drury & Karl Egan finished second in Carlow by just 3.3 seconds, while it was only 7.7 that separated the pair again on the Moonraker. Jack McDermott sits third in the standings for drivers, while Ger Somers holds the spot for the navs.
This weekend’s Sean Conlon Tipperary Forest Rally is set to add plenty more drama and mystique to the tale of the 2025 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship, with many of the leading crews having not competed on the event when it last ran in 2023 and so there is a unique challenge in store as we head to classic stages Combaun, Kilcornan and Kilworth that all have huge history in Irish Gravel Rallying.
Want to know more about the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship? Check out www.IRLForestRally.com, or follow the series on Facebook or Instagram. We will have updates, images and interviews from across the day!