Photos by Niklas Falk
Irish motorsport history was made in Belgium at the weekend when three members of the same family finished in the top ten of the Escort Rally Special.
Based at the historic motor racing circuit at Chimay, the rally was open to drivers of any variation of the Ford Escort.
Since its inception it has always been well supported by Irish drivers.
This year five Motorsport Ireland crews made the trip to the iconic rally.
They included the O’Callaghan family from West Limerick who fielded a three-car team.
Christopher O’Callaghan and his parents Ed and Hazel made up more than half the Irish entry at the event.
He and co-driver JJ Cremin enjoyed a rally-long battle with Northern Ireland’s Frank and Lauren Kelly and at the end of the event’s 14 special stages the Limerick driver had nine seconds to spare over his Tyrone rival.
“It’s been an amazing few days here in Chimay, the rally itself has had a real festival atmosphere about it and to experience the fast stages with such a talented driver Christopher has been fantastic,” said Cremin.
“We had a lot of hurdles to overcome between the car cutting out and the heat all weekend which really added to all the emotions when we eventually realised we had secured our first win and memories that will have forever.
His father Ed, co-driven by Kaine Trainor was ninth, one place behind fellow Motorsport Ireland crew Justin McCauley and Oran Taylor.
His mother Hazel finished tenth overall, with Kerry man Keith McCarthy on the notes, making it a memorable occasion for the entire family.
Kerry’s Rob Duggan and co-driver Jason Farrell were challenging for the event lead until a rear axle problem put them out of the event on stage eight. Meanwhile, in Italy, Eamon Bolland and MJ Morrisey had a successful debut in their new Citroen C3 Rally2 on the famous Mille Miglia Rally while Motorsport Ireland co-driver Richard Crozier placed third on the Woodpecker Rally in Wales alongside British driver Robert Wilson in a Mitsubishi Lancer E8.
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