Encouraged by her second-place finish in the Rally4 class on her recent Spanish Gravel Rally debut, Galway’s Aoife Raftery has placed an entry for an asphalt rally in the same country this weekend.
Two weeks ago the Peugeot 208 Rally4 driver finished second in class in Rally Ciudad de Pozoblanco.
The eight-stage gravel rally was the Craughwell-based Raftery’s first attempt at a Spanish rally.
She faced some of Spain’s top Rally 4 contenders on her way to second in class.
That success has enticed to her do more Spanish events and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy’s first female driver has entered this weekend’s all-asphalt Rallye Ciudad de Valencia.
The rally, which takes place on Friday evening and all-day Saturday is made up of eight stages across 117 km of sealed surface roads. It is the final round of the Spanish Tarmac Rally Championship.
She will be co-driven by County Antrim’s Hannah McKillop.
“I am looking forward to my first tarmac event in Spain,” she said.
“I had a good run on the recent gravel rally with Hannah alongside and we are both looking forward to another rally with the PCRS Rallysport team.
“It is all a good experience; we are going to there to improve and gain that experience.
“It is another different style of rally with two stages in the dark on Friday night. I have very little experience of night driving and it will be an exciting way to start the rally.
“Thanks to the Academy and my sponsors, it is nice to be able to do a rally when things are quietening down at home.”
Raftery’s Peugeot 208 Rally 4 will be prepared, as usual, by PCRS Rallysport.
The Spain-based Irish rally team will also field a Hyundai i20 Rally 2 for Tyrone’s Philip Allen and his Welsh co-driver Dale Furniss. They finished seventh in their most recent Spanish outing – Rallye La Nucía-Mediterráneo – in early November.
Aoife Raftery Rallying is supported by O’Neill O’Malley Architects and Project Managers / Loughrea Auto Parts Ltd / Craughwell Tyre Centre / Sean Fleming Motors / Aertec Vacuum and Ventilation / Des Lyons Plant / Quinn’s Hardware
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