Triton Showers National Rally Championship – round-two preview – Monaghan Rally

Sibling rivalry to the fore at Monaghan Rally

Sibling rivalry will be taken to another level on the Monaghan Stages Rally – the second round of the Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship – on April 7.

There is a lot at stake for the two locally based Moffett brothers Josh and Sam.

Josh is the defending Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Champion and is chasing a record fourth title.

His, along with co-driver Keith Moriarty, title defence got off to the worst possible start in Mayo in early March when an opening stage off-road excursion ended the Citroen C3 Rally2 driver’s event.

Several other fancied frontrunners suffered a similar fate in Mayo but Sam – the older Moffett – managed a faultless run to take a deserved victory in his Hyundai i20 Rally2.

They are the top seeds for the Monaghan town based rally – their home event.

Josh will carry the number one on the doors of the Citroen as he won the last running of the rally in 2022. Sam will start at two with local co-driver James O’Reilly alongside.

Both brothers have three wins apiece on their home event.

Sam took back-to-back wins in 2013 and 2014 with O’Reilly alongside before Josh annexed the following two years with Jason McKenna on the notes.

Sam’s third win came in 2017 before his brother scored his hat trick in 2022.

Local honours, sibling rivalry, the defence of a title – there is a lot to play for on the narrow and bumpy roads of County Monaghan on April 7.

But, as was seen in Mayo, anything can happen and anyone of the top ten can pick up the pieces should the top two falter.

Desi Henry was another to fall foul of the tricky Mayo conditions and failed to make the finish in his Citroen C3 Rally2. He showed strong national pace in the latter half of 2023 and he cannot be far away from his first Triton win.

Daniel Cronin and Donnchadh Burke are another crew worth keeping an eye on in Monaghan. They scored a solid second place on the opening round in their Volkswagen Polo R5, winners in the non-championship Wexford Rally last season, the Cork crew are also chasing a first national championship win.

Declan Boyle and Patrick Walsh were another crew in the Mayo wars and will be hoping to put a difficult start to the season behind them when they drive their Citroen C3 Rally 2 over the ramp on Sunday morning.

Eddie Doherty and Tom Murphy are still looking for a dry day so they can fully come to terms with the Skoda Fabia R5 they acquired late last year. Third in Mayo, despite the tricky conditions and three mostly wet days in West Cork has not reduced their learning curve one bit. But like Henry and Cronin, the maiden win is not far away.

Others at the top to watch include Aidan Wray and Peter Ward in another Polo GTI R5 and Gary Kiernan and John McCabe in a Ford Fiesta R5.

Kevin Gallagher is the top seed in the Modified section of the rally. Guided by Kerry co-driver Ger Conway the Darrian T90 GTR driver starts at nine, one place ahead of Paul Barrett. The Maynooth man earned an unexpected bonus in Mayo, taking a large chunk of the multi-thousand Euro Citroen prize fund after being the first C3 Rally3 driver home.

LOCAL PAST WINNERS

The Monaghan Rally is unique in the sense that more local drivers have won this rally than any other round of the championship – the Fastnet Stages Rally in West Cork being a possible exception.

Local hero and former national champion Niall Maguire has won this rally an amazing six times in the past and he starts at 11 in another Citroen. He will have daughter Molly, a past winner in Monaghan Motor Club Navigation Trials in the co-driver’s seat for the first time.

Daniel McKenna and Andrew Grennan (Ford Escort Mk2) and Dessie Kennan and Jason McKenna (Ford Escort Mk2) are another brace of County Monaghan Motor Club members who have won this rally in the past. McKenna won in 2012 with Greenan alongside.

Keenan won twice, in 2017 and 2018 with Enda Sherry alongside who went on to guide Maguire to two of his wins – Sherry’s four-in-row is unlikely to be broken anytime soon.

Keenan’s current co-driver Jason McKenna was on pacenote duty for all three of Josh Moffett’s three wins.

TOP TEN

1 Josh Moffett, Co. Monaghan Keith Moriarty, Co. Limerick, Citroen C3 Rally 2 5

2 Sam Moffett, Co. Monaghan James O’Reilly, Co. Monaghan, Hyundai I20 R5 5

3 Desi Henry, Derry Shane Byrne, Co. Donegal, Citroen C3 Rally 2 5

4 Daniel Cronin, Co. Cork Donnchadh Burke, Co. Cork, VW Polo GTI R5 5

5 Declan Boyle, Co. Donegal Patrick Walsh, Wales, Citroen C3 Rally 2 5

6 Eddie Doherty, Co. Kilkenny Tom Murphy, Co. Limerick, Skoda Fabia 5

7 Aidan Wray, Co. Donegal Peter Ward, Co. Tyrone, VW Polo GTI R5 5

8 Gary Kiernan, Co. Cavan John McCabe, Co. Cavan, Ford Fiesta 5

9 Kevin Gallagher, Co. Donegal Ger Conway, Co. Kerry, Darrian T90 GTR 14

10 Paul Barrett, Co. Kildare TBA, Citroen C3 Rally 2 5

CLASS ROUND-UP AFTER MAYO RALLY

The opening round of the Triton Showers-backed Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship, the Mayo Stages Rally was dramatic, to say the least.

As well as an exciting story from the frontrunners, there were plenty of talking points amongst the class competitors too.

Class 1

Cathal Mullins took the class victory from Chris Rose

Class 2

The home of the latest Rally4 machines Dylan Eves and Craig Rahill enjoyed a day-long battle.

After stage four just 0.9 of a second separated the two, but disaster struck for class leader Rahill on the final test.

A puncture within sight of the finish line handed the victory to Eves. Rahill held on to second as Gareth Deazley took the final position.

Class 2A

Jack Harris repeated his class-winning pace from the opening Killarney Forest rally to claim a dominant victory in his Ford Fiesta R2T. Aidan Kilkenny and David Hunt finished second and third.

Class 3

Ruairi McGarrity left Mayo with maximum scores in class three with Michael Ormond second.

Class 5

Class 5 replicates the overall standings with Sam Moffett, Cronin and Doherty the top three.

Aidan Wray, Gary Kiernan and Jason McSweeney hold the next three spots and they are all entered in Monaghan.

Class 9

Lloyd Hutchinson once again topped the time sheets in his giant-killing Mini. Jason Mooney holds second place in the championship standings ahead of Dwayne Lally.

Class 10

Cathal Sheridan won class 12 in Mayo ahead of Ollie Kierce.

Third-placed Brian Rudden took over driving duties, last year his brother Eamoon was the driver and Brian the co-driver.

Class 11F

Always one of the best-supported classes Sam Johnston came out on top as class regular Des Lyons took second ahead of Damian Cullen.

Class 11R

The top three after Mayo are Ben McIntyre, Anthony Hand and Paul Crosby.

Class 12

Class regular Michael Conlon leads the way after round one with Evan Russell second and Niall Fitzpatrick third.

Class 13

Aaron McIntyre was the surprise winner of class 13 ahead of the local driver and defending class champion John Warren. The Toyota Corolla driver and co-driver Ruthann O’Connor won the Margaret McGreal Award for the best Mayo Motorsport Club crew. Barry McLaughlin finished third.

Class 14

The Modified battle went to the Ford Escort of Jonathan Pringle and Pierce O’Callaghan who put in impressive times all day to bring their two-wheel drive car into the top ten. A tenth-place overall finish was just a reward for their heroic effort all day.

Johno Doogan and Paul Lennon were second in the modified category and finished 11th overall while the final podium position in the class went to Gary McPhillips and Paul Sheridan in another MKll and they finished 12th overall.

Doogan and McPhillips were locked in a day-long battle that was only decided on the final stage.

Class 15

Keith Jacob took maximum points in class 15 but it was great to see Mayo Motorsport Club stalwart  James McGreal take second place

Class 16 Juniors

The Junior rally was won by Donegal man Kyle McDaid and co-driver Conor Lappin in their Honda Civic. Jason Wilkinson finished second ahead of Jordan Jervis.

Historic

The Historic category is being led by David Armstrong after round one.

Class 20

Marty Toner was lying an incredible second overall after the dramatic opening stage in what was his first outing in a Proton 2.5 Millington. He eventually finished sixth to lead class 20 as the championship heads to Monaghan,

Colin Flanagan and Trevor Bustard hold second and third place.

EVENT TIMETABLE

The rally starts at 9.22 am on Sunday, ahead of nine special stages, with the first car due back at the finish ramp at 17.26 pm. Full timetable, stage maps and other key locations available in the official programme which will be available locally in the run up to the rally.

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