Stellar performances by Armstrong and Raftery in  Rally Hungary as Creighton bags second in Wales 

Stellar performances by Armstrong and Raftery in  Rally Hungary as Creighton bags second

Photos by Adam O’Brien and Trevor Agnew

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy members have put in sensational Saturday performances in Hungary and Wales.

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy founder and patron described it as “an amazing day for Irish Motorsport,” as he poignantly remembered Craig Breen on the first anniversary of his passing.

In the opening round of the FIA European Rally Championship, both Jon Armstrong and Aoife Raftery delivered sterling performances on the first full day of Rally Hungary.

Armstrong and Rally Academy co-driver Eoin Treacy have finished the day in tenth place overall in their first full day in a Ford Fiesta Rally2.

Armstrong continues to learn the car, he raised the suspension settings at the rally’s midday service in Veszpfrem and despite a mid-afternoon overshoot, he maintained his morning top ten position into the afternoon.

For co-driver Treacy this is his first taste of frontline FIA European Rally Championship action.

“It was a tough but good day,” said the Cork man. “It was a solid run for the whole new show. We will discuss our plan for tomorrow later tonight based on all the feedback of today.”

Aoife Raftery is putting in her best performance ever at the European Championship level.

Now in her second season in the Junior ERC competition, the Galway woman holds an incredible but deserved fourth overall heading into the rally’s final day.

At the event’s midday service, the Peugeot 208 Rally4  driver promised to up her pace and improve on her earlier ninth position

She and co-driver Hannah McKillop honoured that promise, their Peugeot showing battle scars, a testament to just how hard they were trying.

Road conditions are rough and the ambient heat is not making it any easier for the crews but Raftery, so far, is exceeding self-set pre-event targets.

“We are the end of a long day here at Rally Hungary,  and I am really happy with my pace,” she said at the Saturday night service halt.

“We are sitting in a good position heading into tomorrow’s stages. It  has been a tricky day but it’s been lots of fun too.”

“It’s great to be here so a massive thank you to the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy and all my sponsors back home and it is great to have the support of everyone out here.

It is an amazing championship to be competing in with the highest level of Rally4 cars  and it is fantastic to see two Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy cars side-by-side here.”

Raftery’s Motorsport Ireland teammate Jack Brennan, on his European debut, is putting in a solid performance too.

He and co-driver John McGrath are seventh in their similar machine and like their teammate are exceeding pre-event targets.

“It was a great day, my first proper day of the European Rally Championship rallying. It was a demanding day, it was tough, the stages were long and the roads were well rutted up by the time we got there,” he said.

“Happy to be sitting in seventh overall after day one. Being in the top ten on one stage was my target,  so hopefully we just the pace for tomorrow and see how it goes.

A further six, high-speed and demanding stages lie ahead on Sunday morning.

Meanwhile, in Wales, William Creighton and Liam Regan continued their successful start to the British Rally Championship. The Ford Fiesta Rally2 crew were second overall in the second round of the BRC – the Severn Valley Rally – their second such result in as many rallies.

Kyle McBride was second in the junior element of the Severn Valley while Academy colleague Keelan Grogan was third.

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