By Cian Donnellon
With the emergence of new stars in the making, a huge haul of valuable points and numerous tales of mechanical woe, it’s fair to say that the 2024 MIJRS – Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series had a huge host of storylines that may well prove pivotal in the tale of the season once we reach the finale. Over nine stages and 109km of action, the fortunes of our rising rally stars will play out once more this weekend as we head to the Carlow Stages Rally.
Ireland’s sole national Junior Mix-Surface championship, the MIJRS is quickly becoming a vital step in the development of a host of upcoming and exciting Irish rallying talent, and looking at the bumper entries on all rounds so far this year, it is clear to see the huge buzz around developing young talent at present in Irish Rallying.
Contested across rounds of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship and the Triton National Rally Championship, with bonus Rallysprint rounds for the J1000 crews, the series is designed to give youngsters a balanced learning opportunity across both surfaces early in their career, setting them up for success into the future. Coupled with this is a massive prize fund on offer.
Split across four classes, competitors in this year’s MIJRS are competing for just under €70,000 in funding and support from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, with an additional €12,000 Prize fund announced with the support of Race & Rally which is open to competitors competing in certain Stelantis vehicles.
Before the third round in Carrick even kicked off, much chat was about the efforts being made by Cian Caldwell & Keelan Grogan to simply make the start and compete for a haul of points in the chase for the huge prizes on offer. Competing in the British Rally Championship in Wales on Saturday, the pair wasted no time having cars ready to go again leaving the Rhu Glenn Hotel in Waterford barely 15 hours later.
For Grogan, the effort would ultimately be in vain as his day would end on the final stage of the event when he retired his Peugeot 208 Rally4 from a strong second position in the Class 2 battle, while for Caldwell it was a positive return to form in the similar Peugeot following a poor season start on the Killarney Forest Rally, but there will also some disappointment on losing out on second place on the final test.
Both skip this round.
Pipping Caldwell to that second place was Tommy Moffett, the 2023 J1000 champion continuing his really impressive development behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta Rally 4 he would finish the Carrick-on-Suir event 2.9 seconds clear of last year’s MIJRS winner and the result sees him move second in the 2024 standings.
Mossie Costello made a strong return following an accident on the recent Mayo Stages Rally to claim a fine fourth place and a strong haul of MIJRS points. Both will be looking to impress this weekend again on their less favoured surface of tarmac.
The championship race though can be defined by the difference in fates of a pair of Fiesta’s. For Craig Rahill, he would go quickest on the openings stage, but mechanical woes saw him tumble down the standings and ultimately retire on Stage 4, while for Dylan Eves a remarkably smooth drive saw him romp home to a comfortable victory, and with it he extends his lead to eight points in the MIJRS standings after just 3 rounds, adding a Carrick Forest win to another on round two’s Mayo Stages Rally.
In Class 2A, while claiming the event ‘Drive of the Day’ for his performance on Stage 5, the last event was one to forget for Jack Harris as a loose Turbo hose in his Ford Fiesta R2T caused him to limp through the opening stage and having to re-join under super rally conditions. This left the door open for his MIJRS rivals, and Jack Kennedy pounced to claim victory, with Ciara Duggan also continuing an
impressive development in her Ford Fiesta R2 to grab second place. The trio will be trading times once more this weekend.
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