Aoife Raftery shows determination in the face of adversity in Estonia

Aoife Raftery shows determination in the face of adversity in Estonia

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Aoife Raftery and her co-driver Hannah McKillop put pre-event practice to good use on Saturday when they changed a punctured wheel in less than two minutes.

The Peugeot 208 Rally4 crew are contesting the Junior element of the FIA European Rally Championship and are continuing to impress with their improvement in pace on each passing event.

Last weekend’s Rally Estonia was the fourth of six rallies in Raftery’s Junior FIA European Rally Championship programme this season.

The Craughwell native, who is co-driven by County Antrim’s McKillop, drives a PCRS Rallysport-prepared Peugeot 208 Rally4.

Rally Estonia got underway on Friday night and the Irish crew set consistent top-ten class times until their rally nearly came undone on stage nine on Saturday afternoon.

The already challenging rally was made even more difficult by poor weather conditions. Heavy downpours and thunderstorms meant competing crews were often greeted by deep ruts and rock-strewn roads on the special stages.

A previous competitor had dislodged a rock and knocked it straight into the racing line of Irish crew’s Peugeot.

Unable to avoid the rock, the car suffered a front-right puncture. They elected to stop and change the wheel to prevent further steering and suspension damage.

Ahead of each rally, the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew practice what needs to be done in such circumstances.

Each crew member has a defined role. Once the decision is made to stop and change the wheel the plan kicks into action.

Raftery manages the wheel-nut gun and jack while McKillop extracts the spare wheel from the boot.

Once the wheel is swapped the co-driver concentrates on securing the damaged wheel in the car while the driver tightens the wheel nuts and drops the jack.

With that task completed, under rally rules, they are not allowed to drive on the special stage again until their harnesses and other safety equipment are fully tied.

From start to finish, the two Irish women completed the entire operation in two minutes.

“Hannah did a fantastic job all weekend on the notes and we worked really strong together especially when we got the puncture and changing it on the stage. We had it practised with the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy so we knew exactly what to do and who was doing what,” said Raftery.

Although the incident cost time they still finished the rally in eighth place in the junior class, their fourth consecutive top-ten finish this season.

“It was a very difficult weekend, conditions varied a lot with the extreme rain, bad ruts and losing time to stop and change the puncture,” said the Craughwell-based driver.

Their run to the finish was not without incident either. They were caught in the worst of a thunderstorm as they powered their way through the 14th and final test.

“It was a tricky final day. The conditions were difficult but we managed and we learned a lot this rally that we can take forward, especially if we return next year,” she added.

“A massive thank you to the  Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy and the guys at PCRS Rallysport who ran a faultless car all weekend and to all my sponsors for making this happen.”

“The PowerStage was incredible. It was just so slippery so we just took it cautiously to get to the finish.”

The junior category was won by local hero Jaspar Vaher.

“There is a lot we can take from a rally like this and use in the future, for sure,  and we have to remember that when we are racing the local guys,” she said.

Aoife Raftery is supported by Des Lyons Plant | Kenny (Peugeot) Galway | O’Neill O’Malley Architects and Project Managers | Loughrea Auto Parts | Craughwell Tyre Centre | Sean Fleming Motors | Quinn Hardware | Kerry Motorsport News

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