Raftery impresses in Wales ahead of Women’s Driver Development Programme
Raftery impresses in Wales ahead of Women’s Driver Development Programme
Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Aoife Raftery continued her impressive form at Rali Ceredigion, securing two top-five stage times in the Hankook Tires Junior FIA European Rally Championship event.
This outstanding performance serves as a strong warm-up for her upcoming participation in the Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Programme training camp in Poland.
Raftery, partnered with Hannah McKillop, navigated their Peugeot 208 Rally4 to a brace of top-five stage times, showcasing her growing talent and skill in the Welsh round of the European Rally Championship.
Her fourth-placed time in the class marked her best performance on a European Rally Championship stage, highlighting the significant progress she has made in two years of European rallying.
“The European Rally Championship is at such a high level of competition and has brought me on so much in the last couple of years,” said the Craughwell, County Galway-based driver.
Despite facing handling challenges on Saturday morning, Raftery and McKillop’s team made significant improvements to the car during the midday service break.
This allowed them to increase their pace dramatically in the afternoon, resulting in a strong finish for the opening day.
On Sunday, the Irish duo maintained their position and delivered two particularly impressive performances on the wet final stages.
“We really enjoyed the two stages in the afternoon and we made a very good step in the right direction,” she said.
“It’s nice to have a good end to the rally. We did struggle a lot on Saturday but we improved the confidence on Sunday.”
With this strong result, Raftery heads into the Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Programme training camp with confidence
“It has been fantastic and we wouldn’t be here without everybody supporting us and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy,” she added.
Phots by Tom Banks Photography, Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy and Kerry Motorsport News
Aoife Raftery is supported by Des Lyons Plant | Kenny (Peugeot) Galway | O’Neill O’Malley Architects and Project Managers | Loughrea Auto| Liscon Transport Parts | Sean Fleming Motors | Quinn Hardware |KG Motorsport | Kerry Motorsport News.
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