Circuit of Munster Rally podium, from left Stephen Reynolds. Ayrton Sherlock, Keith Moriarty, Josh Moffett, Keelan Grogan and Shane Quinn
Moffett asserts authority with start-to-finish victory at Circuit of Munster
Setting the pace from the opening loop, Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty secured a dominant start-to-finish victory at the IPS Packaging Circuit of Munster Rally. The triumph marks their second win of the season, extending their lead in the Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship. It also served as a memorable home celebration for co-driver Keith Moriarty, who hails from Abbeyfeale.
Following setup tweaks made since the Carlow round, Moffett reported that his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 handled significantly better. When drizzle arrived on Stage 6, he pulled clear of the chasing pack to firmly seal the victory.
Claiming a career-best second place overall in their Ford Fiesta were Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock. The crew said that everything clicked from the first stage, allowing them to record their maiden national-level stage win on SS4. Grogan had been in an intense battle with Eamonn Kelly and Paddy McCrudden until Kelly’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 retired following a soft roll on Stage 6, with the two pairs swapping second and third place several times over the opening five stages.
Completing the podium positions, Shane Quinn and Stephen Reynolds took third place in their Ford Fiesta Rally2. Despite struggling with a lack of grip through the technical stages, this result tightens their grasp on second place in the national championship standings, adding to their previous podium in Birr. They also took the valuable power stage point for winning the final test.
A fine recovery drive saw Cathan McCourt and Barry McNulty bring their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 home in fourth position overall, expressing satisfaction at getting back into the top national positions. They finished just ahead of Matthew Boyle and Gary Byrne, who put their Carlow retirement behind them to secure fifth. Driving a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, this is the second top-five pace result of the season for Boyle following his success in Mayo, which was achieved despite him feeling ill all day.
Stepping into the co-driver seat while Declan Boyle’s regular navigator Patrick Walsh was competing in the Barbados Rally, Kaine Treanor guided the former champion to sixth place in another Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 after maintaining a steady, trouble-free pace throughout the day.
Daniel Cronin and Padraig O’Donovan recorded a season-best seventh-place finish. Cronin’s Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 showed improved handling after the crew received setup input from British Rally Championship frontrunner Meirion Evans for the first time on this event.
Eighth overall went to the Ford Fiesta of Gary Kiernan and John McCabe. Kiernan said that while he pushed hard and the car felt exceptionally fast, the stage times did not fully reflect the effort.
Frustrated by a wrong morning setup, Kevin Eves and Chris Melly brought their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 home in ninth position. Eves never fully recovered the pace despite making setup changes at service, though he said that his previous Carlow retirement had no bearing on the final position.
Rounding out the top ten, the Mayo husband-and-wife team of John Warren and Ruthann O’Connor secured their second top-ten finish of the national season, after a similair result in Carlow in their Ford Fiesta Rally2.
Category Battles
An intense battle in the modified ranks concluded with Daniel Breslin and Damian Doherty taking the win in their Ford Escort RS Mk2 following a day-long race with Conor Murphy and Sean Collins. Speaking at the finish, Breslin said he was using the Limerick event as a high-speed testing session ahead of the Donegal International Rally later in the year. Murphy and Collins followed them home to take second in Class 14, while Jason Black and Karl Egan completed the podium spots in their Toyota Starlet RWD.
In the Historic category, Peadar Walsh and Grace Walsh claimed a definitive class victory in their Ford Escort Mk1.
Meanwhile, the Junior field was topped by Graham Roche and Trevor Roche in their Honda Civic. They were followed home by Catherine Walsh and Ava O’Driscoll in second, while James O’Riordan and Josh Radford rounded out the podium positions in third in their Honda Civic EK4.
The Dacia Sandero Challenge provided plenty of drama and a complete turnaround in form. Before Carlow in mid-May, Evan Stapleton and Eddie Byrne had never even achieved a podium finish, but they have now remarkably taken two wins in a row after coming out on top in Limerick. Finishing just 12.6 seconds behind them to secure second place for the second rally in a row were Cillian Doherty and Lauren Doherty. The final podium spot went to Anthony O’Halloran and Cian Lynch, who brought their Dacia home in third showing a few battle scars as they recovered from an opening stage spin.
Class Roundup
The lower capacity classes provided plenty of tracking points for the national standings. The Cavan and Sligo crew of Oran England and Darragh Mullen secured their fourth consecutive Class 2 victory of the National championship trail in their Peugeot 208 Rally4, bringing the car home in 21st place overall to consolidate their advantage at the midpoint of the season.
Elsewhere, Finbarr Hurley and John Kingston steered their Peugeot 106 GTi to the Class 1 honours. The family pairing of Kaelin Foley and Molly Foley secured the Class 2A laurels in their Peugeot 208 R2, while John Bagge and Aoife Ronan claimed their first class win of the year in their Honda Civic.
Jack Brennan and Mark McGeehan were happy to be back on class-winning pace by taking the Class 4 victory in their Ford Fiesta Rally 3. Meanwhile, Paul Cullen and Brian Rowan secured the Class 10 win in their Opel Corsa.
In Class 11F, Jack Maguire and Keith McConnon took home the silverware in a Honda Civic, as Mark Dolphin and Tadhg Delaney proved fastest of the Class 11R contenders in their Toyota Starlet RWD. James Cassidy and Gerard McKenna added another Class 12 win to their record in their Ford Escort Mk2.
A familiar crew went top in Class 13, with Dave Slattery and Denis Coffey emerging on top in their Escort Mk2. John Hickey and Natasha Murphy claimed maximum points in Class 15 behind the wheel of their Mitsubishi Evo, and Gareth Deazley and Oisin Joyce completed the weekend’s class winners by taking Class 20 in their Mitsubishi Evo 9.
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