England and Mullen Claim Junior BRC Victory on Debut

England and Mullen Claim Junior BRC Victory on Debut
Cavan driver Oran England and Sligo co-driver Darragh Mullen produced a sensational performance at JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion in Wales, securing a Junior British Rally Championship victory on their debut appearance in the series.
The event counted as a round of both the Junior BRC and the Stellantis Motorsport Cup UK on Saturday, with Sunday offering a fresh scoring opportunity over four final stages.
England started Saturday 15 seconds behind benchmark driver Luke Constantine, the current leader of the UK Stellantis Cup. Friday night’s action had proven challenging for the Irish crew, as a misted windscreen hampered progress over four night tests during England’s first competitive driving under the cover of darkness.
Starting Saturday morning with ground to make up, England and Mullen mounted an impressive comeback across the eight daytime tests. By stage ten, England overhauls his rival to take a 1.1-second lead heading into the final two short seafront street stages in Aberystwyth.
With both drivers sharing stage wins on the seafront passes, England edged out Constantine by just 2.1 seconds to secure the Junior BRC round win on his debut, along with his first Stellantis Cup UK victory.
“It was a tight but fun day,” said England. “There were lots of bumps and crests along the way, it was nip and tuck with Luke all day, but we got here. It has been a great experience, and we are delighted to come away with a win in what was our first time over here.”
Co-driver Darragh Mullen, a former overall Junior BRC champion alongside Kyle McBride, brought crucial experience to the cockpit.
“It is really nice to stand at the top of the podium again,” said Mullen.
The European Rally Championship element of the event continues on Sunday with four stages remaining, where England and Mullen will eye another strong result.
 
Irish Crews Round-Up
 
Donegal’s Kyle McBride and Cavan co-driver Liam Cavanagh ended Saturday fourth in the Junior European Rally Championship category in their Peugeot 208 Rally4. After a spin and a stage interruption time on Friday slowed their progress, the crew climbed from fifth on Saturday morning to finish leg one in fourth.
Cavan’s Danny Brady and Galway co-driver Liam Egan also made their debut on ERC and BRC stages. A spin midway through Saturday halted their push, leaving them fifth in leg one of the BRC. Antrim pairing Ben McFall and Damian McCauley finished third in the Junior BRC after they described as “a very difficult day.”
 
In ERC3, Tipperary’s Casey Jay Coleman and Monaghan co-driver Killian McArdle lie second in their Ford Fiesta Rally3, keeping pressure on the category leaders Ville Vatanen/Joonas Ojala heading into Sunday.
Kallum Graffin and local co-driver Rhodri Evans were in contention for a strong result before a puncture on stage nine dropped them to third.
In the main overall standings, the Tyrone and Kerry crew of Kris Meeke and Noel O’Sullivan lead Rali Ceredigion by 20.5 seconds in their Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, holding a 19 second advantage with four stages remaining on Sunday.

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