Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy made a memorable return to Irish rallying on Sunday, winning the Midland Motor Club’s Jeremy O’Connor Longford Arms Hotel Stages Rally on the final stage over three-time British Rally Champion Matt Edwards.
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew had swapped their M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 for a Fiesta Rally2 from the Paul Rowley stable to take on the Motorsport Ireland Triton Showers National Rally Championship’s opening round.
Despite a small technical issue, McErlean took an early lead on the nine-stage event. Two stage wins gave the 25-year-old a 4.4-second advantage over Edwards.
McErlean and Treacy continued to adapt to the new car as the Midland’s junctions became muckier through its second loop of stages with a determined Edwards moving into a 4.4-second lead after stage five.
A superb 5.4-second stage win put McErlean and Treacy back in front on stage six but Edwards jumped into the lead again on Midland’s next test. The M-Sport Ford crew had 0.3 seconds to claw back on Midland’s deciding stage. An all-out attack on the 14.7-kilometre Bawn stage gave McErlean and Treacy their fifth fastest time of the day which was just enough to claim a half-second win - their first Triton Showers sponsored Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship victory.
“I am absolutely delighted to take the win on the Midland Stages Rally,” said McErlean. “It was a really nice battle, but we gave it everything and came out on top.
Treacy - L / McErlean - R
“A huge thank you to Paul Rowley for his incredible support and to Woodland NI and Jefferson Tools for coming onboard for the event.
“I really appreciate everyone’s support, it was great to return home and show what we have learned in WRC. Hopefully we can return again at some point this year to enjoy the fun atmosphere of Irish rallying.”
Watch:
Byrne - L / Henry - R
MI Rally Academy co-driver Shane Byrne finished fourth on the Midland Stages Rally alongside Desi Henry. The Citroen C3 Rally2 crew struggled to find complete confidence on Sunday morning’s slippery stages and found themselves seventh after stage three.
Henry and Byrne’s pace developed through the day with a trio of top-three stage times helping them climb up to an eventual fourth-place finish overall and more importantly second-place championship points.
Mullen
McErlean - L / Rowley - R
Darragh Mullen was another academy co-driver aboard Rally2 machinery on Sunday. He finished 26th overall alongside Paul Rowley who travelled from America to compete in his home event. It was a perfect day out for Rowley who witnessed McErlean take the overall win in the Fiesta Rally2 he provided.
Boyle - L / MacHugh - R
Ryan MacHugh and Declan Boyle made their Ford Fiesta Rally3 debut on Ireland’s opening event of the year. They stayed out of trouble amid challenging mixed road conditions to take a 4.1-second class victory.
“It was a difficult day to learn the car,” admitted MacHugh. “The conditions made it tricky to find the Rally3 Fiesta’s limit so I feel like there is still a lot more to come. It was a good day overall, though, and nice to get the class win.”
Rahill
Craig Rahill and Conor Smith took a narrow 3.8-second Class 2 victory over fellow academy crew Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock. A hat-trick of stage wins gave Rahill an early jump over his rivals but Grogan responded on Midland’s middle loop of stages, eventually closing the gap to half a second with one stage remaining.
"Good day today in the midlands; some tight racing all day today with Keelan, and it was all decided on the last stage. Our main aim for today was to test out the Hankook's and to come away with a class win at the end of it. It is a great confidence booster, and it shows the potential these hankook's have" said Rahill.
"Thankfully, we got the jump on the lads in the morning because they were chasing us down for the rest of the day to bring it to 0.5 seconds going into the last loop. The heavens opened as we lined up for the last stage to make things interesting and the Hankook softs worked well with the skiff of rain to take the class win in the end by 3 seconds"
Watch:
The Rally4 crews arrived at Midland’s final test, greeted by a surprise shower of rain. Rahill, who was using Hankook tyres for the first time, charged through the wet stage to record another fastest time, securing top spot over fellow Peugeot 208 Rally4 driver Grogan.
Grogan
O'Regan - L / Harris - R
Jack Harris and Aaron O’Regan made their Ford Fiesta Rally4 debuts on the Midland Motor Club Stages Rally. They upped their pace through the day to climb from eighth in the competitive class to an eventual top-five finish and third in the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series.
“We had a good day settling into our new car,” said Harris. “After a tricky first loop with plenty of mud on the stages, we made some set-up changes to set a couple of third fastest times in class.”
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