Three major titles will be decided on Saturday’s Cambrian Rally in North Wales and Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy drivers are in contention for all three.
In overall terms, William Creighton is one of four drivers who can claim the British Rally Championship title.
The County Armagh-based driver leads the series after six of the seven rounds, but he has only one point to spare over main rival Chris Ingram.
Keith Cronin is in third place, some 21 points adrift of Creighton and level with local driver Osian Pryce.
All four have mathematical chances of claiming the title, dropped scores will play a significant role in the outcome.
The importance of a top score at the Llandudno-based event cannot be underestimated, as the points are worth one and a half times the normal amount, adding further jeopardy to the already unpredictable race for the title.
Interestingly, Creighton and Pryce are the only two drivers yet to play their Joker round and could benefit from the additional bonus points on offer.
However, Creighton must drop a score (as five scores from seven rounds count) while Ingram can add all the points he scores in North Wales to his final tally.
Cronin and Pryce will have to win the rally to have a realistic, but not an impossible, chance of claiming the title.
Creighton and co-driver Liam Regan will also have the benefit of extra seat time having just finished the Central European Rally in their M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2.
“It will be good to head there straight after Central Europe” he said, “And although it’s a vastly different rally and surface, the seat time is important, and I can stay in the right head space.”
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STELLANTIS MOTORSPORT RALLY CUP
There is a three-way fight for the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup title at the Cambrian Rally.
Welsh driver Ioan Lloyd leads the way, but Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy drivers Kyle McBride and Keelan Grogan are also in with a shot of claiming the inaugural championship.
A programme in the FIA Junior European Rally Championship awaits the winner.
Grogan and his co-driver Ayrton Sherlock are Lloyd’s closest challengers on paper after a consistent season which included a category win at The Grampian Forest Rally in Scotland.
"It's been a brilliant championship so far and to see it go to the final round with three different crews still in with a chance of winning it shows that,” said Grogan.
“While the advantage definitely lies with Ioan it’s still not over and as we have seen throughout the year anything can happen.
“For us, we just have to go and push on as much as we can and score maximum points to keep the pressure on. But with Kyle on a similar mission and a few other crews there, it certainly won’t be easy and could produce a great battle."
With dropped scores considered it's Kyle McBride and Darragh Mullen who are closest to Lloyd.
“We really can’t wait for the Cambrian. It’s an exceptionally good gravel event with some really iconic stages,” said McBride.
“For the Stellantis Cup, a lot of things have to go my way, but my main focus is going to the event and having a good recce and then trying my best to be on the pace."
“We all know in rallying that anything can happen, so let’s go and try our best. When there are championships on offer, I think everyone will be pushing, so it’s going to be really interesting. We will just have to go flat out and see how we fair out."
While Lloyd enjoys local status, both Grogan and McBride have contested the Cambrian before and achieved strong results, so the championship is far from a foregone conclusion.
But with a 16-point lead over McBride and 17 points in hand over Grogan, the onus is on the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crews to overhaul Lloyd.
Joesph Kelly/Killian McArdle and Michael Fitzgibbon/Carrie Ryan are also entered in a pair of Peugeot 208 Rally4s, and while they are not in contention for the overall prize, they are in a position to take valuable points from all contenders.
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BRITISH JUNIOR RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
Adding even more intrigue to an already fascinating rally, the Junior BRC champion will also be crowned on Llandudno seafront on Saturday.
Lloyd is chasing down leaders Robert Proudlock/Steven Brown [Peugeot 208 Rally4] for the coveted title, but technically any one of six progressive youngsters can still claim the honour.
Ryan MacHugh/Arthur Kierans [Fiesta Rally4],McBride/Mullen, Kalum Graffin/Mark McGeehan [Peugeot 208 Rally4] and Grogan/ Sherlock are all still mathematically able to win the coveted title.
McBride is third and his fellow Donegal-based driver Ryan MacHugh is fourth. Again, dropped scores and bonus points will come into play, but all four Irish drivers are in with a chance of lifting the coveted trophy.
MacHugh realistically needs to win the class to have any chance of lifting the BRC Junior title and with the majority of his rivals also involved in the Stellantis battle his task won’t be easy but that just might help him too.
“A lot of pressure coming into this weekend but looking forward to the race,” he said.
“I need to win it, and I need Proudlock to come fourth. Hopefully, we can have a good weekend and strengthen our position going into the final Billy Coleman Award selection process.”
Two other Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy drivers, Aoife Raftery and Craig Rahill
are also on the Cambrian Rally entry list.
Raftery will be looking forward to a return to the North Wales stages as she led the British Junior Rally Championship element of the rally last year before overheating brakes sent her plummeting down the timesheets.
“There is a great Rally4 class field there, and lots of drivers fighting for championships, so the pace is going to be fast,” she said. “I am looking forward to seeing how we will get on against them all.”
The Galway-based Peugeot 208 Raly4 driver will have regular co-driver Hannah McKillop alongside.
Rahill will broaden his international experience on Saturday. Already this year he and co-driver Conor Smith have contested a gravel event in Portugal and a tarmac rally in Wales, but this will be their first experience of the famous Welsh forests.
“The stages look very challenging and demanding, we are looking forward to having a big push over them and see where our pace is at against a very strong field of Rally4 cars,” said the Ford Fiesta Rally4 driver.
“It is our final event of the year, and we are really looking forward to a good day racing with the lads.”
The Cambrian Rally is based in Llandudno and will consist of seven forestry stages.
The ceremonial start on Llandudno Promenade will take place from 8 am on Saturday, with the crews tackling four stages during the morning.
After service in Ruthin, three of the same stages are repeated in the afternoon, and the finish ramp celebrations will take place back in Llandudno shortly before 5.30 pm.
LAOIS RALLYSPRINT
Jack Brennan was another member of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy who was in action on Saturday last. He contested the Laois Rallysprint where he finished sixth overall.
He and co-driver Eoghan Doherty won class 3B in their Peugeot 208 Rally4.
“We were matching and beating some competitive four-wheel-drive crews. It was nice to be back on a good pace on the gravel and a really enjoyable day and a very well-run event by the Laois club,” said Brennan. “We were also the top two-wheel drive car so we can’t complain about that.”
Text By Sean Moriarty
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