Donegal and Beyond

It appears the rivalry between Monaghan and Donegal isn't just confined to football as the world of rallying was treated to a thrilling fight between Declan Boyle and Sam Moffett. The pair were the only real challengers for the win all weekend and in the end it went to Letterkenny's Declan and Brian Boyle. Other drivers Donagh Kelly and Darren Gass unfortunately didn't make it to the end.

Donegal International Winners Declan and Brian Boyle

My pre-event tip to win Gary Jennings wasn't able to match the pace of the leaders but managed to take a very respectable 3rd place while Derek McGarrity had to settle for 4th but the rivalry between Moffett and Boyle over the wekend made the action very exciting. The Monaghan man took the lead on a number of occasions and certainly didn't make it easy for the Boyles.  With the intense competition between all competitors we witnesses something on Sunday that would seem completely alien in many other sports. Declan Boyle's car refused to start at the entry to Atlantic Drive and it looked like his bid to win his first Donegal International could be over. But in an act of compassion his competitors came to his aid and managed to restart the car. There's something about this sport that puts it above any other in my eyes and things like this that make it so.

Runners Up Sam Moffett and James O'Reilly

Looking ahead to the rest of the championship you have to favour Declan and Brian Boyle to bring the Irish Tarmac Championship back to Donegal again this year. The Subaru crew have a healthy lead in the championship now and surely a good result at the Ulster Rally will make it a comfortable trip to the Cork 20 later in the year.

An interesting announcement was made yesterday that could have an impact on Irish Rallying as a whole. The British Rally Championship will not go ahead in 2015 prompting the question where will the regular competitors of the BRC go. Could this be good news for the likes of the Irish Tarmac Championship. The ITC is an incredibly challenging and popular championship and has a rich history of high profile competitors entering it. Could this one year absence for the BRC result in certain teams or even manufacturers heading for the Emerald Isle? It will be certainly be interesting to see.

Donegal International Ready For the Off

Just a few days separate us from the start of the biggest rallying event on the calender in Ireland, the Donegal International Rally. Crews from across the country flock to the North West every year for one of the most daunting, challenging and entertaining events in the country and judging by this year's entry list it's set to be a cracker!

Last year's winner Sam Moffett will lead the field away from Letterkenny on Friday afternoon and the Monaghan man will be eager to make it two in a row this year. Moffett along with co-driver James O'Reilly have been enjoying a fantastic run of form over the year and the pair have claimed a number of victories including the previous round of the Clonikilty Blackpudding Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, the Rally of the Lakes. That being said there is a lot of competition behind him all aiming for the same prize. Donegal natives Declan and Brian Boyle had a mixed year and will be looking for their first Donegal International win. After the disappointment of crashing out in Killarney the championship leaders will be hungry for success on home soil and cannot be discounted for victory. Seeded at number 3 is another previous winner of the event in Gary Jennings. Co-driven by the very experienced Rory Kennedy, Jennings hasn't managed a victory in the Tarmac Championship this year and with the win slipping from his hands with a crash on the final stage of the Circuit of Ireland he will be on a real push. Another driver to watch this weekend.is Donagh Kelly. The Focus driver is another man who has had an up and down year. Two podium finishes in Galway and the Circuit of Ireland were followed by a crash in Killarney. Donagh and co-driver Kevin Flanagan will be hungry for a result this weekend particularly since they are third in the championship just one and a half points behind Josh Moffett. Rounding out this list is the most experienced of the top 5 competitors but despite this he hasn't managed to claim victory in Donegal yet. Derek McGarrity is more than capable of winning but that top spot has eluded him in the North West. Will this be the year that all changes? The rest of the top ten is full of talent with the likes of Darren Gass, Seamus Leonard and John O'Donnell all in WRC machinery all with a point to prove. As for the win? Out of all the drivers mentioned there are only two previous winners among them but that's not to say the others aren't capable of taking their first victory. The form this year has been so erratic that it makes picking a winner incredibly difficult but if I had to pick one I'd put money on Gary Jennings. The 2012 winner will have a point to prove after previous results didn't go his way and with a previous victory under his belt he knows what the winning formula is here. But if this year has proven anything it's that this sport is incredibly unpredictable so Moffett, McGarrity, Kelly or any of the top 10 could be in line for victory.

In Group N Josh Moffett has to be considered the favourite. The younger brother of Sam has had a brilliant year so far and currently lies in 2nd overall in the Tarmac Rally Championship. He won't have it all his own way with the likes of Martin Doherty and Stephen Mc Cann more than capable of challenging.

The National Rally is just as mouth watering and as usual hosts an array of talented drivers. The favourite in my book has to be the 2012 winner Daniel McKenna. Co-driven by Arthur Kierans the Monaghan man has had quite the year so far winning the 2WD category of the European Rally Championship section of the Circuit of Ireland as well as a successful campaign so far in the British Rally Championship. He will be closely fought by last year's winner, Gary McPhillips. The two Escort drivers look to rekindle the battle they shared during this year's Monaghan Stages Rally in which the pair were neck and neck for most of the day. Donegal's Declan Gallagher is also in with a great chance of victory. The Glenties driver has had a great year so far and currently leads the Irish Tarmac National Championship and will be hungrier than ever for victory on home soil. Last week motorsport fans
got a fantastic surprise in the announcement that Motor Bike legend Michael Dunlop has entered the rally in a MK 2 Escort. All eyes will be on Dunlop, who has 11 Isle of Man TT race wins to his name, to see if he can impress in a car the way he impress on a bike. With the likes of Wesley Patterson, Frank Kelly and Manus Kelly to name a few also in the mix it will be a very intense battle for national honours this weekend and looks set to be a cracker.

So all eyes turn to the start ramp this Friday as the 42nd Donegal International Rally kicks off. It's very important to remember that the world of rallying was hit hard by the tragic accident during the Jim Clark Rally this year and with that in mind it is incredibly important people obey the marshals and consider their own safety while spectating. This rally has been hit by tragedy in the past and the last thing anybody wants is a repeat of that so stay safe and enjoy the premier event in Irish Rallying.

Maguire takes the honours in Cavan

It was victory number 6 in Cavan for Niall Maguire as the Ballinode man took the win by 1 minute and 47 seconds over Rodney Wilton and Conor McMahon. Maguire, whose co-driver Conor Foley also took his first ever out right victory, took the lead from the start and never looked back in the difficult conditions in Cavan. Trevor Bustard and John Mc Caffery too the final spot on the podium.

With Wilton holding second place overall all day he was not considered in the battle for Class 14. Michael Curran and Enda Gererty were setting the pace for most of the day but retired after stage 6. In the end it was Adrian Hetherington and Gary Nolan that took the honours by 36 seconds from Jack Maguire and Andy Hayes, Daniel Doherty and Michael Doherty were a further minute and a half behind in 3rd.

In Group N it was Stephen McCann and Paul Kelly who were the early pace setters but a collision with a bank on stage 4 would eventually lead to their retirement in the end it was Trevor Bustard and John Mc Caffery who took the class but with Bustard finishing 3rd overall he forfeited his class win and the spoils went to Pat Kirk and John McEilhinney with William Mavitty and Niall Byrne in 2nd. Neil and Gerard Tohill took 3rd.

In class 20 there was an incredibly close battle for the win between Michael Carbin/Emmett McCooey and David Leonard and Darragh Mullen. The two crews were never more than 20 seconds apart all day. Carbin held a slim lead of 11 seconds after the first loop but by the second service that gap had been whittled down to just 3 seconds. On stage 7 Leonard took the lead briefly by just one second but Carbin struck back on stage 8 regaining the lead by 3 seconds. He finished the final stage 14 seconds ahead earning a hard fought victory.

In class 13 it was Paddy Boyle and Mary Sherlock who took the spoils by 15 seconds from the class winner in Monaghan, Richard Moffett and Martin Connelly. Mark Wedlock and Adam Kinkade took 3rd. It was Russell Woods who took the Paddy Kiernan Memorial Award for his fastest time on stage 7.

Brian Armstrong and Mark Tierney took an impressive win in class 12. They were over two minutes ahead of  James Cassidy and Declan Smith. Arthur and Mac Kierans took 3rd spot.

It was a good win for Chris Snow and Sean Brady in their Honda Civic in Class 11F. The crew won the hotly contested class by over a minute from Darren O'Brien and John McCabe with Adrian Cannon and John McCrudden in 3rd.

It was an all Monaghan top 3 in class 11R with David Moffett and Fintan Sherry taking an impressive win from Martin McPhillips and Ciaran Tynan who were over two and a half minutes behind. Barry Treano
r and Colm Connolly took 3rd.

There was a very close battle in the juniors section with Martin Swinburne and Keith McCannon snatching the win on the final stage from Adrian Sweeney and Gary Lockhart. The Monaghan crew took the win by just 3 seconds. Adam Faulker and Brian Brady took 3rd. The sole entry in historics of Malcom Pedlow and Ivor Ferguson managed to get their BMW 2002 to the finish.

In class 6 Stephen Wright and Karl Atkinson dominated. The Billy Coleman Award Winner took the class win by over 11 minutes from Max McKillen and Tim McQuaid with Liam Branley and Nathan Burrows a further 3 minutes behind in 3rd.

Other class wins include Brian Quigley and Seamus McTigue who took class 2, Timmy England and Breege Reilly were the sole finishers in class 3, Eammonn McCafferty and Michael Donallan were the sole finishers in class 5, Joseph McGonigle  and Ciaran Geaney took class 7, Gene Callan and Sean Bruton took class 9 and John Kelly and Niall Kelly took class 10.

The next round of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship takes us to Sligo for the Connacht  Sligo Stages Rally, the penultimate round of the championship. Hope to see you there!!

2014 Cavan Stages Rally Preview

As another weekend looms we prepare for round 3 of the Sligo Pallets Border Rally Championship. The Cavan Stages Rally offers another demanding challenge for crews as over 100 entries are ready to tackle the nine stages. Looking down through the entry list there's plenty to get excited about as the Border Rally Championship has succeeded yet again to attract a high quality entry.

At the head of the field we have the 2004 champion Niall Maguire who is returning after injury put him out of his home rally in Monaghan. He will be followed by Paddy Mc Veigh who will be hoping for better luck this time out after retiring from round 2. Pat Mc Daid, seeded at Number 53. rounds out class 8 and will be on a real charge against the Subaru's ahead of him. There's an impressive line up in Group N which include Aaron McHale, Shane Maguire and Trevor Bustard. All the ingredients for a great battle!

Rodney Wilton leads away the Class 14 contingent and will be looking for a repeat of his class win in Monaghan. He won't have it all his own way and will have to contend with the likes of Adrian Hetherington, Jack Maguire and Tom Flannery to name just some of the entries in class 14 setting it up for a thrilling battle all day. Class 13 is certainly no less enticing. Richard Moffett will be looking to pick up where he left off in Monaghan with another class win. He'll be challenged by the likes of Russell Woods, Paddy Boyle, Chris Armstrong and Gary Kiernan to name only a handful of the 13 crews contesting the class.

Double Border Rally Champion Arthur leads away another strong entry in class 12. The Smithboro man is having a busy year co driving for Daniel McKenna in the British Rally Championship but he proved he still has what it takes in the drivers seat by talking the class win in Monaghan by 53 seconds. Martin Toner and Brian Armstrong have been very closely matched over the first two rounds and it will be fascinating to see who emerges ahead at the finish ramp Sunday evening. Class 11R should see a good battle between David Moffett and Kevin Bradley, both have a class win under the belt this year.

Plenty of entries in the rest of the field promise an exciting days rallying. Please remember to obey the marshals at all times. We had a tragic reminder how dangerous this sport can be two years ago in Cavan so lets have a safe and enjoyable day, best of luck to all competing, I'll see you on the stages!!

Moffett Makes It a Double In Monaghan

Yet again it was a local win in Monaghan as Sam Moffett took victory in his home event for the second year running. The Clontibret man co - driven by James O'Reilly took the lead from the start and never looked back winning by just over two minutes! Peadar Hurson finished an excellent 2nd in the Escort WRC proving that "90's" World Rally Car machinery can still put it up to it's modern day counterparts. Paddy McVeigh's rally came to an end on stage 4 when the car got beached on a bank and with no spectators or marshals to help he was unable to continue although thankfully the car hasn't sustained much damage. Kevin Barrett came home 4th to take the class 8 win. Sam's brother Josh took Group N honours by over 3 minutes while Richard and David Moffett won classes 13 and 11F also making it a good day for Moffetts.

While Sam's win never really looked in doubt it was the battle in the modified section that really grabbed people's attention. Daniel McKenna and Gary McPhillips had a very close scrap for the Modified honours all day. After the first loop of three it was McKenna that led McPhillips by over six seconds with Rodney Wilton the best of the rest in third, fifty seconds behind. That was all changed at the second service stop however as McPhillips had taken the lead from the Scanbitz Escort, made more impressive considering Gary had a puncture on stage 4. Daniel was complaining of vibrations in his car. The battle was unfortunately cut short as McPhillips was forced to retire on stage 8 with gearbox problems handing the win to Daniel McKenna. With the Scotshouse man also finishing third overall it means he forfeited his class 14 win which was inherited by Rodney Wilton. Rodney has had a bad run of luck the last two years in Monaghan with an accident and driveshaft failure forcing his retirement so it's nice to see a change of fortune for the Cavan man.

Class Wins

In Class 1 Francie McKenna and Sean Craig were the sole starter and brought the car home 74th overall. In class 2 there was a good battle between David Keller and Brian Quigley in their Honda Civics. Keller led from the start with Quigley briefly taking the lead on Stage 3 but it was David that took the win in the end by sixteen seconds. Class 3 spoils went to Mark Ewing and John Egan as they were the sole survivors in the class. In Class 6 Darragh Kelly and Keith Gorrell took the lead after stage 2 and never looked back winning the class by over a minute. Roger Kennedy and Wendy Blackledge were the sole class 7 starters and got their Peugeot 306 to the finish. In class 9 Gene McDonald and Kevin Reilly took the win by over 5 minutes in their Ford Escort. Cathal Sheridan and Evin Hughes took advantage of  the rate of attrition in class 10 to take the win in their Opel Corsa. In class 11F early leaders Kevin and Gavin Gallagher retired their Rover 25 on the second loop to hand victory to Adrian Cannon and Paddy McCrudden in their Honda Civic. Justin Smyth and Sharon Clarke lead class 12 for most of the day in their Escort until their retirement after stage 6 leaving Daniel McKenna's British Rally Championship co-driver, Arthur Kierans to take the class navigated by his soon Mac. A good battle between Colin Flannigan and Patrick Bride's Evo 7 and David Smith and Jason McKenna's Evo 8 for class 15 spoils was cut short when both retired after the second loop handing the class win to Derek Bolton and Trevor O'Connell in their Subaru V4 STI. In the juniors Shane Forde and Brian McLoughlin took the lead on stage 2 and never looked back winning by over three minutes. Peadar Hurson's second overall meant that David Leonard and Darragh Mullen took Class 20 in their Lancer.

A great day was had by everyone yesterday. Thanks to Monaghan Motor for running a great event and for the weather for staying dry! Next event I'l make it two will be Cavan so see you all there!

Monaghan Rally set to be a cracker!!

If the Circuit of Ireland Rally last weekend proved anything it's that Ireland is certainly not short of rallying talent. To see some of the young guns from around the country put it up to their European counter parts was fascinating and resulted in some very impressive drives. The European Rally Championship leader going into the event, Craig Breen kept the eventual winner Esapekka Lappi honest right up until his retirement. Smashing two rear windows and loosing a rear bumper in a high speed moment he certainly can't be accused of not trying. Robert Barrable had a fantastic run to 3rd overall representing Ireland on the podium.


The Combilift boys in Sam and Josh Moffett were very impressive with Josh taking the Group N win. Sam unfortunately retired on day two but set a blistering pace considering the car is new to him. But the man who really impressed me was Daniel McKenna. In an event that was only supposed to be a practice session for is BRC campaign Daniel took the lead of the 2wd category from the start and held it right until the finish. Certainly a good omen for his BRC campaign. The National section was no less dramatic!! Gary Jennings, leading going into the final stage crashed out in dramatic fashion handing the win to Declan Boyle who continues his great run in his Subaru WRC.


So after this dust has settled in Northern Ireland the rallying fraternity moves to Monaghan for round 2 of the Border Rally Championship and the entry list does a lot to wet a rally fan's appetite. With rallying favourites from long ago and from today entering it is sure to be a fascinating day's rallying. Fresh off the Circuit and after his win in Monaghan last year Sam Moffett is seeded at Number 1 and will have his work cut out to defend his win with the likes of Niall Maguire, Paddy McVeigh, Kevin Barrett and Peadar Hurson behind him. The 2wd section is no less mouth watering. Daniel McKenna leads, Gary McPhillips, Rodney Wilton, Manus Kelly in Class 14 and a returning Dessie Kennan in Class 13. McKenna won a dramatic Monaghan Rally in 2012 but failed to finish it last year after and off and is using the event to test out Pirelli's new tyre selection. Gary McPhillips and Rodney Wilton failed to finish the rally last year so they will be keen to put that right this year. Dessie Kennan who is a previous winner of the rally will want to prove that he still has what it takes to compete at the front. Group N is also an exciting prospect  with Josh Moffett heading up a fantastic line up including Trevor Bustard and local man Shane Maguire

 I'll be marshaling this weekend and all I'll say is it's been too long. It looks set to be a fantastic weekend so lets keep the race in it's place and have a safe and enjoyable weekend! Heres is footage from last year's rally. Enjoy! :