Robert's Rally Buzz - December 2024

Looking Back at 2024

I officiated on just 12 events this year between February and October. For many years I managed to squeeze in 40 or more marshalling days throughout the British Isles. Nowadays however I only marshal on rallies I enjoy and hope that I can contribute towards the safe running of events here in Northern Ireland. Some of the leading rallies attracted around 100 competitors this year, so in general, the rally seen here in NI remains in good health going forward. This was how my 2024 panned out:

February

The rally season for us in Northern Ireland started as it normally does with round one of the NI Rally Championship at Kirkistown race circuit. Organised by North Armagh MC and sponsored by Echlinville Distillery, the Kirkistown Stages Rally had 75 cars on the start list. 2023 champion Jonny Greer led from start to finish in his Citroen C3 Rally2. We were marshalling as usual on a day of mixed conditions, very wet mid event but drying out towards the end.

A week later and I was on radio cover for round one of the 2024 NI Forest Rally Challenge, Samsonas Rally Fivemiletown. Niall McGonigle was the winner of the Omagh MC event in a Fiesta R5. The weather was cold but mostly dry. There were 54 starters.

March

Bishopscourt’s Race and Rally Stages was round two of the NI Championship and once again Jonny Greer won in his Citroen but Aaron McLaughlin’s Polo R5 gave him a good fight all day long. The Donegal driver led for six of the eight stages but Greer (from Carryduff) took over in front on the penultimate test and went on to win by 3.7 seconds. Kyle White finished third behind McLaughlin in his Hyundai i20. 84 crews started and 65 finished. We were timekeeping and our club also provided stage marshals on the Ballynahinch and District MC’s event.

The Circuit of Ireland Rally was a one-day event once again in 2024. The UAC organised round 3 of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship ran out of Dungannon on Easter Saturday 30th March. Matt Edwards won the rally in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 after a rally long battle with the similar car of Keith Cronin. We covered radio and timekeeping at the finish of SS4/8. Other BMMC/BRMC members were on rescue and stage marshalling duties. There were 102 starters.

April

No less than 32 top class Rally2/R5 cars were on the 99 strong list of starters for round 3 of the NI Championship. The Maiden City Stages was based in Claudy and consisted of six closed-road stages in the Donemana/Claudy area of counties Tyrone and Derry. We were on duty covering rescue, timekeeping and radio points. The weather was good and although there were some big incidents, no injuries were reported. Desi Henry dominated the event in his new Citroen C3 Rally2 but third place was enough to give Jonny Greer maximum championship points.

May

Jonny Greer secured a fifth Northern Ireland Rally Championship on the Tour of the Sperrins. The Carryduff driver and his Citroen C3 co-driver Naill Burns from Letterkenny finished the Magherafelt MC event in fourth place, again the best placed registered contenders in round 4 of the series. With one round still to come the pair cannot be beaten, having scored maximum points in each event so far.

The Sperrins was won by local Kilrea star Josh McErlean on a weekend off from WRC2, which he and co-driver James Fulton were contesting this year. They borrowed a VW Polo GTI R5 and dominated the six-stage-road-closed event. 95 cars started and we provided radio operators, timekeepers and rescue cover plus stage marshals. The weather was excellent on the stages which were in counties Derry and Tyrone once again. 81 competitors made it to the finish of the rally which ran without any major problems.

June

Although I took the month off and away from the stages, some of our club members were in Letterkenny for the three-day Donegal International Rally. Calum Devine bought one of the latest Skoda Fabia Rally2 cars and scored back-to-back victories on this the fifth round of the ITRC.

July

Aidan Wray scored his first-ever stage rally win on the Loughgall Stages Rally. We were providing rescue and radio cover as well as stages marshals on the North Armagh MC clubman event which ran to the same format as 2023. There were three runs over the Kinnegoe 5.93 mile closed-road stage interspersed with four 3-mile tarmac tests in the nearby Loughgall Country Park. This event will be part of the 2025 NI Rally Championship.

The fifth and final round of the 2024 Northern Ireland Rally Championship took place over private MOD tarmac roads at Magilligan Point in Co.Derry. The Tyrone Stages at Benone was organised by Cookstown Motor Club. Last run in 2018 the short 14-stage event attracted a very low entry of just 42 cars due to most of the championship places having been settled on the previous round. Derek McGarrity won in his Skoda Rally2 Evo having dominated the event. We provided rescue, timekeepers and stage marshals. Victor and myself covered radio on no less than seven of the fourteen stages.

August

The 2024 Modern Tyres Ulster Rally was run over a single day and based once again in Newry Co.Down. The Northern Ireland Motor Club event was round 6 of the Irish Tarmac Championship. Unfortunately the Ulster was not a round of the British Championship this year. Four repeated closed-road stages in counties Armagh and Down were on the menu. We were covering radio on the finish of SS2/6 Banbridge North. Other club members were on duty providing rescue cover, timekeepers, stage and refuelling marshals. Keith Cronin had a dominant win in his Fiesta Rally2. The Corkman and his co-driver Mikie Galvin then went on to win the ITRC title for the second time. 87 cars started the Ulster Rally.

September

Brothers Patrick and Stephen O’Brien and their Skoda Fabia R5 won both the Lakeland Stages Rally in County Fermanagh and then the Bushwhacker Rally two weeks later in County Tyrone. Both events were part of the Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge and the Irish Forest Rally Championship. We were on radio duty on both of them.

The Lakeland Stages, based in Enniskillen, had three repeated gravel stages, one of which was 16 miles long. I was start radio on SS1/4 Conagher and had Rory and the rescue crew for company. The weather was fantastic, although the temperatures of 26/27 degrees centigrade meant hot and dusty conditions for the 89 competitors.

The Bushwhacker Rally was based in Omagh and consisted of six West Tyrone gravel stages. We were on start radio for SS1/4 Killeter and once again Rory and crew were with us on rescue. John and Anna Hughes were timing and covering radio on SS3/6. There were 99 starters and the weather was kind to us again. Derek Mackerel in his Fiesta R5 won both the 2024 NI Forest Rally Challenge and the Irish Forest Rally Championship following the Bushwhacker.

October

The Dogleap Rally returned to the County Derry forests after an absence of 14 years as organisers Maiden City Motor Club celebrated their 50th anniversary. The event consisted of two classic stages, Springwell and Cam. Both were repeated three times. The Dogleap was the fourth and final round of the NI Forest Rally Challenge. Victor and myself were on the start radio of SS2/4/6 Cam which was 7.47 miles long. Rory and the rescue crew were with us yet again. Conditions were ideal, overcast but dry. The stage was slippery but fast and a few of the 64 cars were caught out, three of them going off on the first run. Although one car was badly damaged and another ended up in a river, there were no serious injuries.

Jason Mitchell won the Dogleap in his VW Polo GTI R5. The Victoria Bridge driver was fastest on five of the six stages. For me though, the outstanding gravel driver of the year was Ballygawley man Shane McGirr. He took his self-built-two-wheel-drive LADA RIVA, yes you heard correctly, a LADA RIVA, to the runner up position in the Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge. Not only that, McGirr also finished best 2WD competitor in the Irish Forest Rally Championship, beating all the usually dominant Ford Escort Mk.2’s in the process!

Neuville is World Champion

Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe became 2024 World Rally Champions for the first time in their Hyundai i20 Rally1. The first Belgian crew to win the WRC. Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin won the final round, Rally Japan. The British crew finished runners up in the Championship with their Toyota Yaris. Ott Tanak and Martin Jarveoja dropped to third place, having crashed their Hyundai out of the rally lead on the penultimate stage of Rally Japan.

Although Hyundai took their first-ever drivers championship, Toyota beat the Korean mark to the 2024 WRC Manufacturer’s title by just THREE points! M-Sport Ford were a distant third as usual.

Sami Pajari and Enni Malkonen won the 2024 WRC2 Championship in a Toyota Yaris Rally2, the cars first year in the competition. Pajari, from Finland, will now move up to the main WRC1 category in 2025 where he will be part of a five-car Toyota Yaris Rally1 team. Rovenpera, Evans, Katsuta and Pajari will contest all 14 rounds while Ogier will go part-time again, tackling selected events. Although Neuville and Tanak are confirmed for Hyundai, the Korean team have still to finalise their full driver lineup for 2025. M-Sport Ford had not announced their plans for the new season as I write.

Somewhat surprisingly, Enni Malkonen will not be calling the notes for Sami Pajari as he moves up to Rally1. Reading between the lines in a statement from Pajari, it would seem that the young male/female partnership was not all “sunshine and roses” during 2024. Although it appears to have been a mutual decision between the two concerned, I think Toyota may have missed a trick in not having a female co-driver as part of their Rally1 set up for 2025. Especially one who has successfully guided her driver to the 2024 WRC2 title!

Hayden Paddon/John Kennard were the back-to-back 2024 European Rally Champions for Hyundai and Johan Kristoffersson became a seven-time World Rallycross Champion.

Commiserations to Northern Ireland’s William Creighton and Liam Regan who lost out to Chris Ingram/Alex Kihurani in the 2024 British Rally Championship. The VW Polo R5/Toyota Yaris Rally2 crew won the series on the final round with Creighton and Regan second in their M-Sport backed Ford Fiesta Rally2. The championship was so competitive in 2024. No less than four drivers stood a chance of winning going into the last event in Wales.

It would seem ironic then that this competitive championship will not be visiting Northern Ireland, nor indeed Southern Ireland, once again next year. The organisers sighting prohibitive travelling costs for the crews as the main reason. The six round 2025 British Rally Championship (three tarmac and three gravel) will take place in England, Scotland and Wales as it has done this year.

Rally Diary

Saturday 7th December
MMP Reward Day

To be held at Kirkistown Race Circuit in Co.Down. This is a chance to reward signed up MMP marshals (although no marshals will be turned away) by clubs and drivers for their contribution to all motorsport events in Northern Ireland during in past year. Start time is 9am. Expect opportunities to be driven around a specially set up course by competitive drivers in a variety of machinery. Apparently some impressive surprises are lined up.

Friday 27th December
It’s Not The Boxing Day Rally

Yes, a return of this UAC organised festive Targa Rally is planned. The event hasn’t taken place since 2022. Apparently farm lanes in the Ards Peninsula are among the venues and we have been asked to provide marshals and timekeepers. That’s IF the event goes ahead! No mention on rallyscore.net as I write. If you can help, contact the UAC for further information.

Saturday 28th December
Turkey Run Rally

The annual Maiden City MC seasonal event will be held at the Shackleton Complex in Ballykelly. We are covering rescue and stage marshalling. Just 20 entries as I write. Sign on at the event.

NEXT MONTH….

A look at 2025 events including plans for two-day Circuit of Ireland and Ulster Rallies in the ITRC. The Northern Ireland Championship will continue with five rounds and the Forest Challenge with four. In the meantime; SEASONS GREETINGS TO YOU ALL🤶🎅🎄