Here’s Jonny!!

Twelve months ago Jonny Greer (above right) & Niall Burns (left) had a huge rally-ending accident on the second stage of the Race & Rally Stages @ Bishopscourt. Fast forward to the same event this year and, from stage 2 onwards, the pair totally dominated the opening round of the 2026 Brown & Brown MSUK Northern Ireland Rally Championship.

Driving the same Toyota Yaris Rally2, five-time champion Greer and co-driver Burns were fastest on six of the eight stages to win the rally by 8.5 seconds from the VW Polo GTI R5 of last year’s winners and current NI Champions Aaron McLaughlin & Darren Curran. The 2010 NI Champion, Stuart Biggerstaff, was third in his Ford Fiesta R5.

The record-holding eight-times Northern Ireland Champion, Derek McGarrity, was fastest out of the blocks on stage one in his new Hyundai i20 Rally2 but he dropped back to finish fifth behind the similar car of Sam Moffett, the 2017 Irish Tarmac Champion tackling the NI series for the first time.

Top 2-Wheel-Drive finishers were Joe Hegarty & David Turkington who were tenth in their Ford Escort Mk.2. Best of the seven Nissan Micra Challenge contenders were Philip White and Geraldine McBride in 35th place.

There were 76 starters (22 Rally2/R5 cars) and 56 finishers at Bishopscourt. The single-venue rally was organised by Ballynahinch & District MC and ran to schedule (starting at 9am and finishing before 4.30pm) without any major problems. I was part of the start timekeeping team for all stages, while other BMMC/BRMC members were covering time controls and stage marshalling. The weather was dry all day, for a change, but very very cold

The encouraging news is that all the leading crews who started round one have registered for the 2026 Northern Ireland Championship. Let’s hope they all enter the four remaining closed-road rallies! Could be an interesting year!

Incidentally; Jonny Greer’s Bishopscourt success was the first win anywhere in Ireland for the Toyota Yaris Rally2. Then just a week later, Josh Moffett took victory on the ITRC West Cork Rally in a similar car! How will they do on the Circuit of Ireland against the many Skoda’s? Although only Saturday’s stages counts for points, most NI Championship crews, including Greer, have entered for the full two days at Easter.

Taka & Aaron’s Safari Rally Win

Takamoto Katsuta (above right) and his Northern Ireland co-driver Aaron Johnston (on the left) won the Safari Rally in Kenya last month. This was the Japanese driver’s first WRC victory in 94 attempts. Taking advantage of the retirements of his more illustrious Toyota Yaris Rally1 teammates; Elfyn Evans, Oliver Solberg & Sebastien Ogier, Katsuta climbed from a lowly fourth position to inherit the rally lead on day three of the four-day marathon. He and Aaron held on to win by over a minute from the Hyundai i20 of Adrien Fourmaux. Sami Pajari was third in another Toyota Yaris. Katsuta was the first driver Japanese driver to win a WRC round since Kenjiro Shinozuka won the Ivory Coast Rally in 1992.

The 2026 Safari Rally was the toughest in years; the rough stages were very muddy following heavy rainfall in the area preceding and during the event. Only five of the ten rally1 cars that started on the Thursday completed the full four days. Those five included Northern Ireland’s Jon Armstrong, pictured below in his Ford Puma. Although he finished way back in 15th place, the M-Sport driver battled with various time consuming problems including punctures and a broken driveshaft. Josh McErlean in the other Puma retired from 15th position (one ahead of Armstrong) with engine problems after the third day.

Aaron Johnston, who hails from Fintona, was the third co-driver from Northern Ireland to win the Safari Rally. Terry Harryman from Bangor won in 1983 with Ari Vatanen driving an Opel Ascona 400 while Holywood man Fred Gallagher won the rally three times. In 1985 Juha Kankkunan & Gallagher were in a Toyota Celica and then in 1986 & 1990 Fred partnered Bjorn Waldegard to victory in another Celica.

Yet another co-driver from Northern Ireland, Allan Harryman (son of Terry), won the WRC3 category by over 50 minutes on this year’s Safari Rally with veteran Greek driver Georgios Vasilakis in their Ford Fiesta Rally3. Vasilakis also now tops the WRC Masters Cup standings. NEXT WRC ROUND: Croatia Rally April 9-12.

WRC Deal for Rally Scotland

As I predicted last month, the World Rally Championship is now almost certain to return to the British Isles (for the first time since 2019) next year. An all-new Rally Scotland should take its place on the WRC calendar in the Autumn of 2027; pending a successful Candidate Event, which will be held later this year. A three-year deal has been secured with WRC Promoter by Motorsport UK and backed by the Scottish Government. Based in north-east Scotland, with Rally HQ and an indoor service park in Aberdeen, the gravel event will use forest roads in the surrounding regions of Aberdeenshire and Moray. All I can say is, wrap up warm! It will be cold and wet!

The question is, where does all this leave Motorsport Ireland plans to resurrect Rally Ireland in the near future? With so many countries worldwide interested in joining the WRC, it’s hard to see how a second event in the British Isles would succeed. The only saving grace could be the fact that Rally Ireland would be a unique and challenging asphalt event, and that may appeal to WRC Promoter. Who knows?

Rally Diary

Fri. 3rd—Sat. 4th April
Circuit of Ireland Rally

Round 3…2026 NAPA Auto Parts Irish Tarmac Rally Championship
Round 2…2026 Brown & Brown Motorsport UK Ireland Rally Championship

Organised by the Ulster Automobile Club and sponsored by McKinney Competitions. The two-day short, sharp, circuit is based in Dungannon for the third year in succession. Both days count for the ITRC while NI Championship points are awarded on Saturday only. There are four stages on Friday and eight on Saturday. We are providing rescue, timekeepers, radio crews and stage marshals.

All leading contenders for the 2026 ITRC have entered the Circuit of Ireland, including last year’s winner and current champion Calum Devine, in one of 9 Skoda Fabia RS Rally2’s on the 130 car entry list (see standings after West Cork below). William Creighton will start second on the road in his Citroen C3 in preparation for his ERC challenge which begins in Spain later this month. The longest COI stage is the 14.40 miles of Bantry Lough, run twice on Saturday. Full entry list and itinerary is available on the Sportity app. (passcode COI2026) All Officials and Marshals can sign-on remotely at rallyscore.net

Sun. 12th April
BMMC (NI) Marshals Training Day

Our annual Training Day will take place at the same venue as the past few years, Transport Training Services @ Nutts Corner. Organised by BMMC (NI) in collaboration with the NI Motorsport Marshalling Partnership. Sign-on 9am for a 9.30 start. Contact Rory O’Neill if you plan to attend.

ABERDEEN FOR WRC?

Apparently Rally GB is set to return to the World Rally Championship. MSUK and the Scottish government are pushing for a gravel event based in Aberdeen. Not since Wales Rally GB in 2019 has there been a round of the WRC in the British Isles. With Elfyn Evans leading this year’s championship (yet again) interest is high for a return to the top tier of rallying in GB. The choice of Aberdeen is some what controversial. The northerly City can experience extreme weather conditions, very very cold in winter and recently Aberdeen has been described as “the dullest City in Britain” with very little sunshine. Despite this the stages in the area are in good condition and it will be interesting to see how the bid develops. It is possible that Rally GB could return as early as next year.

Meanwhile, it would appear that Motorsport Ireland are ramping up THEIR efforts to secure funding for a sealed-surface Rally Ireland return to the WRC. Talks had stalled as government backing was not forthcoming for submission of an event into the 2027 calendar. However, there is a renewed push from MI bosses to engage with the government and to clear the way for a return in the near future. If successful, the earliest Rally Ireland could realistically return to the WRC would be in 2028 or 2029, twenty years since the last time.

To have ONE round of the World Rally Championship back in the British Isles would be fantastic, to have TWO would be amazing!

CREIGHTON & REGAN FOR ERC

Northern Ireland pairing William Creighton and Liam Regan are set to compete in the 2026 FIA European Rally Championship. The current British Rally Champions have landed a lucrative deal with Stellantis Motorsport for a full season - starting in a Citroen C3 Rally2 before moving into the all-new Lancia Ypsilon Rally2! The duo will contest the seven-round series (5 asphalt 2 gravel) starting in April with the Andalusia Rally. This is fantastic opportunity for the Moira/Belfast pair who will continue to be supported by the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy and by Michelin.

WRC LATEST

On Rally Sweden last month, Toyota Yaris’s dominated the snow event taking the top four places. Elfyn Evans won for the third time and leads the WRC heading for round three, the Safari Rally, which runs from 12-15 March In Kenya. Hyundai were outclassed, their three i20’s finishing fifth, sixth and seventh. Let’s hope they can offer some sort of challenge to Toyota, otherwise the 2026 WRC is in danger of becoming a one-make-only series!

In the all-Northern Ireland battle at M-Sport Ford, Jon Armstrong was outstanding on his first Rally1 outing in Sweden, bringing his Puma home in eight place. In spite of loosing time with a snow-bank encounter on the very first stage, Armstrong was faster than Thierry Neuville on two of the final day’s Sunday stages. The more experienced M-Sport driver, Josh McErlean, was ninth overall after suffering two punctures on Friday, the first full day, and then incurring more problems with his Puma Rally1 on the Saturday. WRC Round 3 Safari Rally Kenya takes place from 12-15 March. How will Jon & Josh get on?

FIRST LOCAL EVENT OF THE YEAR

Samsonas Rally Fivemiletown kicked off the stage rally season here in NI last month. On the last day of winter, Saturday 28 February, a surprisingly low entry of 43 cars started round one of the 2026 Brown & Brown MSUK Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge. The rally, run as the final round of the 2025 challenge back in November, attracting 71 starters. Organised by Omagh MC, there were 10 gravel tests in the usual forests close to the Co.Tyrone town of Fivemiletown. Conditions were wet and slippery very. It had rained almost every day during January and February.

The rally was won by 2024 winners, Strabane man Niall McGonigle and co-driver Caolan McKenna from Ballinamallard in their VW Polo GTI R5. They finished well ahead of two of the latest spec Skoda Fabia RS Rally2’s driven Vivian Hamill and David Condell respectively. Local man Shane McGirr was the top two-wheel finisher in sixth place with his unique Lada Riva. There were 36 finishers. I know BMMC/BRMC was well represented covering rescue and stage marshalling, unfortunately I couldn’t make this one. The Forest Challenge now takes a break until round two, the Lakeland Stages in September.

RALLY DIARY

Sat. 7th March
RACE & RALLY STAGES @ BISHOPSCOURT

Round 1 of the 2026 Brown & Brown MSUK Northern Ireland Rally Championship.

Organisers are Ballynahinch & District MC. Sign-on via rallyscore.net or at the venue; Bishopscourt Race Circuit in Co.Down from 7.30 - 8am. The rally starts at 9am. We are providing timekeepers and stage marshals.

Fri. 3rd-Sat 4th April.
CIRCUIT OF IRELAND RALLY

Round 3 of the 2026 NAPA Irish Tarmac Rally Championship
Round 2 of the 2026 Brown & Brown MSUK Northern Ireland Rally Championship

Organised by the UAC and sponsored by McKinney Competitions, the COI returns to Dungannon for the third year in succession. Leg 1 on Good Friday consists of four stages (2 run twice). Leg 2 comprises of a further eight tests (2 run three times and 1 run twice) on the Saturday. The ITRC competitors will contest all 12 stages while the NI Championship competitors will join them for the eight Saturday stages.

Full details of the 2026 McKinney Competitions Circuit of Ireland Rally can be found on the Sportity app..Passcode: COI2026.

NORTHERN IRELAND DRIVERS FOR M-SPORT

M-Sport have announced that, for the first time ever, their full-time WRC Rally1 crew line up for 2026 will be all-Irish! Northern Ireland drivers Josh McErlean from Kilrea and Jon Armstrong from Kesh will be joined by their respective co-drivers Eoin Treacy (Cork) and Shane Byrne (Donegal) in a pair of Ford Puma’s.

For McErlean this will be his second year at the top table. He and Tracey have had some success and some disappointing results in 2025. He will be expected to do better in 2026, having had experience all 14 rounds of the WRC. Of course M-Sport does not have ANYWHERE NEAR the budget of the two leading manufacturers Toyota or Hyundai. Malcolm Wilson’s team finished in a distant third place last year, once again, and will continue to struggle in 2026 without full support from Ford.

Armstrong, who replaces Gregoire Munster as a full-time driver, finished a close runner-up in the European Rally Championship last year for M-Sport in their Rally2 Fiesta and should be a perfect fit for the teams Rally1 set up.

Both Irish crews have been supported by the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for the past number of years. John Coyne (now living in the USA) former ITRC winner and now a very successful businessman, is the patron and the driving force behind the Academy. Coyne has been instrumental in negotiating this unique M-Sport deal.

The 2026 WRC gets underway this month in Monte Carlo. Leading the entries will be record 10-time winner, and current World Champion, Sebastien Ogier in his Toyota Yaris Rally1. Ogier is contesting 10 of the 14 rounds this year. Toyota’s full time drivers will be Elfyn Evans, Takamoto Katsuta, Sami Pajari and new-boy Oliver Solberg. Hyundai will have Thierry Neuville and Adrien Fourmaux full time plus Dani Sordo, Esapekka Lappi and Hayden Paddon sharing a third i20 Rally1 during the season.

For the M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 all-Irish team, the Monte Carlo Rally will be a challenging start to the championship. It will be in at the deep end for Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne, but hopefully a successful return for Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy, who finished seventh here in 2025.

M-Sport may be on the bottom rung of the WRC Rally1 pyramid, but at least we here in Northern Ireland will have a good reason (apart from Tyrone’s Aaron Johnston co-driving Toyota’s Katsuta) to follow the 2026 World Rally Championship. It will be fascinating to watch the local lads progress over the course of a 14 round series. Who will be top M-Sport driver of the year after the final round in Saudi Arabia come November?

Lancia return to the World Rally Championship in 2026 for the first time since 1992. The Italian mark will enter WRC2 with its new Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale. Other teams starting in Monte Carlo should include M-Sport, Toyota and Skoda.

You can stream all 14 rounds of the 2026 WRC live on Rally.TV or on TNT Sports channels (if you can afford the subscriptions!) Alternatively, a one-hour highlights program of each round can be viewed for free on ITV4, unusual the week after each event.

REGULATION CHANGES COMING IN 2027

Next year’s World Rally Championship top-tier category will be known as WRC27 Rally1, and ready-to-rally cars will be “cost capped” at £302,000. The new concept cars will deliver approximately 300 bhp. To insure the top class is heavily populated, WRC27 Rally1 cars will be eligible to compete alongside existing Rally2 machines. Toyota are the only manufacturer said to be planning a WRC27 car at the present time. The new regulations will span a 10 year period.

RALLY DIARY 📔

Wed. 22nd-Sun. 25th January
RALLYE MONTE CARLO

Round 1 of the 2026 World Rally Championship

Thur. 12th-Sun. 15th February
RALLY SWEDEN

Round 2 of the 2026 World Rally Championship

Sat. 28th February
SAMSONAS RALLY FIVEMILETOWN

Round 1 of the 2026 Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge. Organised by Omagh Motor Club. More details next month. Our first stage rally of the year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL🎉🥳🎊

CIRCUIT OF IRELAND BACK IN N.I. CHAMPIONSHIP

For the first time since 2012, the Circuit of Ireland Rally returns to the Northern Ireland Rally Championship. In a revised 2026 calendar, the Saturday stages of the two-day Circuit replace the Tour of the Sperrins Rally originally planned for 25th April.

The “short-sharp” two-day 2026 Circuit of Ireland Rally returns to a Dungannon base for the third consecutive year, with a new title sponsor, McKinney Competitions. The full event, starting on Good Friday (3rd April), will be round three of the seven-round NAPA Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

For us, the rally season here in Northern Ireland kicks off this month with round one of the 2026 Forest Rally Challenge. Brown & Brown Insurance are back as title sponsors for both the Forest series and the Northern Ireland (Asphalt) Rally Championship which starts at Bishopscourt on March 7th.

FOR YOUR DIARY: The revised 5-round 2026 Brown & Brown ANICC MSUK Northern Ireland Rally Championship is now as follows;

1: RACE & RALLY STAGES @ BISHOPSCOURT…..Sat. 7th March
2: CIRCUIT OF IRELAND RALLY……………………..Sat. 4th April
3: LOUGHGALL STAGES RALLY…………………..…Sat. 4th July
4: BADMC SUMMER STAGES………(Downpatrick) Sat. 25th July
5: DOWN RALLY……………………...(Banbridge) Sat. 22nd August

In the event of the cancellation any of the above events, two separate reserve dates, the 7th & 14th November, have been added to the calendar.

The 2026 Monte Carlo Rally was the toughest for years. Oliver Solberg dominated, becoming the youngest Monte winner, beating Elfyn Evans by almost a minute! Pre event favourite Seb Ogier finished a subdued third. The three Toyota Yaris Rally1 drivers were in a class of their own.

Jon Armstrong looked as if he would finish sixth on his first event in a Rally1 car, but crashed out on the snowy and treacherous penultimate Monte stage. On day one he was as high as third. Jon’s Ford Puma M-Sport teammate Josh McErlean had a rally to forget. Josh went off in the snow three times, eventually crashing out on the same stage as Armstrong. How will Josh & Jon get on this month in Sweden?

Congratulations to William Creighton and Liam Regan. The current British Rally Champions have just picked up the ANICC Northern Ireland Motorsport Award for the second consecutive year. The pair also won the Award in 2023 while William Creighton was the 2021 winner, making him a record four-time recipient!

So sad to hear of the passing of William Fullerton last month following a short illness. William was a founder member of North Armagh Motor Club. He was Clerk of the Course and then Event Director for the club’s innovative event, the Lurgan Park Rally which ran from 1980-2016, and then latterly COC on the Loughgall Stages Rally.

Under William’s leadership the Lurgan Park Rally regularly attracted up to 10,000 paying spectators. It was a unique festival type of event, and one of the summer highlights on the Irish rallying calendar. The invited entry lists always featured many International stars.

William will be sadly missed by everyone involved in Motorsport throughout Ireland and further afield. My heartfelt condolences to his Wife Hazel and to all the family circle.

LOOKING BACK

Marshalling Memories

40 YEARS AGO

The article below appeared in the February 1986 edition of Carsport Magazine. The photo was obviously from our 1985 Training Day. Can you spot anyone you know?

Patrick Young wrote the words.

This was Fred Crawford in his Mk.2 Escort winning at Larne Motor Club’s Boyd’s Autodrome Rallycross. Note the amazing crowd! Can’t believe it was 40 years ago! We were marshalling as usual. Another Carsport photo.

30 YEARS AGO

February 1996 was Roy Bowman’s first BMRMC Northern Ireland Region Newsletter. Our Training Day was planned for Saturday 9th March at Purdysburn Hospital Complex. The annual Dinner Dance was to be held the same night in Carmichaels of Hollywood. Cost would be £13 per head.

20 YEARS AGO

Kevin Lynch was selected as our 2005 Driver of the Year and I had the privilege of presenting the current Northern Ireland Rally Champion with the David Gillespie Memorial Trophy at a glittering ANICC prize giving in January 2006 at the Seagoe Hotel in Portadown. He was totally gobsmacked and speechless! Kevin later said that our award meant more to him than any Championship win! “Without marshals there would be no rallying or racing in NI, simple as that!”

Denis Biggerstaff and his co-driving son Stuart won our first event of the year in a Subaru Impreza WRC. The New Year Stages took place at Kirkistown in January and we were covering Timekeeping and Rescue.

10 YEARS AGO

Current NI Champion Derek McGarrity won the 2016 500 MRCI New Year Stages at Kirkistown. He and Kieron Graffin were in a Ford Fiesta WRC. There were only 35 starters plus 4 competitors in the junior event which was won by Josh McErlean in a 1 litre Peugeot 107. I wonder what happened to him? I was marshalling and other club members were covering timekeeping and rescue.

RALLY DIARY📔

Sat. 28th February
SAMSONAS RALLY FIVEMILETOWN

Round 1 of the 2026 Brown & Brown NI Forest Rally Challenge. Omagh MC are the organisers and have promised new revised stages. We should be providing rescue and radio cover plus stage marshals. Sign-on via rallyscore.net or at the Spar garage in Fivemiletown from 7.30am on the day.

Sat. 7th March
RACE & RALLY STAGES @ BISHOPSCOURT

Round 1 of the 2026 Brown & Brown ANICC MSUK Northern Ireland Rally Championship. The only single venue rally on the Championship calendar is organised by Ballynahinch & District Motor Club. Same 8-stage format as last year. We are providing timekeepers and stage marshals. Sign-on via rallyscore.net or from 7.30am on the day of the event.

Ballynahinch & District MC are also running a new closed-road rally which will be the penultimate round of the NI Championship in July. Apparently based at Downpatrick Race Course, further details of the “Summer Stages Rally” will appear in due course.

SEASON REVIEW

Another year bites the dust. In Northern Ireland we rally marshals have had quite a busy twelve months. As it turned out my first event of the year was not until March. We were due to begin the season in February with Rally Fivemiletown, but the gravel event was postponed because of the dreadful Storm Eowyn which reeked havoc with the forests tracks due to be used. I managed to help out on 10 stage rallies during the year, two rounds of the Irish Tarmac Championship, five rounds of the Northern Ireland Championship and three rounds of the NI Forest Challenge.

The two-day-eleven-stage 2025 Circuit of Ireland Rally was based in Dungannon for the second year on the Easter weekend (18/19 April). The UAC event was a qualifying round of the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. We covered start radio on three of the Saturday stages. The weather was atrocious on Good Friday with heavy rain, and not much better on Saturday. There were 89 starters and the rally was won by Callum Devine in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.

Plans for the 2026 Circuit of Ireland Rally have yet to be announced. It is expected that the UAC will again run a two-day event on Good Friday (3rd) and Saturday 4th April. The rally should be part of the Irish Tarmac Championship.

In August we had the two-day Modern Tyres Ulster Rally. Based in Newry for the fifth year in succession, there was an entry of 87 cars. The penultimate round of the Irish Tarmac Championship was won by Callum Devine in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, the Claudy driver sealing his second ITRC title in three years. We were out in force covering rescue, stage marshalling and other official duties. My job was covering start radio on day-two Saturday. For a change the weather was kind, very warm both days with temperatures peaking in the mid twenties.

Next year the Ulster International Rally moves to a new base in Ballymena as it celebrates its 50th anniversary. The two-day event will take place (no doubt using the famous Glens of Antrim stages) on Friday 7th and Saturday 8th August. As well as a round of the ITRC, the Ulster will host the only UK round of a new 8-round FIA European Historic Rally Championship for Pre-2000 cars.

2025 NORTHERN IRELAND RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

Round 1: Race & Rally Stages @ Bishopscourt race circuit was organised by Ballynahinch and District MC. The single venue rally produced a surprise winner. Favourite and 2024 Champion, Jonny Greer, had won here many times but he crashed his brand new Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 on the second of eight stages. His retirement ultimately led to a rally victory for last year’s runner up Aaron McLaughlin in his VW Polo R5. My roll at Bishopscourt was as part of the start timekeeping team. There were 86 starters and 68 finishers. It was dry but very cold.

Round 2: “GO” Tour of the Sperrins in April. On a warm and sunny day, Garry Jennings dominated here in his Ford Fiesta Rally2 but Aaron McLaughlin claimed maximum championship points to extend his lead. I was covering start radio on SS2/5 near Cookstown. There was a maximum entry of 110 cars.

Round 3: Eakin Bros. Maiden City Stages Rally had seven stages on the closed roads of Co. Derry. There were 96 starters and 84 finishers. Again I was on start radio, this time covering three stages near Drumahoe. There was a first rally win here for Ryan Caldwell in his new Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. Garry Jennings was second but, unfortunately, the very next day the Kesh driver had a massive accident in Cavan which completely destroyed his Fiesta Rally2. Garry and co-driver Brian Hoy were both badly injured and are continuing to recover from the incident. Aaron McLaughlin continued to lead the NI Championship following the Maiden City event.

Round 4: Loughgall Stages Rally on 5th July. For the first time since lockdown in 2021, North Armagh MC moved their Championship event to Loughgall Country Park instead of the racetrack at Kirkistown in Co.Down. The single venue rally attracted the smallest entry of the year with only 69 competitors starting. Aaron McLaughlin and his fellow Donegal co-driver Darren Curran sealed the 2025 Northern Ireland Rally Championship in Loughgall with one round still to come. They finished second behind winners Marty Toner/David Wright in the unusual Proton Satria Neo. I was on a mid-point radio for this one.

Round 5: Rathfriland MC’s Down Rally on 19th July was also a round of the Protyre Asphalt Championship and attracted a large entry of 99 cars to the classic South County Down closed road stages including Hamiltons Folly. Following the death of his father Pat two days before the event, Declan McAleer asked if I would act as Chief Timekeeper on the Down Rally. Of course I agreed. I also covered a start radio on stages 4/7 of the event, which was held on the same day as Pat’s funeral. Winner here was Cathan McCourt in his Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. Jonny Greer returned to the championship after his Bishopscourt accident and finished second overall and top points scorer with the Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.

To summarise; the 2025 Brown & Brown ANICC MSUK Northern Ireland Rally Championship was dominated by Aaron McLaughlin in his Polo R5 following pre- championship favourite Jonny Greer’s crash on round one. The opposition was poor this year. Ok, second placed Conor Wilson was only nine points in arrears with his Hyundai i20 R5, but a 2WD competitor, Joe Hegarty in a Ford Escort Mk2, was third overall. Eleven Rally2/R5 cars registered for the championship, but only three of them competed on each event!

2025 NORTHERN IRELAND FOREST RALLY CHALLENGE

Following the NI (Sealed Surface) Championship, it was into the woods in the Autumn for the Forest (Gravel) Rally Challenge. Also sponsored by Brown & Brown Insurance, there were five rounds In Counties Fermanagh, Tyrone and Derry.

Round 1: on September 6th was the Enniskillen MC’s Lakeland Stages Rally. No less than 104 competitors started the six-stage event. There were 30 class one (Rally2/R5) cars which was something of a Northern Ireland record! We were covering rescue and stage marshalling and I was on start radio on two stages. Winners were the O’Brien brothers Patrick & Stephen for the fourth consecutive year in their Skoda Fabia. Jordan Hone, with his father Paul co-driving, were the top registered challenge points scorers in their Ford Fiesta R5.

Round 2/3: Omagh Motor Club were celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Mc Kelvey Construction Bushwhacker Rally in mid-September. Run over two days in the usual forests of West Tyrone, points were awarded for the NI Forest Challenge on each day. Once again the O’Brien brothers dominated the rally in their usual Skoda Fabia R5. This was their fifth Bushwhacker win on the trot. With regards to the Challenge, top points scorer on day one were Jordan & Paul Hone in their Ford Fiesta R5 while Niall McCullagh and Martin Brady netted top points on day two with their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2. I was covering finish radio in Killeter forest on day two. A total of 125 cars started, 23 of them were class one competitors (Rally2/R5).

Both the Lakeland and Bushwhacker were also qualifying rounds of the 2025 Irish Forest Rally Championship, which helped to boost the entry lists. Winners of the series were Jason Mitchell from Victoria Bridge, Co. Tyrone and Paddy McCrudden (Donegal Town) in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.

Round 4: The Premier Cars Parts Dogleap Rally was based in Ballykelly. There were six stages in the forests near Limavady Co. Derry. Maiden City MC were the organisers and had attracted 63 starters which included 21 Rally2/R5 cars. I was covering start radio on the longest 8.05 mile stage, SS3/6 Cam. The BMMC rescue crew were with me for the day which proved to be dry and reasonably mild for mid Autumn. Niall Devine won the rally in his VW Polo GTI R5 and claimed top challenge points in the process.

Round 5: The final challenge round was the Samsonas Rally Fivemiletown on 22nd November. Omagh Motor Club’s event was originally scheduled to take place in February, but was postponed due to storm damage. No less than five drivers started the seven-stage rally with a chance of the title. I wasn’t able to attend but our rescue crew and others made the trip to Co.Tyrone on a cold, foggy and damp Saturday. Winners were the unregistered crew of Mark Donnelly and Cathair Hughes from Omagh in their VW Polo GTI R5. Meanwhile fifth place overall (despite a puncture on the penultimate stage) was enough to seal the 2025 challenge win for Jordan and Paul Hone in their ageing Ford Fiesta R5. Congratulations to them both. There were 71 starters in Fivemiletown (23 Rally2/R5 cars) and 56 finishers.

The 2025 NI Forest Rally Challenge was very successful. As I said, five drivers were in contention for the title going into the fifth and final round in Fivemiletown. There were large entries of class one cars on all five events. The 2026 gravel series starts with Rally Fivemiletown back in its usual February slot; weather permitting!

OGIER IS NINE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION!

Congratulations to Sebastien Ogier. The Frenchman has just won the FIA World Rally Championship for a record-equaling ninth time! Ogier only intended to take part in his favourite rounds of the 14-round 2025 WRC, but after missing three rallies early in the season, Seb decided to enter all the remaining rounds, as he realised he had a chance of the title. Altogether he won six events! Heartbreak for Elfyn Evans then. The little “Welsh Wizard” led the series from round two right up to the last rally in Saudi Arabia. Ogier overtook his Toyota teammate and won the championship by just four points. Evans was a WRC runner-up for the fifth time!

Internationally, drivers from Northern Ireland performed well in 2025: Josh McErlean experienced a steep learning curve in the top tier of the World Rally Championship. 2025 was the Kilrea driver’s first year in M-Sport’s Rally1 Ford Puma. He finished the championship in eleventh position, one behind his more experienced teammate Gregoire Munster. Meanwhile Jon Armstrong finished runner-up in the European Rally Championship, the M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2 driver from Kesh in Co. Fermanagh won the final two events. Moira’s William Creighton won the British Rally Championship in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.