Hear We Go...At Last!

After a false dawn, the stage rally season here in Northern Ireland eventually gets started this month. The Race & Rally Stages @ Bishopscourt kicks off the 2025 Brown & Brown (previously known as McGrady Insurance) Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Rally Championship.

The first round of the NI Forest Rally Challenge was due to happen last month but organisers Omagh MC were forced to postpone their Samsonas Rally Fivemiletown due to the severe damage caused by Storm Eowyn. Fallen trees had blocked most of the four forest stages that were scheduled to run giving the organisers no chance to clear them in time. Although the rally has been “postponed” it will difficult to find a suitable 2025 calendar date in which to reschedule the event.

A new television deal with Greenlight International will see both the five-round sealed-surface Northern Ireland Rally Championship and, later in the year, the four remaining rounds of the NI Forest Rally Challenge recorded for showing on various platforms. Both series will be sponsored by Brown & Brown Insurance.

Unfortunately both of these “championships” are separate. Given the fact that the sealed-surface events are all finished by July and the forest series now starts in September, wouldn’t it be sensible to combine them, resulting in a true all-surface Northern Ireland Rally Champion? Apparently the reason the championships were split, a few years ago now, was due to the cost of changing car set-up between tarmac and loose which happened regularly during the season. Not the case in 2025.

Ice Man Evans On Top

Elfyn Evans leads the 2025 World Rally Championship by 28 points following two of the 14 rounds. The little “Welsh Wizard” and Englishman Scott Martin were second in Monte Carlo and won Rally Sweden last month. Evans has been WRC runner-up four times since joining Toyota in 2020. Could 2025 be his year? Second in Sweden was Elfyn’s Yaris Rally1 teammate Takamoto Katsuta and his Ulster co-driver Aaron Johnston. The Japanese star was just 3.8 seconds down after a late charge, he actually led going into the penultimate stage, but Evans then stamped his authority on the event and claimed maximum points available at the finish of the final power stage. Josh McErlean had a good event, for the first two days, but then the Kilrea driver crashed his M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 out of 8th place on the final day.

NEXT WRC ROUND
The Safari Rally in Kenya 20th-23rd March.

Following the FIA’s clampdown this year on swearing, Adrian Fourmaux was find 10,000 euros with a further 20,000 euro fine suspended for using “inappropriate language” The Frenchman used the “f word” in a stage-end interview live on Rally TV during Rally Sweden. Fourmaux had to stop his Hyundai mid-stage to tighten his helmet strap and was naturally frustrated when interviewed about the time-consuming mistake. He just said what he thought of the situation! Has the World gone completely mad? The snow flake generation has taken over!

Creighton’s Perfect Start

William Creighton and Liam Regan have won the first round of the 2025 British Rally Championship. The Northern Ireland crew were second overall last year but have since changed from their M-Sport Ford Fiesta to a state-of-the-art Melvyn Evans Motorsport Toyota Yaris Rally2. In the car’s debut event, Creighton dominated the 10-stage-closed-road East Riding Stages in Yorkshire. Keith Cronin/Mikie Galvin were second in a new-to-them Citroen C3 Rally2. The Cork/Killarney crew finished 23.8 seconds behind the flying Toyota. There are six rounds in the BRC, alternating between closed-road and loose-surface events. Next up is the Carlisle Stages on 12th April featuring the unforgiving gravel of “killer” Kielder Forest.

LOOKING BACK

30 YEARS AGO….1995

The Kittle Bros. Stages at Kirkistown on 4th March was the opening round of the 1995 Maxol Northern Ireland Rally Championship. Derek McGarrity won in a Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth. Second in the North Armagh MC event was George Robinson in an Escort Cosworth while Tom Spence finished third in his Subaru Legacy. We were timekeeping and supplying marshals plus rescue cover. There was a fully subscribed entry for the six-stage rally. The day was dry but very cold.

20 YEARS AGO….2005

In 2005 first round of the Pacenotes Northern Ireland Rally Championship was the February North Armagh MC’s Eurocables Rally at Kirkistown. There were 105 starters headed by 14 World Rally Cars. Kevin Lynch in his Subaru S9 won by 2 seconds from local driver Cathal Arthurs driving a Hyundai Accent WRC. There were six stages and Arthurs, whose farm overlooks Kirkistown, led from the start. He was 4 seconds ahead of Lynch going into the final test. Michael Curran was third in a Subaru WRC for the first time. We were timekeeping, marshalling and providing rescue cover on what was a freezing cold day. The 500 Club (owners of the race circuit) took £4,000 on the gate, FOUR TIMES the amount normally taken on any race day! What a shame then that 20 years later there will be NO rallying at Kirkistown in 2025!!

Mid Antrim MC’s GMW Rally was held in February 2005 and as usual we ran a stage. My thanks went to the six BMMC/BRMC marshals who helped me run the short half-mile test in Tardree Forest.

10 YEARS AGO……2015

Omagh MC’s Spring Rally was held in late February using the usual gravel tracks in the forests south of Fivemiletown on the Tyrone/Fermanagh border. John Hughes and myself were finish timekeepers/radio operators on stages 1/5 Doon. When we arrived two hours before the stage was due to run, temperatures were reading zero degrees and there was a light covering of snow. As the stage progressed snow began to fall and conditions deteriorated to such an extent that the flying finish line was barely visible. There were 74 starters and two retired in the short 2.12 mile test. Fastest through were the Cork crew of Andrew Purcell and Liam Brennan in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.9. In fact they were fastest all day and went on to win the rally. Second were Desi Henry and Liam Moynihan in a Subaru S9 while Adrian Heatherington and Gary Nolan were third and best 2WD finishers in their Escort Mk.2.

Our second run didn’t last long; we only had seven cars through. Although conditions had improved by the time stage five started, it was halted when two of the leading competitors crashed out. Second car on the road Enda McNulty went off mid stage and then the fourth car driver by Gareth Sayers rolled and blocked the stage near the flying finish. Fortunately there were no injuries, but our BMMC rescue unit crewed by Rory, Chris and Goff were deployed as a precaution. As a result the stage was cancelled for the remaining 46 cars.

Only 43 crews finished the 8-stage event, the high attrition rate due to the tricky conditions. On the longest stage, the 6.92 miles of Jenkin no less than 17 cars came to grief during the two runs!

The 2015 BMMC (NI) Training Day was held on the last day of February at Kirkistown. National Chairman Chris Hobson aided by Duncan McGregor delivered the presentations which comprehensively covered all forms of four-wheeled motorsport from racing through speed events to rallying. Rory O’Neill took charge of fire training which included practical involvement. Around 31 marshals, old and new, attended the training day.

RALLY DIARY

Sat. 8th March.
Race & Rally Stages @ Bishopscourt

Round 1 of the 2025 Brown & Brown Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Rally Championship. We are covering timekeeping and stage marshalling. Sign-on via. rallyscore.net or on the day at 07.45-8am. Lunch provided. Same format as last year, eight stages (one lap: no splits therefore no baulking). Top of the 80-plus entry list are the current champions Jonny Greer and Niall Burns who make their first appearance in a new Toyota Yaris Rally2 which would seem to be the car of choice this year. Bishopscourt will be the only circuit-based round of the NI Championship this year. The other four rounds will all be closed-road events.

Sat. 5th April
“Go” Tour of the Sperrins

Round 2 of the 2025 Brown & Brown Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Rally Championship. A maximum entry of 100 competitors will start. Magherafelt and District MC are the organisers of this 6-stage-closed-road event. Based in Magherafelt with a service park at the Ronan Valley Business Park. The three repeated tests are all new to rallying. We are due to cover rescue, radio points and stage marshalling. Sign-on via rallyscore.net.

Sun. 6th April
BMMC (NI) Marshals Training Day

To be held once again at 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.