All Content Copyright emyvale.net
Motor Club Notes:
Photography by Peter Cassidy
Tommy Moffett J1000 - Tommy Moffett celebrates after winning the J1000 category of the MIJRS (Photo: CianDon)
Gilliland IGP - James Gilliand in action on the Irish Kart Grand Prix (Photo: Cromlin Images)
Double championship delight for Tommy Moffett
Monaghan’s Tommy Moffett is a double-national championship title winner, and he was
crowned before even turning a wheel at the Carrick-on-Suir Rallysprint at the weekend.
The MI Junior Rally Series came to an end for the J1000 drivers, with the event at
Waterford Airport marking the sixth and final round of the campaign. It was confirmed last
week that Moffett could not be caught, which left him to enjoy the event without any added
pressure. However, in a fashion that has been seen elsewhere within his family, he still
took a start to finish class victory and 33rd O/A with Adam Langan in the hot seat. As part
of his package for winning the J1000 series, Moffett will receive €2,500 of support and
tuition from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy along with other benefits designed to
help with the progression of his career.
It gets better, as after last weekend’s rally on the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally in Cork,
Moffett cannot be caught in the J1000 category of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally
Championship either - making him a double champion in a single season. Domhnall Lennon has guided Tommy through the forests
this year and has also secured top spot in the J1000 co-driver standings.
Gilliland wins Irish Kart Grand Prix
The Irish Kart Grand Prix was held at Nutts Corner recently and Monaghan’s James Gilliland had
a dominant performance to take the overall win. In the Saturday heats, he took a 1st from
starting P5 and a 2nd from P10. In the middle heat he started P23 and fought up to finish 9th.
These results gave him the King of the Corner title. There was a pre-final and final to be
contested on the Sunday and Gilliland took the win in both, seeing off a six time world champion
in the process. He was crowned Senior Driver of the Meeting and was also awarded the IGP
plate for 2023 for his efforts.
Caldwell and Kierans extend championship lead as O'Brien wins Lakelands
As the sun beamed out across the Co Fermanagh hills, it was apt that it would the scorching hot pace of 2022 Champions Patrick
O’Brien & Stephen O’Brien that would see them claim a dominant victory on the Enniskillen based Lakeland Stages Rally.
Over six stages and an incredibly exciting days action, it was the O’Briens who really impressed as they topped the time sheets on
all bar one stage, and returned to the finish with a 21.2 second advantage over 2019 Champions Cathan McCourt & Liam
Moynihan.
In the race for the 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship, round 5 in Enniskillen provided an insane amount of story lines
that will help shape the final tale of the season, but for Ryan Caldwell & Arthur Kierans it was a result they could barely have
foreseen as they claimed yet another maximum score as all round them their rivals faltered.
Caldwell headed to the Lakeland Stages with a single point advantage over closest rivals Mark Donnelly & Sean Ferris, and by the
end of the opening test it was the VW Polo of Donnelly that led the Skoda Fabia of Caldwell by 0.9 seconds. Cruelly for Donnelly, an
impact with a bridge in Ballintempo ended his day and was a cruel blow to his title chances.
With his main rival now sidelined, Caldwell & Kierans continued to push and would eventually arrive to the finish somewhat
disappointed to be 4th on the event, but with a sizeable power disadvantage to those ahead and a massive advantage gained in the
Championship, it was a remarkably good day for the Motorsport Ireland backed youngster.
Second place amongst the Sligo Pallets Forest Championship registered crews would go to Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey, a
remarkable drive by the local star and event sponsor would see their Ford Escort Mk2 finish top 2WD on the day to make the high-
speed blast over the six Lakeland stages all the sweeter.
Mickey Conlon & Paul McPhillips would finish third in their Ford Escort amongst the registered crews. James McCarville finished 11th
overall in a Fiesta R5 and 4th in Class.
Amongst the impressive results achieved on the day, Jack McKenna & Mac Kierans continued their really impressive debut year on
Gravel as they finished 24th overall and take another step towards a sweep of Class 16 titles on both surfaces as well as the MIJRS
J1600 crown already secured.
Bryan Jardine and Declan McKenna had an almost 19 second lead in the Historic Class 1 midways through the afternoon, helped
largely by a blistering time on Stage 2, and were unfortunate to lose out on the class win on the final stage by just three seconds.
Derek Mackarel had Darran Curran on the notes in his Fiesta R5. A fifth and sixth fastest time on two of the opening stages proved
that he was becoming more accustomed to the machine after making the move this year. However, their rally came to an end with
just one stage to go. Killian McArdle was out with Peter McCullagh once again in the Mitsubishi Evo, however the pairing retired
after the opening stage.
The Championship race now comes down to just two more events, with the action staying up north next time out with the ‘Gravel
Grand Prix’ that is the Bushwhacker Rally in Omagh on September 15th and 16th , including some really exciting night stages, and
then concluding with the Carrick-on-Suir Willie Loughman Forest Rally on October 8th , with entries for both events currently open.
Motor Club Notes:
All Content Copyright emyvale.net
Tommy Moffett J1000 - Tommy Moffett celebrates after
winning the J1000 category of the MIJRS (Photo: CianDon)
Gilliland IGP - James Gilliand in action on the Irish Kart Grand
Prix (Photo: Cromlin Images)
Double championship delight for Tommy Moffett
Monaghan’s Tommy Moffett is a double-national championship
title winner, and he was crowned before even turning a wheel at
the Carrick-on-Suir Rallysprint at the weekend. The MI Junior
Rally Series came to an end for the J1000 drivers, with the
event at Waterford Airport marking the sixth and final round of
the campaign. It was confirmed last week that Moffett could not
be caught, which left him to enjoy the event without any added
pressure. However, in a fashion that has been seen elsewhere
within his family, he still took a start to finish class victory and
33rd O/A with Adam Langan in the hot seat. As part of his
package for winning the J1000 series, Moffett will receive
€2,500 of support and tuition from the Motorsport Ireland Rally
Academy along with other benefits designed to help with the
progression of his career.
It gets better, as after last weekend’s rally on the Jim Walsh
Cork Forest Rally in Cork, Moffett cannot be caught in the J1000
category of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship either -
making him a double champion in a single season. Domhnall
Lennon has guided Tommy through the forests this year and has
also secured top spot in the J1000 co-driver standings.
Gilliland wins Irish Kart Grand Prix
The Irish Kart Grand Prix was held at Nutts Corner recently and
Monaghan’s James Gilliland had a dominant performance to take
the overall win. In the Saturday heats, he took a 1st from
starting P5 and a 2nd from P10. In the middle heat he started
P23 and fought up to finish 9th. These results gave him the King
of the Corner title. There was a pre-final and final to be
contested on the Sunday and Gilliland took the win in both,
seeing off a six time world champion in the process. He was
crowned Senior Driver of the Meeting and was also awarded the
IGP plate for 2023 for his efforts.
Caldwell and Kierans extend championship lead as
O'Brien wins Lakelands
As the sun beamed out across the Co Fermanagh hills, it was
apt that it would the scorching hot pace of 2022 Champions
Patrick O’Brien & Stephen O’Brien that would see them claim a
dominant victory on the Enniskillen based Lakeland Stages Rally.
Over six stages and an incredibly exciting days action, it was the
O’Briens who really impressed as they topped the time sheets
on all bar one stage, and returned to the finish with a 21.2
second advantage over 2019 Champions Cathan McCourt &
Liam Moynihan.
In the race for the 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship,
round 5 in Enniskillen provided an insane amount of story lines
that will help shape the final tale of the season, but for Ryan
Caldwell & Arthur Kierans it was a result they could barely have
foreseen as they claimed yet another maximum score as all
round them their rivals faltered.
Caldwell headed to the Lakeland Stages with a single point
advantage over closest rivals Mark Donnelly & Sean Ferris, and
by the end of the opening test it was the VW Polo of Donnelly
that led the Skoda Fabia of Caldwell by 0.9 seconds. Cruelly for
Donnelly, an impact with a bridge in Ballintempo ended his day
and was a cruel blow to his title chances.
With his main rival now sidelined, Caldwell & Kierans continued
to push and would eventually arrive to the finish somewhat
disappointed to be 4th on the event, but with a sizeable power
disadvantage to those ahead and a massive advantage gained in
the Championship, it was a remarkably good day for the
Motorsport Ireland backed youngster.
Second place amongst the Sligo Pallets Forest Championship
registered crews would go to Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey, a
remarkable drive by the local star and event sponsor would see
their Ford Escort Mk2 finish top 2WD on the day to make the
high-speed blast over the six Lakeland stages all the sweeter.
Mickey Conlon & Paul McPhillips would finish third in their Ford
Escort amongst the registered crews. James McCarville finished
11th overall in a Fiesta R5 and 4th in Class.
Amongst the impressive results achieved on the day, Jack
McKenna & Mac Kierans continued their really impressive debut
year on Gravel as they finished 24th overall and take another
step towards a sweep of Class 16 titles on both surfaces as well
as the MIJRS J1600 crown already secured.
Bryan Jardine and Declan McKenna had an almost 19 second
lead in the Historic Class 1 midways through the afternoon,
helped largely by a blistering time on Stage 2, and were
unfortunate to lose out on the class win on the final stage by
just three seconds.
Derek Mackarel had Darran Curran on the notes in his Fiesta R5.
A fifth and sixth fastest time on two of the opening stages
proved that he was becoming more accustomed to the machine
after making the move this year. However, their rally came to an
end with just one stage to go. Killian McArdle was out with Peter
McCullagh once again in the Mitsubishi Evo, however the pairing
retired after the opening stage.
The Championship race now comes down to just two more
events, with the action staying up north next time out with the
‘Gravel Grand Prix’ that is the Bushwhacker Rally in Omagh on
September 15th and 16th , including some really exciting night
stages, and then concluding with the Carrick-on-Suir Willie
Loughman Forest Rally on October 8th , with entries for both
events currently open.
