Denied a true final day shoot out for the title, last weekend’s Clare Forest rally produced one of the most remarkable battles seen right across the 2024 MIJRS calendar, culminating in two of our brightest driving stars finishing the season finale separated by just 1.8 seconds after a breathtaking day of action.
The chase for the 2024 Class 2 title was over really before it began, with Tommy Moffett having to pull his entry before the start meaning Craig Rahill secured the series victory, and with it a nomination for a second year in a row for the Billy Coleman Award and a support package worth €10,000 from the Motorsport Ireland Academy.
With the title pressure released, Rahill could have settled into a conservative pace in his Ford Fiesta Rally4 with an eye to getting the car home, but as the Cavan star has proven time and time again in a season that’s included three Class victories along the way, he’s not one for taking it easy and he duly arrived at the first service halt with a 6.2 second lead!
Keeping Rahill on his toes though was the Peugeot 208 Rally4 of Keelan Grogan, aiming to avenge his two retirements on Gravel earlier in the year while also using the event as a warmup before the Stellantis Cup finale in a few weeks.
Grogan would go quickest on the opening stage, and he and Rahill would swap the lead nearly stage by stage.
As the rain began to fall ever heavier, the MIJRS Class 2 battle in Clare came down to the monstrous 16.9km final stage. Rahill would enter the stage first, holding a slender advantage on the times, with Grogan entering two minutes later. Rahill threw everything he had at it, but it wouldn’t be enough as Grogan went even wilder.
He would finish 7.5 seconds faster than his rival, and with it claimed victory by just 1.8 seconds over 57km of high-speed action!
Elsewhere in the class battle, Cian Caldwell had a frustrating time of things as a puncture caused him to slip into a drain on Stage 3 and drop a significant amount of time that saw him slip away from the leading crews, while Jack Brennan & Mossie Costello used the event to gain huge learnings on what was a challenging day of heavy rain and slippery stages.
In J1000 battle, the 2024 title was also wrapped up in Clare, with Oisin McShane rounding off a remarkable debut season in the sport as he clinched the MIJRS crown with a round to spare.