Having seen the expected opening event, the Donegal Forest Rally, postponed due to storm damage, the Longford based Midland Stage Rally played host to the first competitive outing for a stacked field in Class 2 & Class 2A, and in the latter it was drama right from the off.
Ross Ryan, making his debut in a newly acquired Ford Fiesta R2T, set a blistering time on the opening stage but sustained damage to the intercooler which dropped him out of contention, but a pair of fastest stage times in the afternoon is huge encouragement to take as the series heads back to his familiar Gravel for the next Round.
The other debutant at Class 2A level, Tommy Furlong, showed great skill to bring the car home unscathed and pick up a strong haul of points to kick off the season, but the real battle on the day was between Darragh Kelly & Jack Kennedy.
Kelly, in a Peugeot 208 R2, gave it his all over the days fast but deceptively tricky stages and held the class lead heading to the final stage, but it just wasn’t to be as the lead would slip away by just 2 seconds by the time the days action concluded.
The one denying Kelly a breakthrough win on his return to the MIJRS was Jack Kennedy. The pair had swapped the lead numerous times throughout the day, but it was a last dash attack over the 14.70km closing stage that saw the Wexford youngster claim victory, and 21 vital points, in the process.
In Class 2, there was a sizeable interest in the Class Battle with nine drivers starting their MIJRS campaigns, and a single tenth of a second would separate the leading pair after the first stage!
For Jack Byrne, Ben McFall & Robert Cronin, all making their debuts in Rally4 machinery on Tarmac, a strong consistent pace and a well deserved finish to what was an attritional event is a great place to start from, and a good haul of points for the trio.
It was contrasting fortunes for a pair of MIJRS winners, for Jack Brennan it was an time frustrating time in Longford as he struggled to get his Peugeot 208 Rally4 set up properly, but for Jack Harris it was like a duck taking to water as his step up to the Rally4 Ford Fiesta saw him finish a fine third place in the standings, and claim two stage victories along the way aswell.
The 2025 MIJRS season resumes in just a few weeks time with the Carlow Forest Rally on March 23rd, an event that will also see the J1000 field compete alongside the rest of the MIJRS crews.
