They thought they had lost it all on the final stage! As their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 spun and took what felt like an age to fire up.
Jason Mitchell & Paddy McCrudden thought their lead of the 2025 Sean Conlon Memorial Tipperary Forest Rally had all but evaporated, but a stunning push over the closing kilometres of the Kilworth stage saw the pair arrive back to Mitchelstown as victors, and see them claim maximum Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship points for the second time this season!
On a scorching hot day in the woods, dust and heat were a talking point, but so too was the red-hot pace amongst the leading crews.
First blood would go the way of Andrew Purcell & Liam Brennan in a Ford Fiesta Rally2 as they went fastest on the Combaun opener, but just over seven seconds would separate the leading five cars. Mitchell & McCrudden, second on the opener, would up the pace and claim the lead on the rest of the loop.
Returning to the mid-day halt with a gap of 9.7 seconds, with Championship leaders Pat O’Connell & Mark Wiley in third even after suffering a puncture that had ripped the rear arch off their Ford Fiesta R5.
Purcell & Brennan would set another fastest time in the afternoon, and looked set to capitalise from Mitchell’s mistake on the closing stage before they had to stop at the scene of an accident and received a nominal time, leaving a final gap of just 3.2 seconds between the pair.
Finishing third in a remarkable drive were Darren Gass & Neil Shanks in a VW Polo GTi R5, the former Tarmac champion has only competed once on Gravel since 2009 before claiming a podium on the Tipperary event.
In the race for the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally 2WD Championship, it was a remarkable result for Cian Caldwell & Derry Long as they romped home with over a minute to spare on a huge field of talent in their Peugeot 208 Rally4.
But the podium was even more unexpected with a pair of older R2 cars joining to make it a FWD lockout, with Ross Ryan & James Deane bringing their Ford Fiesta home second, just 2.3 seconds ahead of Oran Nulty & Hugh O’Donnell in their Citroen C2 R2 Max.
In the J1000 battle, it was a first win in the series for James McShea & Grace O’Brien in their VW Up!, the pair returned to the podium in Mitchelstown with just 1.6 seconds to spare over Kyle Drury & Karl Egan who now take the lead in the standings, with Ryan Caldwell & Breen McNamee rounding out the top three and making it a really special day for the Caldwell family alongside brother Cian’s 2WD success.
The action continues in the 2025 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship as the series head West for the Mayo Forest Rally on May 31st, a return to the Ballina area is of huge intrigue to competitors as it marks the final event before the summer break in the series.
