The 2025 edition of the Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Rally Championship will reach the midway point at the Eakin Bros Brian James Trailers Stages on Saturday May 24 with seven stages starting from City of Derry Rugby Club, writes William Neill.
An entry of 100 cars will tackle a total of 41.2 competive miles starting with the Bigwood and Gortree stages at 9.53am and 10.29am respectively before the first service just before 11am.
Following the chance to hone car setup, Ervey Cross – an additional 4.1-mile stage – will be added to create a three-stage-long second loop before a return to the nearby service at 1.43pm. From there Ervey Cross is on the schedule again before a third and final visit to Bigwood bringing the Maiden City Motor Club event to a close. The first car is expected to finish at 4.20pm.
Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Rally Championship leaders Aaron McLaughlin and Darren Curran (car nine) will hop across the border with a nine-point advantage in a Volkswagen Polo R5 over fellow Carndonagh driver Conor Wilson.
Joe Hegarty (car 28) sits third in the overall standings and holds the two-wheel-drive category lead by a single point with Cookstown navigator David Turkington. Jaye Nevin and Eoghan Moore (car 49) will arrive with the aim of getting ahead in a rear-wheel-drive Peugeot 205 but will have both Paul Mckenna and Adrian Grant to contend with.
Seamus Goodfellow said the last round of the Brown and Brown supported championship was the ‘best day of rallying’ he has had to date. The Donaghmore driver is currently eighth in the championship and leads the FIA two-wheel-drive class with a Rally4-spec Ford Fiesta.
Looking at the head of the field Desi Henry, with Dean O’Sullivan alongside on this occasion, has the privilege of running as car number one following a 2024 win with a Citroen C3. The lead pair will be chased by Kesh’s Garry Jennings who has been in fine form with wins at last month’s Sperrins, a single venue rally at St Angelo and topped the podium with an Isle of Man visit.
Omagh’s Cathan McCourt and Barry McNulty are at three with a Hyundai i20 Rally2 while David Kelly and Arthur Kierans will be in preparation mode ahead of next month’s Donegal International in car four with the first of seven Volkswagen Polos running in the top tier.
