After a break of just a few months short of a decade, the high speed and drama filled action of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship roars back into the West as Ballina plays host to the Mayo Forest Rally, the fourth round of the 2025 Gravel series.
The return to Connaught has been greatly received by competitors as 88 crews line up on Saturday morning to take on an event that very few in the field will have experience of, and stages that have not seen rally action since quite a few of our J1000 drivers were only toddlers.
The J1000 field is led away by David Travers & Andy Purser, the pair will be aiming to make amends for their final stage retirement in Tipperary that handed the Championship leads to Kyle Drury & Karl Egan, while winners last time out James McShea & Grace O’Brien line up next in a hugely deep field of young talent.
At the head of the field, its set to be a real tight battle in store as many of the top runners are really in a Championship battle after three rounds, especially with leaders Pat O’Connell & Mark Wiley missing the event.
Wearing number one are Jason Mitchell & Paddy McCrudden in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, the pair took maximum points in Carlow while finishing second to the un-registered Keith Cronin, and returned to take the win in dramatic fashion in Tipperary on Round 3.
Behind Mitchell & McCrudden, the next five all have a point to prove. Stephen Dickson & Ben Teggart have been hugely strong all year and sit third in the standings heading to Mayo, but they know they will have serious competition amongst a sea of similar Ford Fiestas with Niall McGonigle & Caolan McKenna looking to make amends for a costly mistake on the final stage in Tipperary.
Andrew Purcell & Liam Brennan are looking to claim a victory at home to go with recent success in the UK and fresh from a dramatic final stage loss of the victory on the last round of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship.
The 2WD battle has been fascinating all year, and it’s a trio of Ford Escort MK2’s that top the field. Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey looked set for a clean sweep of wins this year util they retired last time out in Tipperary, while Damien Tourish & Domhnall McAlaney also saw their day come to a disappointing early end.
The real unknown is JF Shovelin & Dylan Baskin, on only their second Gravel event in Tipperary they stormed to a class win and showed some really strong pace so its exciting to see how the battle may go.
The ones watching most closely of all though are Cian Caldwell & Kyle McDaid, the pair lead a hugely talented field of FWD crews in their Peugeot 208 Rally4 and arrive to mayo fresh from an outright 2WD victory last time out, and fellow podium finishers Ross Ryan & James Deane are also here aiming to bag strong MIJRS points in their Class 2A Ford Fiesta R2T.
