It was drama right to the very last stage as Cathan McCourt & Barry McNulty took victory on the 2025 Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, returning to the Kanturk finish line with an advantage of just 1.8 seconds in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 as the 2025 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship roared back into life.
On a cloudy morning and with the loss of the second stage, the stage was set for a titanic battle and it played out as anticipated. McCourt & McNulty went fastest on the opening stage, but as they returned to the first Service the advantage had swung to Championship leaders Jason Mitchell & Paddy McCrudden in a similar Skoda.
The second loop was even more dramatic as the two traded tenths of seconds over the high-speed Cork stages, and by the second Service just 0.6 seconds separated the pair.
On the penultimate stage McCourt would take the biggest chunk out of his rival, and even a final stage attack from Mitchell was not enough as McCourt took the victory, but it will sill be maximum points for Jason Mitchell & Paddy McCrudden in their quest for the Sligo Pallets Forest Championship title.
Joining the Skoda pair on the podium were Gareth Mimnagh & Barry McCarney in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, again that magical difference of 1.8 seconds proving decisive as they held off the late charge of Vivian Hamill & Andrew Grennan in the battle for third place.
In the 2WD race, early leaders Shane McGirr & Denver Rafferty suffered a mechanical retirement on the middle loop which ended their charge, leaving the door open for David Condell & Eugene Donnelly to take a hugely deserved victrory, a nice touch for the pairing as Eugene had been the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally winners the last time the event ran out of Kanturk way back in 2022.
The 2WD podium was a full Ford Escort MK2 affair, with Sam Stewart & Stephen Peoples finally getting a break in their luck this season to come home second, with Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey rounding out the top three.
In J1000, it was delight at the finish as Kyle Drury & Karl Egan, having been soo close all year, finally got their first victory as they beat the largest field of Junior talent ever seen on an event before. Drury & Egan led from start to finish, and returned to the finish 4.4 seconds ahead of James McShea & Grace O’Brien, with David Travers & Brian Martyn rounding out the top 3.
