Will anyone stop the rise of Cian Caldwell in 2025? Four events down and three wins under his belt, it’s fair to say this season has seen an incredible return to form from our 2023 MIJRS champion as he has found a real turn of pace in his Peugeot 208 Rally4 that the rest of the field are struggling to match, and he has taken victories on Tarmac on the Midland Stages, as well as both Gravel rounds in Tipperary & Mayo.
Behind Caldwell in second, and ruing still a frustrating retirement on the Tipperary Forest Rally, is Jack Harris who has made the jump to Class 2 in a Ford Fiesta Rally4 having dominated Class 2A in 2024.
In third place is the real surprise package of this year in the form of former Circuit Racer, and Sexton Trophy winner, Jack Byrne who has steadily built his pace in a debut Rally season behind the wheel of a Peugeot 208.
Fellow circuit star and Karting star Oran England is only a pair of points off Byrne in a year to date that has shown some really impressive turns of pace and some stage victories along the way, while only for a frustrating mistake on the Tipperary Forest Rally we’d likely see Ben McFall, the 2024 Northern Irish Junior Champion, further up the standing as he came close to claiming victory on the Circuit of Kerry, finishing just shy of Jack Harris after a remarkable finish.
Just as in its debut year, Class 2A has been, and is likely to remain, a really tight battle right to the end.
It was Ross Ryan who left the Mayo Forest Rally the happiest of the Class 2A crews as he bagged a second successive maximum score on gravel, and with it now sits just a single point off the lead of the standings going into the summer break, a lead held by the class runner up last time out Jack Kennedy.
Ryan, making the step up from J1000 this season, has a real battle in store with the more experienced Kennedy as they both compete in Ford Fiesta R2T’s, with the mix season sure to have a role yet as Kennedy has won twice on Tar while Ryan has won twice on Gravel.
While our youngest competitors will not compete on this weekend’s Ravens Rock Rally, their MIJRS campaign heads to the tarmac of Waterford Airport Business Park for the Carrick-on-Suir Rally Sprint on July 19th for the latest in a season that includes six full Gravel rally events and a smattering of Sprints for competitors as young as 14 years of age.
