Rallying to the cause in impressive style in Mayo

IRELAND has a special place in its culture for motorsport, especially stage rallying. The choice, variety and quality of events is remarkable for a country of its size.

Growing up it is hard to avoid with so many closed-road events spread across the length and breadth of the country. These events take place over 'special stages', which are closed roads to the public.

For that reason, it is no wonder Ireland punches above its weight when it comes to rallying talent, and the county of Mayo is no different.

One name has been synonymous over the last couple of years with rallying success in the west. McHale Rally Team is made up of husband and wife crew John Warren and Ruthann O’Connor.

Both work in the R&D section of McHale Engineering in Ballinrobe, and along with their distinctive ‘Green Machine’ Fusion 4 Toyota Corolla, the team have enjoyed their most successful season to date, having competed in a mix of 10 national and international events during the 2023 rallying calendar, recording several top 10 finishes and numerous class wins resulting in the National Irish Rally Championship, Border Rally Championship and West Coast Rally Championship.

Ruthann also secured both the National Rally Championship and West Coast Rally Championship Top Female Award along the way.

What also makes John and Ruthann different from most rally crews is that the driver and co-driver pairing also look after their own car preparation before and after events, which makes their success even sweeter, their attention to detail ensuring that their trophy cabinet is bursting at the seams after the year.

Also enjoying a busy year of motorsport is Lorcan Moore from Crossmolina.

The 25-year-old co-driver is part of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, which has given the Mayo man the opportunity to travel the world and compete in seven different countries, including destinations such as Qatar, Belgium, San Marino and Italy, and be part of programmes like the FIA Rally Star, which saw Lorcan team up with South African rally driver Max Smart.

In the latter half of 2023 Moore teamed up with Casey Jay Coleman from Carrick-on-Suir, with the pair having competed in the Rally4 class on numerous events in the British Rally Championship and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

Closer to home, more Mayo success came in the form of Lorcan’s brother, Brian, who wheeled his Honda Civic out at Midland and Laois rallies.

After DNFs in both of these events, he regrouped to head for the Donegal Harvest Rally in November, where he finished first in Class 11F.

Andrew Grennan, who hails from Monaghan but now has roots in Mayo, enjoyed lots of seat time during the year co-driving with both Vivian Hamill and Daniel McKenna.

His year culminated in November where he competed and secured class honours in the mammoth five-day Roger Albert Clark (RAC) Rally, which took place in the forests of England, Scotland and Wales, and he followed it up the following weekend by taking fourth place overall at the Killarney Historic Rally.

Jason Murphy got to steer his West Tyre Escort Mk 2 during the year, while his younger brother Niall collected silverware during the year at Mayo Autocross.

North Mayo’s Kevin Dempsey made his rallying debut, competing alongside seasoned Westport rally driver Ed Muldoon on a number of forest rallies.

Also taking to the woods but in the J1000 (for 14- to 19-year-olds) section was Aaron Hughes from Claremorris, who got increasingly quicker in his Nissan Micra as his debut season progressed.

In 2018, Bekan’s Sean McHugh took over as coordinator of the Billy Coleman Award for Young Rally Driver of the Year (an award he had been involved with since its inception in 2000).

The plan in 2018 was to oversee the award and continue its upward trajectory. Sean, bringing with him Mayo Rally COC, Mayo Motorsport Club chairman and an abundance of other motorsport experience, had the vision to create the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, the goal being to give the brightest motor sporting talents in the country the opportunity to develop their skills and take their career to the next level.

Securing the support of philanthropist and 1982 tarmac champion John Coyne, the academy, over the following short few years, became well recognised and respected on the European and world stage.

In September of this year, Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver William Creighton became a champion of the world by claiming the 2023 FIA Junior World Rally Championship title in dramatic fashion at the Acropolis Rally Greece.

Creighton became the first Irish driver to claim the title since 2011, when the late Craig Breen, who tragically passed away in April of this year, was victorious.

Creighton’s journey has been amazing, and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy and Mayo’s Sean McHugh have been pivotal in the success of not only Ireland’s newest world champion, but also several other drivers and co-drivers who are currently competing on the world level of motorsport - all born from a man with a motorsport world dream from Mayo!

Sean was recognised earlier this month at the Motorsport Ireland Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards for his contribution to the sport.