Willie Loughman Forest Rally concludes 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship
After a season of high-speed action, stage-by-stage drama and the crowning of an incredibly worthy champion, the 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship comes to a close this weekend as the crew’s head to Kilkenny to take on the Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club’s Willie Loughman Forest Rally.
Over six rounds to date, the tale of the 2023 Championship has been interlaced with some dramatic plot points, breakout stars and some unforgettable moments in what has been a bumper year for Irish Gravel rallying.
Amongst a bumper entry received for Sunday’s event, the standout is top seed Ryan Caldwell & Arthur Kieran who travel South having already secured the 2023 Sligo pallets Forest Rally Championship title on Round 6, the Bushwhacker Rally in Omagh. This has been a remarkable season for Caldwell & Kierans, taking wins on both the Moonraker and Cork Forest rallies, as well as maximum Championship points on the Lakeland Stages Rally on route to a dominant title victory in a debut season in 4WD machinery in the R317 Motorsport Skoda Fabia R5.
Behind the champions, next on the road are Jordan & Paul Hone who are aiming to leapfrog up the Championship leaderboard and secure 2nd Place in the series for a second year. David Condell & Michael Coady start at number three and will be aiming to finish the year strongly following a frustrating retirement on Round 5 and a non-score on the following round.
A further brace of Ford Fiesta R5’s power Niall Devine & Liam McIntyre at number 4, while local favorites Keith Power & Mikey Breen will aim to repeat their podium finish on last year’s Willie Loughman. The leading Class 20 car is Pete McCullagh & Killian McArdle who finished on the Championship podium at the Bushwhacker.
In the 2WD race, its expected to be a full-bore duel over the 65km route between the brace of Ford Escort MK2’s of Mickey Conlon & Paul McPhillips and their great rivals and friends Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey. Conlon looks to have enough done to win the 2WD award this year and potentially grab an overall Championship podium, but McQuaid knows that any slip up or issue could see him grab the title at the final whistle.
Class 2 is chock full of rising stars of the sport all aiming to lay down a marker as we head into the off-season, with Casey Jay Coleman & Lorcan Moore and MIJRS contender Keelan Grogan & Ayrton Sherlock tackling the event in Peugeot 208 Rally4’s, while the Motorsport Ireland Academy backed duo of Kyle McBride and Aoife Raftery & Hannah McKillop return to the Championship in Ford Fiesta Rally4’s. Also making his Rally4 debut is 2023 Rally5 Champion and last year’s J1000 winner Jack Brenan, who along with navigator John McGrath debut their newly acquired Peugeot.
Further down the field, the battle for 2023 Championship Class Honors is on a knife edge right across the board, especially in Class 11F where it’s a winner takes all duel between Michael Fitzgibbon & Carrie Moroney Ryan, Ian McCarthy & Patrick O’Sullivan and Eugene Ward & Eoin Collins, with only a single point separating the three crews as we head to the final Round.
In the J1000 series, eleven crews head to the Willie Loughman Forest Rally with Tommy Moffett & Domhnall Lennon having already secured the title but the race for the runners up positions is set to be red hot between Danny Brady & Conor Smith, Ross Ryan & Peter Keohane and Conor Ryan & Conor Hade.
The action kicks off on Sunday morning with the opening of six stages starting 09:41, with the crews expected back at the Rhu Glenn Hotel just after 5pm when the final celebrations can begin. The final engagement of a remarkable season then will be the 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest rally Championship Prizegiving which will be taking place at the Sligo Park Hotel on Saturday, November 25th.
The 2023 Sligo Pallets Irish Forest Rally Championship Calendar:
Round 1 – 19th Feb – Killarney Forest Rally
Round 2 – 14th May – Tipperary Sean Conlon Forest Rally
Round 3 – 25th June – Moonraker Forest Rally
Round 4 – 20th Aug – Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally
Round 5 – 2nd Sep – Lakelands Forest Rally
Round 6 – 15th/16th Sep – The Bushwhacker Rally
Round 7 – 8th Oct – Willie Loughman Carrick-on-Suir Forest Rally
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