Kyle Irvine is the man on form as the Patch Tyre Equipment Junior MINI Challenge makes its annual trip to Kirkistown this weekend. The young Northern Ireland driver has won all but one of the races thus far and that one was taken by his best mate TJ Taaffe. The intrepid duo earned themselves a special Friendship Award at the ICCR Night of Champions at the end of 2026 courtesy of the fact that they are rarely spotted apart, on or off the track! 
Having tested ahead ahead of the season opener, they got off to a flying start but it was Jayden McBrearty , above, who claimed the first pole of the year in April, with Irvine alongside and Taaffe and Logan Hoey on row two. After a great battle, Irvine just shaded McBrearty across the line with Taaffe completing the podium. Hoey was fourth from Nathan Sweeney, who just pipped Mondello scholarship winner Eoin Dooley to the line. Behind them, Alex Watkins had battled his way past Daniel Heapes, with Sean Savage and Daithi Kennedy rounding out the top ten.
In Race Two, the result, in terms of the podium, was the exact same, despite the top six finishers from Race One having been reversed to form the grid.
After the usual Junior MINI sabbatical, to allow for exams etc, the class returned to Mondello Park for Rounds 3&4 on the full International layout. Taaffe was fastest in qualifying and he would take up pole position for Race One, with Irvine alongside. Hoey was third with McBrearty fourth. Nathan Sweeney was fifth and on Rookie pole, from Eoin Dooley, David McAdams and the much improved Alex Watkins.
Taaffe led away and held of a protracted attack from Irvine to take the chequered flag. Unfortunately, a tyre log issue subsequently saw him excluded, handing the win to Irvine, from Hoey. The Rookies were really on it in this one, with Sweeney taking the win, and incredibly, an overall podium in third too! He was chased home by David McAdams, with Kori Bagnell completing the Rookie podium from Daniel Heapes and Harry Phayres.
In Race Two, Taaffe and Irvine really went at it. Taaffe had made the most of his pole to lead under the Alfa Romeo bridge, and they ran line astern as they eased away from the rest!
Once they were clear though, they went at it. Irvine lunged down the inside into Southside to grab the lead, albeit briefly, as Taaffe calmly effected the switchback the pair rang door to door down to Castrol, with Taaffe claiming it back in the braking area, or so you would think! Irvine sat right around the outside, however, and the pair approached Campion side by side. Predictably, Taaffe left racing room and they headed for Turn Three still side by side, where Taaffe eventually made it stick!
McBrearty, running in third had a grandstand view of all this, but couldn’t get close enough to challenge and he also had to keep one eye on the mirrors as Hoey was right there and Sweeney’s excellent afternoon was continuing as he ran in a strong fifth, right in the wheeltracks of the third place battle! So it was Taaffe who broke the Irvine domination and became the second driver to stap on the top step of the Patch Tyre Equipment Junior MINI podium this far in 2026. McBrearty was third, whilst a brave last corner effort from Sweeney meant he almost pipped Hoey for fourth on the run to the flag!
Sweeney, above, held off a strong challenge from David McAdams early on to take fifth and the Rookie win in his DMC.ie Carzone backed machine.
This weekend, they all head North to the high speed former airfield Kirkistown circuit. Run by the 500 MRCI, the long straights and sometime head wind mean that slipstreaming is far more important than it is at Mondello Park, so it’s a new challenge for many of the Rookies. The forecast looks like we will see some rain and even though Irvine and Taaffe have tested well here recently, this brings Hoey very much into the equation. He is now a three time Junior Rallycross Champion and always goes well in the wet, taking the win up there last year when the heavens opened. McBrearty can’t be discounted either though and then of course the fast Rookies – Sweeney, McAdams, Watkins and the rest.
So Kyle Irvine leads the standings, from Logan Hoey and Jayden McBrearty. An unfortunate tyre log issue saw Taaffe excluded from R3, so he will be looking to climb up from fourth in the standings this weekend.
With four straight wins, Nathan Sweeney leads the Rookie Championship, from David McAdams and Alex Watkins. Daniel Heapes is fourth from Kori Bagnell, then it’s Harry Phayres, Eoin Dooley, Sean Savage and Jack Lenehan.
The Patch Tyre Equipment Junior MINI Challenge competitors test Friday and race twice on Saturday afternoon. Best of luck to all!
Images from Marc Quinlivan
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