The Monaghan-Donegal pairing of Barry McKenna and Leon Jordan scored a narrow victory in the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally at the weekend even though they were not the winners on either of the two days.
Andrew Purcell and Mark Wiley were the leaders on Saturday night in another Fiesta R5, just two seconds ahead of the eventual winners, with former Valvoline Forestry champion Josh Moffett and his co-driver Stephen Thornton another 14 seconds behind.
Moffett was the pacesetter on Sunday’s six stages, closing to within 12 seconds of McKenna by the finish, while Purcell slipped back to third position, just over a minute behind the victorious pair. Each day counted as a separate round of the Valvoline Championship, with Purcell and Moffett being the two top scorers.
Motorsport Ireland’s young rally driver of the year, Callum Devine from Derry, took fifth place in the Junior World Rally Championship section of Rally Finland, giving himself a successful debut in the famous WRC round with its ultra high speed gravel-surfaced stages.
Devine and co-driver Brian Hoy climbed to fourth at one point, behind drivers with lots of experience on this type of stage, but a puncture on the Assamaki stage cost him valuable time and one place in the final results.
