Kyle McBride took his second Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup IRE & UK win of the season last weekend, as he battled the elements to take the top score at the Cork 20 [29 September and reignite his hopes for the 2024 title.
McBride and co-driver Darragh Mullen took control of the Cup leaderboard on the second test and were never headed, taking their Peugeot 208 Rally4 to victory in what would be a significantly shortened event. Ioan Lloyd and Sion Williams secured second place with a consistent run whilst Matthew Boyle and Gary Byrne rounded out the podium positions.
Promoted by Race & Rally, the series offers an on-event cash pot of €6,000 which is available to the first five crews’ home at each round. Plus, the Junior champion at the end of the season will receive registration to the 2025 FIA Junior European Rally Championship, entry fees to six rounds of the Junior ERC and 12 tyres per round contested in the series, a prize worth almost €40,000.
Torrential rain on the morning of the event would add to an already challenging route of eight tests and over 109km of competitive driving. Large amounts of standing water and high winds made staying on the road a challenge in itself but it would be series leaders Keelan Grogan and Ayrton Sherlock who took the early initiative with scratch time over the opening test.
They stopped the clocks 1.9s ahead of McBride but all their hard work would be undone on the very next stage.
“We just got a little caught out on a downhill braking into a left-hander,” said Grogan. “We climbed a bank which just tipped us onto our roof. It was only cosmetic damage, so the lads got her patched up in service. It’s massively frustrating but it’s not over yet.”
Grogan recovered to take sixth and luckily remains in the fight for the title. That left McBride to capitalise and headed into the first service with a 20s gap to Lloyd who was conscience that solid points in Cork would make his life easier at the final round. Boyle was quietly going about his business too, punching in positive stage times on only his third Cup outing of the season.
But just one stage was completed after service before the fifth test was halted for the Cup contenders. With the weather conditions showing no sign of abating, organisers would call a halt to the rally and the results declared, meaning McBride took an all-important victory.
“I’m absolutely delighted to get the win,” he said. “I needed to get good points this weekend to keep my championship fight on. It was crucial for me today.”
“I found the conditions really tricky, but I was quite happy trying to manage not to make any mistakes. It was super tricky but overall good to rally in these conditions it really helped me learn and adapt to it. Thanks to MI Rally Academy for their help and Darragh [Mullen] for doing a fantastic job today. Also, thanks to my sponsors who have helped me get here, to Dad in service along with the CSport lads. Cambrian will be max attack.”
And it will need to be. Lloyd’s second place puts him in the pound seat heading to the season finale at the Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally and the Junior ERC prize is well within reach. The Welshman simply needs to secure a decent points haul to secure the title, whilst McBride and Grogan need to win, and the others around them have a zero score.
Kalum Graffin/Mark McGeehan continued their progression in the series to secure the fourth spot, whilst John O’Rourke rounded out the top five in his Opel Corsa Rally4.
The series now heads to Wales and the iconic forest tests as used by Wales Rally GB in the past, with the exciting culmination of the championship on 26 October.
Provisional Top Three Championship Points after Round 7 of 8
- Ioan Lloyd/Sion Williams 111*
- Keelan Grogan/Ayrton Sherlock 102*
- Kyle McBride/Darragh Mullen 95*
*Including dropped scores – 7 best scores from eight count towards the championship
Image credit: CRSpics
