Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member Kyle McBride got his Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup IRE & UK season off to a flyer on the opening round – by taking the West Cork Rally Cup victory, 20th overall as well as top RC4 and top front-wheel-drive honours on the Clonakilty-based event.
The Stellantis Cup series organised and promoted by Race & Rally is now in its second season, and once again uses the best rallies in the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom to form a fiercely competitive championship for Rally4 cars from the automotive powerhouse Stellantis. The carrot at the end of the Cup Championship is the chance to win a substantial support package consisting of championship registration, entries and tyres for five rounds worth up to €40,000, for either the FIA Junior European Rally Championship or ERC4 category in 2026.
The 2025 Cup, backed by Race & Rally with support from Michelin Motorsport, Protyre Motorsport Ireland and LP Tents got underway at the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally, which also housed the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Championship. The three-day – 18 stage – over 200km closed road event was a real baptism for the crews who took to the start last weekend (14-16 March).
Seven crews registered for the opening round with Kyle McBride first on the road in his Peugeot 208 Rally4. This is a position the young man from County Donegal would not relinquish. Having won the opening front-wheel-drive Junior British Rally Championship round last month, McBride and co-driver Darragh Mullen were keen to stamp their authority on Irish soil too. Quickest out of the blocks on the opening day and night by 20.9 seconds put them on the front foot. Relentless in their pursuit of victory, the duo never missed a beat and took the fastest stage time on all counting stages to gap their nearest rival and win the class by nearly two and half minutes and in the process picked up a €3,000 voucher from Race and Rally to put towards their campaign.
Behind McBride – there brewed an almighty battle for second place for most of the rally. Jack Brennan/Eoghan Doherty and Joe Kelly/Killian McArdle – traded blows across three days in West Cork. Kelly and McArdle had the advantage on day one, showing a clean pair of heels to their nearest rivals Brennan and Doherty – slotting into second behind McBride. The gap Kelly and McArdle mustered up was 11.7 seconds going into day two. Brennan and Doherty put the hammer down on the middle day to claw back the gap with an almighty push to reduce the deficit to just 3.6 seconds with one day to go. Tensions grew as this gap would come down even further on the opening stage of the final day to just 1.5 seconds before Kelly and McArdle responded to nudge the advantage back up to 3.6 on SS14 of 18.
However, sadly on SS15 Kelly and McArdle collided with a chicane and crashed out of the event. Both crew members were ok – but had to sit on the roadside as their rivals passed them on the road and the timesheets. A gutting blow to a strong showing from Kelly and McArdle.
Brennan and Doherty with the pressure off – just had to finish and with a solid afternoon loop claimed the important second place for their Cup campaign and a €1,500 voucher in the process.
18-year-old Kallum Graffin and co-driver Mark McGeehan set themselves the target of finishing the event and gaining important mileage. Starting off steadily in fifth, they enjoyed a battle with the more experienced crew of Michael Fitzgibbon and Carrie Ryan. Sitting in fifth on the opening day, Graffin and McGeehan stretched the legs of their 208 Rally4 whilst growing in confidence and recorded a couple of second fastest times to overhaul Fitzgibbon and Ryan on SS10. From then, they never looked back. With the demise of Kelly on SS15, the final spot on the rostrum was secured and a €1,000 voucher was lifted for their storming run.
Enjoying their Cup run were Fitzgibbon and Ryan who couldn’t quit live with the pace of Graffin in the second half of the event. They can be pleased with a good haul of points in fourth, while Andrew Slattery/Shaun Forde after 10 years apart reunited and impressed on their 208 Rally4 debut with fifth, while series newcomers David Herbet and William Nolan were pleased to finish the rally and in the process rounded out the top six.
Round 1 Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup IRE & UK winner Kyle McBride said:
“I am delighted to get the win in West Cork. It was a really tricky event, but so pleased to get home in one piece as well after three long days in the car. Super delighted to get the win and start out the championship on the right foot with maximum points. I can’t thank the Motorsport Ireland Rally
Academy enough, the team in service, family, all the sponsors and BDM Motorsport for keeping everything running perfectly all weekend. I can’t forget my main man beside me – Darrragh who didn’t miss a note all weekend, so a massive thanks to him.“We learnt a lot about the car and tyres this weekend which was also so vital, especially with some other really big events coming up over in Ireland later this year. Building up a lead and managing that is something new for us so it was important to keep focused and keep the head for three days rather than getting carried away as it can be tough keeping the approach consistent when managing the lead.
“We can’t wait for round two in England for the Carlisle Stages and get back onto the gravel for hopefully more success!”
The championship now moves to gravel and to the United Kingdom, with the Carlisle Stages (12 April) in Cumbria the next challenge on the calendar.
