Robert's Rally Buzz - April 2025

McLaughlin Wins At Bishopscourt

Donegal driver Aaron McLaughlin won his first NI Championship rally last month. The Race & Rally Stages at Bishopscourt was round one of the 2025 Brown & Brown MSUK Northern Ireland Rally Championship. Organised by Ballynahinch & District Motor Club, a total of 86 cars lined up to start the single-venue event at the County Down race circuit.

Top of the entry list were 2024 champions, Jonny Greer and Niall Burns. After years of competing in various Citroen products, the pair had switched to the latest Toyota Yaris Rally2 machine. Bishopscourt was their first event and the first appearance in Northern Ireland of the car. The Yaris Rally2 is the “Car of the Moment” with the Japanese machines leading both the 2025 British Rally Championship and WRC 2.

Fastest on stage one were McLaughlin and his co-driver Darren Curran in the same VW Polo GTI R5 with which they finished runners-up here last year. Late entry and former champion Derek McGarrity was second in an ex-works M-Sport Fiesta Rally2 with Jonny Greer third as he settled in to his new car.

It all went wrong for Greer on stage two. The Yaris aquaplaned on standing water, hit a tyre-stack and rolled, causing extensive damage to the car. Thankfully no one was injured. The favourite, and winner for the past four years, was out of the rally and possibly out of the NI Championship (see Rally Diary). Greer & Burns had intended to do the opening round of the Irish Tarmac Championship the following weekend in West Cork but had to withdraw their entry.

Following Greer’s exit, Aaron McLaughlin stamped his authority on the Bishopscourt  stages and although Stuart Biggerstaff closed to 6 tenths of a second behind him mid event, McLaughlin led from start to finish and was fastest on six of the eight (approximately 4-mile-long) stages. Biggerstaff and Stephen Jess were second, 16 seconds back in their Fiesta R5 while Derek McGarrity was 12.8 behind Biggerstaff in third with Conor Duffy on the notes.

There were 68 finishers. Among the interesting 18 top (class 1) entries were former ITRC champions Darren Gass in a Subaru Impreza S12B and Andrew Nesbitt who had a McKinstry Motorsport Fiesta Rally2 at his disposal. Gass finished a credible 6th while Nesbitt had problems and was classified 43rd overall.

Best of the 2-wheel-drive contingent were Jaye Nevin and Eoghan Moore. Their Peugeot 205 finished 12th overall. In the Nissan Micra Challenge section of the rally there was an impressive entry of 11 cars, fastest here were Andrew Bush and Geraldine McBride. The next event for the Micra’s will be the Circuit of Ireland.

We were timekeeping on the Race & Rally Stages @ Bishopscourt. Rory was helping on the finish control while Lorraine, Janet, Nigel and myself started all of the eight stages. Other BMMC/BRMC members were acting as stage marshals. Thankfully the weather was good for once, cold and dry apart from a light shower at the start. Overnight rain had made the stages very slippery to start with, but conditions improved as the long day wore on. We started the first competitor at 9.10am and the last at 5.10pm. Although we were provided with a good breakfast, the tight schedule (which was delayed by around 45 minutes following Greer’s accident) meant we didn’t get much time for a lunch break!

Obviously Aaron McLaughlin leads the 2025 NI Championship points after Bishopscourt. Eight-times champion Derek McGarrity is second as Stuart Biggerstaff hasn’t registered for the series. Could McGarrity possibly have another championship win in him at the age of sixty? Time will tell!

Meanwhile, Elfyn Evans has continued his brilliant start to the 2025 World Rally Championship. The little “Welsh Wizard” and his English co-driver Scott Martin won the Safari Rally last month in their Toyota Yaris by just staying out of trouble when almost everyone else had problems throughout the three days of challenging conditions in Kenya. Evans now leads the WRC by the huge margin of 36 points from last year’s champion Thierry Neuville. Josh McErlean eventually finished tenth in his Ford Puma after a catalogue of problems during what has been described as the toughest Safari for years! NEXT WRC ROUND: Rally Islas Canarias (Spain) April 24-27.

The 2025 European Rally Championship starts in Spain this month. Jon Armstrong from Kesh in Co. Fermanagh is the M-Sport representative in his Ford Fiesta Rally2. This car is one of the last of its kind to be built, and although a bit long-in-the-tooth now with regards to the latest Toyota and Skoda examples, we can expect a good run from Jon this year as he will contest the full series alongside co-driver Shane Byrne. In a test run, Armstrong was leading after the final stage in the ITRC West Cork Rally last month, but was denied the victory when the Fiesta’s engine failed on the way back to the final time control. Jon was excluded because the crew received outside assistance in their efforts to get to parc ferme. ERC ROUND ONE: Rally Sierra Morena in Andalusia (April 3-6).

Looking Back

Circuit of Ireland Special

45 Years Ago

1980 was the year of the big flat-out battle for the Benson & Hedges Circuit of Ireland win between Jimmy McRae in his Vauxhall Chevette HSR and Ari Vatanen’s Ford Escort Mk.2. Both drivers had huge incidents along the way but McRae scored the first of his seven Circuit victories when Vatanen rolled on the final leg of the five-day rally. They finished first and second in two battered cars, with Ger Buckley a distant third in his Escort. 139 cars, including three future World Champions, started the 56-stage event. It was my first time working on the Circuit, acting as a finish timekeeper on SS1 in Belfast’s Ormeau Park. The rally, based in Belfast with two overnight halts in Killarney, was a qualifying round of the 1980 European Rally Championship, British Open Rally Championship and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship.

40 Years Ago

The 1985 Rothmans Circuit of Ireland Rally started on Good Friday and had over 90 competitors headed by Michele Mouton and Fabrizia Pons in their Audi Quattro Sport. Per Eklund/Dave Whittock were at No. 2 in a Toyota Supra followed by Billy Coleman/Ronan Morgan in the Porsche 911 SCRS. There were 52 stages (all on Ireland’s East Coast) and the rally started and finished in Belfast with two overnight stays in Waterford. The event was a qualifying round of the European Rally Championship, the RAC British Open Championship and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Jimmy McRae/Ian Grindrod won in their AC Delco Opel Manta 400 with Russell Brooks/Mike Broad second (following team orders) and Bertie Fisher/Austin Frazer third making it a GM Dealersport Manta 1-2-3. Michelle retired on day one with mechanical woes. We were timekeeping over the five-days of the event. For the first time the 1985 Circuit of Ireland was televised in a joint production by UTV and RTE. There was a highlights programme each night on both channels.

30 Years Ago

Bertie Fisher won the 1995 AA Circuit of Ireland along with Rory Kennedy in a Subaru Impreza 555. The Easter Weekend 34 stage rally started and finished in Bangor with two overnight halts in Limerick. There was a 64 car entry in the Irish Tarmac Championship section, of which 37 finished. This was my first year as Chief Timekeeper and I well remember being on the stop control of the final stage in Bangor’s Castle Park on Easter Monday. Frank Meagher/Pat Moloughney and Steven Finlay/Phil Mills both in identical Ford Escort Cosworth’s arrived at the start of that 0.85 mile stage LEVEL on times in joint second place. In the end it was Finlay who took the runner-up position by just ONE SECOND (no tenths back then). It was Fisher’s first Circuit win after 15 attempts! George Robinson/John Billett in an Escort Cosworth won the NI Championship 8-stage Easter Stages on Good Friday in which 60 cars took part. A further 25 were entered in the Circuit of Ireland Historic Rally.

20 Years Ago

Derek McGarrity and Dermot O’Gorman in their Subaru Impreza WRC S9 won the 2005 Meteor Electrical Circuit of Ireland. They finished the event 18.2 seconds ahead of Andrew Nesbitt/James O’Brien in a similar car. Eamon Boland was third in another Impreza. By this time the rally was not a “proper” Circuit of Ireland. The 3-day Irish Tarmac Championship counter was reduced to using just 23 stages in three counties, Fermanagh, Tyrone and Monaghan. Based in Enniskillen the rally started and finished with a super special stage at St. Angelo Airport. 56 cars took part in the International event which started on Saturday 26th March. A further 56 entered the one-day NI Rally Championship Easter Stages on Saturday which was won by Glenn Allen and Damien Connolly in their Toyota Corolla WRC. Once again I was acting as Chief Timekeeper and I was extremely thankful for the help and support of many of our BMMC/BRMC club members.

10 Years Ago

The 2015 “Discover Northern Ireland” Circuit of Ireland Rally was a classic event. Pre-event favourite, Waterford’s Craig Breen driving his Peugeot 208 T16 R5 won what was the third round of the European Rally Championship, but only by 6.4 seconds from Polish Ford Fiesta R5 driver Kajetan Kajetanowicz. Josh Moffett beat his brother Sam into third place, both were in identical Fiesta Regional Rally Cars. 53 cars started the International section of the 2-day rally while a further 87 would contest the National Rally which was the third round of both the Irish Tarmac and Northern Ireland Championships. Derek McGarrity won the National Rally in his Subaru S14 WRC by 2 minutes from Kenny McKinstry’s similar car. There were 18 stages (almost all of them entirely in County Down) including town centre super specials in Newtownards and Lisburn. The rally started on Good Friday which fell on the first weekend in April. The ceremonial start was at Belfast’s City Hall while the city’s Titanic Quarter was the finish venue as well hosting the rally’s service park. We of course were helping out covering radio points, timekeeping, rescue, stage marshalling and other official posts.

Rally Diary

Sat 5th April
“Go” Tour of the Sperrins

Round 2 of the Northern Ireland Rally Championship. Based in Magherafelt and organised by the local motor club. There are six closed-road stages which haven’t been used before. A maximum entry of 100 cars will start with a further 15 on a reserve list. A notable absentee is the current NI Champion, Jonny Greer. Following the Toyota driver’s accident & retirement at Bishopscourt, it would seem that there will be a new champion this year. Leading contenders Aaron McLaughlin and Derek McGarrity are both on the Sperrins entry list. We are providing radio cover, timekeepers and stage marshals.

Sun 6th April
BMMC (NI) Marshals Training Day

Held once again at Transport Training Services, Nutts Corner. Organised by BMMC (NI) In conjunction with the MMP. Sign-on 9am for a 9.30 start. Please inform Rory O’Neill if you wish to attend.

Fri 18th - Sat 19th April
Circuit of Ireland

Round 2 of the 2025 NAPA Irish Tarmac Rally Championship. Organised by the UAC and based for the second year in Dungannon Co.Tyrone. There are 11 closed-road stages. On Good Friday there is just one repeated test while there are three stages  run three times on Saturday. Keith Cronin leads the ITRC after round one in West Cork in his Citroen C3. Last year’s Circuit winner Matt Edwards has switched to a Hyundai i20 this year but retired in Cork. They both should be among the main contenders this time out. The rally will include a Brown & Brown Ford Escort Mk.2 Challenge plus a round of the Nissan Micra Challenge. We are providing radio cover, rescue, timekeepers, officials and stage marshals.