‘Two-tier’ junior rallying set for overhaul

There is widespread agreement across several platforms that junior rallying under the umbrella of Motorsport Ireland requires a radical overhaul as it has departed from the true spirit of its inception some 15 years ago.

The Killarney and District Motor Club pioneered the category during their 25th anniversary of the Rally of the Lakes, when the event was clerked by Noreen Marshall.

Now, a five-member committee that includes former national rally champion Roy White have been tasked with formulating a plan that will make the category far less expensive and more appealing to drivers under 27 years of age. It’s no secret that some cars in the category are costing as much as €100,000 and clearly this has already created a two-tier system, and is a deterrent in attracting new drivers.

White said: “Junior rallying needs to be tackled, and it will be tackled, and the new regulations will be out next year and ready for publication, and will be introduced in 2019.”

This year’s PlasticBags.ie Southern 4 Rally Championship introduced a new concept for the junior category (drawn up by competitor and organiser Paul Casey) and this is one of the ideas being explored by the new committee.

Other stakeholders such as rally preparation experts are also being consulted. White disclosed that the committee discussed the issue with preparation expert Tom Gahan and others with similar interests and wants a system that is easy to govern and contain rules that can be enforced.

“There is no point in having crazy regulations that require an engine strip to determine its legality. Junior rallying needs to be brought back to the spirit of what was intended.”

White is also hopeful that the new rules will harmonise the junior category across the tarmac and national championships. Candidly, he admitted that he didn’t know if it would be possible to bring forest rallying within the same parameters.

Meanwhile, Mike Marshall, who clerked the Rally of the Lakes for several decades and was a key advocate of the category, is also very much in favour of a return to the basics.

He said. “It’s got to the stage now that it is no longer an entry level to rallying.”

Asked if he thought it was gone out of control, he responded, “Even though the letter of the law may not have been breached, certainly, the spirit of the idea has been breached.”

Marshall is not in favour of limiting tyre sizes, claiming it would bring an element of danger but sees a reduction in the cubic capacity of the engines as one idea. “The 1600s are gone out of control, it might well be that it needs to be pulled back to like that of a few years ago when we had the 1300 challenge. I don’t think we should be going for identical cars. We need to give the absolute beginners a chance.”

He also remarked that the Billy Coleman award should be dropped from Irish rallying. “€50,000 (the prize fund) wouldn’t do two rounds of the British Rally Championship, so where are we going, I’d forget about it, does it lead to more dissent than what it’s worth?