Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes claim national crown

Monaghan’s Josh Moffett and his Wexford co-driver Andy Hayes in a Ford Fiesta WRC clinched the Triton Showers National Rally Championship courtesy of their impressive victory in the Galway Summer Rally, the penultimate round of the series.

Moffett finished 37.2 seconds ahead of the Fiesta R5 of Tyrone’s Cathan McCourt and Cork’s Grace O’Brien with Maynooth’s Ian Barrett and co-driver Paul McGee (Subaru WRC) 49.8 seconds behind in third.

A number of other titles were also decided with Monaghan’s Shane Maguire (Mitsubishi) capturing the Motorsport Safety Team Group N award and Donegal’s JF Shovelin winning the Dunlop Mk. 2 Champions Trophy.

Moffett topped the timesheets on the opening stage where he was 3.7 seconds ahead of the Subaru WRC of Ian Barrett with Wexford’s James Stafford (Darrian) third. Moffett’s main and indeed only rival in the Triton series, Clonmel’s Roy White was down in fourth, his Fiesta WRC developed issues with the transfer box and he retired at the stage finish.

Meanwhile, Moffett, who was a little off his usual speed, a factor he attributed to his accident in last week’s Ulster Rally, still managed to set the pace on the other two stages of the first loop and led by 30.6 seconds. Tyrone’s Cathan McCourt (Ford Fiesta R5) a late entry in his Ford Fiesta R5, was second while third-placed Ian Barrett (Subaru WRC), endured a time-consuming spin on a narrow section on the second stage.

Meanwhile, Cavan’s Jonny Pringle (Escort) slotted into fourth but was concerned about the temperatures, he had a misfire on the second stage. Niall Maguire (Subaru WRC) held fifth followed by Gary Kiernan (Escort) and Kevin Eves (Toyota Corolla), the latter duo along with Pringle were within a four-second time frame as they battled for supremacy in the two-wheel drive category. Wexford’s James Stafford (Darian) third on the opening stage, retired on S.S. 2.

On the repeat loop, Moffett stretched his lead to 29.1 seconds. Kiernan held sway in the two-wheel drive category as Eves had an altercation with a wall and Pringle retired after his Escort clattered a bank, Eves slid off the road on the final stage.

Moffett went on to take maximum points to secure his sixth win from seven events. His victory in the Triton National series saw him complete a notable treble of all three major championships having previously won the Irish Tarmac (2018) and Irish Forest Championship (2015 & 2018) titles.

Meanwhile, Tyrone’s Kris Meeke (Toyota Yaris WRC) took his first podium finish for the Gazoo Racing outfit with second place in the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, the tenth round of the World Rally Championship. He was part of a superb result for the team that took a lockout of the top three places in Germany.

Estonian Ott Tanak won the event, finishing 20.8 seconds ahead of Meeke to stretch his lead on the series. Jari Matti Latvala was 15.2 seconds further behind in third.

On Saturday’s penultimate leg Tanak saw his main rival Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20 WRC) drop from a challenging second down to seventh when he lost over a minute and a half with a puncture yet he recovered to finish fourth and claimed five extra points for winning the Power Stage.

Tanak overcame brake problems on the penultimate stage to stay ahead of Meeke and with his third win in Germany has stretched his championship lead over Neuville to 35 points.

For Meeke it was a long-awaited podium finish.