Motors: Academy drivers buckle up for European rallies

Set up four years ago, the purpose of the academy is to provide promising young drivers with a pathway from junior rallying to competing at World Rally Championship level.

Fri, 28 Jul, 2023 - 07:13

Martin Walsh

These are busy times but also fortunate times for the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy. Last week, three crews took part in Rally Croatia, a round of the World Rally Championship and this weekend two other crews are in action in the European Rally Championship in Italy.

Set up four years ago, the purpose of the academy is to provide promising young drivers with a pathway from junior rallying to competing at World Rally Championship level. The members are chosen from the Billy Coleman Award nominees. There are currently ten drivers. In recent years, the scheme was expanded to incorporate rally co-drivers (navigators) of which there are five.

The MI Academy, according to its website, is funded by the Team Ireland Foundation through the support of philanthropist and 1982 Irish Tarmac champion, John Coyne.

Meanwhile, figures quoted in its return to the companies offices last year from Team Ireland Motorsport Foundation CLG for the support and development of elite drivers in the sport of rallying, racing and karting, income stood at €1,725,000. That figure consisted of donations of €1,645,000 and sponsorship of €80,000. In 2021 the corresponding figures were €751,784 and €40,000 with an additional figure of €54,970 for the Go Girls Karting Initiative.

In the notes to the financial statements, reference was made to the deferred income in the amount of €331,697 (including €104,281 for 2021) received in 2022 from Team Ireland Foundation USA Inc. which had not been utilised at the year-end (31 December 2022) date. That funding, according to the notes, will be distributed to motorsport programmes taking place this year and in 2024 and will remain under the control of Team Ireland Motorsport Foundation CLG. The three directors of the company are also members of the Motor Sport Council (MSC). While the MI Academy process is well documented, there is little, if any, information available in relation to racing and karting.

Meanwhile, Omagh’s Patrick O’Brien (Skoda Fabia R5) ramps up his European rally experience on this weekend’s Rally di Roma Capitale, acknowledging that he lacks experience of tarmac surfaces. Indeed, the Galway International Rally last February represented his maiden voyage on sealed surfaces in the Skoda Fabia. The fact that he is reunited with his R317 family team is a positive as he learns the vagaries of Hankook tyres - an arrangement that will see him contest all the remaining rounds (all tarmac) of the ERC.

O’Brien, along with Galway’s Aoife Raftery (Peugeot 208 Rally4), are both under the MI Academy banner. Northern Ireland’s Jon Armstrong (Ford Fiesta Rally3) is also on the entry that is headed by Hayden Paddon (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), who leads the series by 34 points. O’Brien scored his first ever ERC point in the last round in Sweden while Raftery lies tenth overall in the Junior ERC standings. The 13-stage event that is based in Fiuggi concludes on Sunday.

Elsewhere, Ballylickey’s Robert Cronin continues his maiden car racing season in the Porsche Sprint Challenge GB series. His latest outing with the Leicestershire-based Team Parker Racing outfit is at the Croft circuit in north Yorkshire.

Elsewhere, following the lifting of a High Court injunction on Tuesday last, Motorsport Ireland have issued correspondence to their affiliated rally clubs inviting them to a meeting in Portlaoise on Wednesday August 9th to discuss rally dates for 2024/2025. The Irish Examiner understands that the dates of the Galway International Rally and the Galway Summer Rally are being assigned to the draft calendar.