Race for Billy Coleman award narrows to three

Final trio have been shortlisted from the five candidates that were interviewed on Thursday last.

COLEMAN AWARD TRIO: The three drivers selected for contest the Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year award (left to right) Craig Rahill (Drung, Co. Cavan), Ryan McHugh (Frosses, Co. Donegal) and Kyle McBride (Clonmany, Co. Donegal). Pictures: Motorsport Ireland.

 

The race for the coveted Billy Coleman “Young Rally Driver of the Year” award has been cranked up a notch with Motorsport Ireland’s announcement that Cavan’s Craig Rahill (20) and the Donegal duo of Kyle McBride (21) and Ryan MacHugh (26) have been shortlisted from the five candidates that were interviewed on Thursday last.

Rahill, from Drung, was one of the stars of Junior rallying this year both on gravel and sealed surfaces. Campaigning a Ford Fiesta Rally4 he netted class victories in the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series, the Triton Showers National Rally Championship and the Sligo Pallets National Forest Rally Championship.

From Frosses, MacHugh, who also drove a Ford Fiesta Rally4, came out on top in the RC4 category within the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and was runner-up in the 2024 Junior British Rally Championship.

The second Donegal driver McBride, who hails from Clonmany, participated in the Stellantis Motorsport Rally Cup that consisted of eight rallies split between gravel and tarmac surfaces on both sides of the Irish Sea. He finished runner-up to Welsh driver Ioan Lloyd, also in a Peugeot 208 Rally4, who won entry fees to six rounds of next season’s FIA Junior European Rally Championship along with 12 tyres per round, worth almost €40,000. 

The Billy Coleman Award judging panel consisted of five representatives from Irish motorsport, Sport Ireland and the media.

The winner, who will be announced at the Champions of Irish Motorsport Awards in Dublin on December 4th, will receive funding to the tune of €50,000 (funded by Sport Ireland and Motorsport Ireland) to contest rallies nationally and internationally next year. 

In addition, another €50,000 funding will be available from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy as part of an agreed training and development programme that is designed to progress their career. Each of the runners-up will receive support (worth €15,000) to compete in rallies at home and abroad and will be invited to participate in next year’s Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy development programme in 2025.