Motorsport: Josh Moffett aims to match his brother's haul of three Irish Rally titles in one season

Monaghan's Josh Moffett will continue to use his Hyundai i20 Rally5 in the Irish Forest Rally Championship series. Picture: Martin Walsh.

Monaghan's Josh Moffett knows that landing all three Irish Rally Championship titles in the one season is a big ask, his older brother Sam can tell him, given that, so far, he's the only driver to have achieved this feat, nine years ago. 

Tomorrow, Josh tackles the Omagh-based Bushwhacker Rally that dovetails as rounds of the Irish Forest Rally series and the Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge.

In the national campaign Moffett trails series leader Mark Donnelly by three points, with a pair of wins apiece, the pendulum continues to swing both ways and with three rounds remaining, it's very much in the balance.

Moffett has already bagged the Triton national series - confirmed here in the Irish Examiner after his victory in the Galway Summer Rally. Next weekend he will battle with Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty for the Irish Tarmac title on the Cork 20 Rally where a top-three finish will be enough for Moffett to claim the spoils. On paper, that leaves the forest series as the least predictable.

The Bushwhacker, dubbed the 'Omagh Grand Prix' has become a specialist event and that adds to Moffett's task. 

"The likes of the Lakelands (Enniskillen) and the Bushwhacker where there is so much local knowledge, I think it's going to take a serious push from start to finish." said Moffett.

"The Forest Championship is tough, the boys are going very hard, we've (with co-driver Andy Hayes) been out of the forests for a few years so we are probably on the backfoot, but we are pushing hard and trying our best, hopefully some of the next few rounds will go a bit better for us."

Australia-based Patrick O'Brien (Skoda Fabia R5), the top seed for the 10-stage rally, is a multi-winner of what is his home rally but isn't registered for the Irish series. With Strabane's Ryan Caldwell (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) and Carryduff's Jonny Greer (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) also not registered it leaves Donnelly (seeded at No. 2) and Moffett (No.5) chasing the points.

Donnelly is at the wheel of his AP/Art Rally Team Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 and while Moffett agrees that it would make sense for himself to switch to his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2, he's sticking with the Hyundai. The likes of Jordan Hone (Skoda), Stephen Dickson (Fiesta), Niall McCullagh (VW Polo GTi R5) and Gareth Mimnagh (Fiesta) could play a role in the destination of the championship especially if they can manage to split the championship pair.

Moffett added: "It would be good to have people in between myself and Mark but that would mean I need to be in front of him first. He will be tough to beat on the Bushwhacker so I'm thinking more of trying to get ahead of him rather than other people getting in between us, ideally I need to try and get the win."

Awaiting answers

Meanwhile, in relation to the inquest into the death of Dunmanway's Eoin McCarthy, who lost his life following an accident on the Killarney Forest Rally in 2022, legal representatives of the McCarthy family are still awaiting answers as to how the recommendations of Cork City Coroner, Mr Philip Comyn were in the public domain before the family or their legal team were in receipt of the documents. 

Following the four-day inquest (August 11-14) at the Cork Courthouse, the City Coroner's recommendations dated August 25 were received the following day.

Separately and according to the minutes of the Motorsport Council meeting from August 25 on the Motorsport Ireland website under the heading Coroner's Court it says: "Protocols need to be set up around Coroners' Courts and how Motorsport Ireland supports people. The Counselling service will be asked for their help in how to approach and communicate with all those who were involved in the Inquest and to help with meeting those involved." 

It appears from the minutes there is no record of a vote of sympathy being passed to the McCarthy family on their sad loss. 

On the day of the City Coroner's verdict, August 14, there were no senior Motorsport Ireland officials present in the courtroom.

It appears that the City Coroner's recommendations have yet to be posted on the Motorsport Ireland website and as yet, have not been issued to its affiliated clubs, yet, the results of a National Court of Inquiry held on August 26 is posted on the MI website for some time.

DIARY DATES:

Bushwhacker Rally (Irish Forest Rally Championship & Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge), Omagh, 9.30am.