Nov 217 min read

2024 - A Year in the Woods

A host of first-time event winners, events returning to the series after over forty years and a champion crowned who has grown over the last decade to become one of our finest loose surface rally drivers, its fair to say that the 2024 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship truly delivered as one of the most exciting series in Irish Rallying.

It feels like an age already thinking back to mid-February and the season opening Killarney Forest Rally. Through rain, mist and an afternoon of scorching sunshine, and being chased by one of the most impressive and talented fields in quite a number of years on a loose-surface event, Jordan Hone & Paul Hone delivered a cool and calm masterclass to claim a very first rally victory on the Killarney Forest Rally and leave with maximum points in the hunt for the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship title.

With ninety cars starting the event, the buzz was real in the build-up, but a lot of crews would have been surprised to wake up to misty rain for the opening loop on what was forecast to be a drying affair, but it mattered little to the Hone’s as they finished the 12.6km opening stage fastest in their Ford Fiesta R5.

Andrew Purcell & Liam Brennan would go quickest on the middle stage of the loop, but the Hones would again claim a stage win to return to mid-day service with a lead, but it was fine margain stuff as they only had 1.7 seconds to spare over Vivian Hamill & Gary Nolan and the similar VW Polo GTi of Purcell & Brennan in third.

In the afternoon though Hone, guided by his father Paul on the notes, upped the pace again going fastest on Stages 4 and 6, returning to Castleisland Mart with an 11.2 second gap to Vivian Hamill & Gary Nolan, with third going to a rather surprised Niall McGonigle & Caolan McKenna who leave the Killarney Forest Rally with a stage win and podium finish on what had been intended simply as a shakedown event.

Just a few short weeks later, the action was back on as the series headed to the Southeast. Controlled, calm and quick were words used by Derek Mackarel to describe his day as he stood alongside navigator Darren Curren taking in the plaudits having claimed a maiden victory on the Carrick-on-Suir Motor Club’s Willie Loughman Forest Rally, the second round of the 2024 Championship.

For the Monaghan youngster, the day had started perfectly with a fastest time across the opening Derrylackey stage, and it was a lead that would continue to grow throughout the day as Mackarel & Curran would bring their Ford Fiesta R5 home with 20.6 seconds to spare over their closest rivals.

Starting at number one on the back a great victory on the opening round in Killarney, the Hone’s day hit bother on the opener, a spin in a tight part of the first stage and a tricky job getting their Fiesta pointed in the right direction saw them lose 25 seconds to the leader, and the day very quickly became one of recovery and on a dramatic final stage the pair would pip Stevi McCann & John McCabe to claim second. While the result left the Hone’s leading the way in the Championship race, their season would come to an end with an accident in Cork on Round 3.

We would need to wait quite a while to restart the action though, as a mid-season break stretched as far as August and the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, but the wait was worth it once he action fired back into life. The first twist in the 2024 story would come on Stage 2, as Jordan Hone left the road and ultimately ended his Championship ambitions.

Based out of the Mallow Autograss complex, the Cork Motor Club event attracted a bumper entry of 104 starters, and the mood was buoyant heading into the quick forest and windfarm roads that criss-cross the Ballyhoura Mountains and delivered a remarkably compact route for competitors.

The tightness at the top of the time sheets was remarkable, with every stage seeming to bring a new leader. Vivian Hamill & Andrew Grennan led at the first service halt, before Niall McGonigle & Caolan McKenna jumped up to the top after stage three, but by halfway it would be the VW Polo GTi R5 of Jason Mitchell & Paddy McCrudden who held a lead that they maintain right to the finish. With Mitchell not being registered for Championship points, Niall McGonigle would take the maximum 21 points, ahead of Derek Mackarel and David Condell.

As the series headed North, it would be an imperious drive by Derek Mackarel & Eamonn Creedon that would see them return to Enniskillen to top the podium of Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship crews competing on the fourth round of the 2024 series, the Lakeland Stages Rally, while 2022 Champions Paddy O’Brien & Stephen O’Brien would win the event in their ‘big restrictor’ Class 11 Skoda. The removal of this class in NI events in 2025 is a massively welcome addition to the Championship as it will allow more competitors to fight for the title without sacrificing scoring opportunities running outside Championship regs.

While the opening stages were both tricky and technical but extremely short, both just under 4km in distance, the main action of the day was to be played out on the monstrous Ballintempo, running in its full configuration at a mammoth 26km. Mackarel would drop the hammer while Condell was left to rue a pair of costly spins that would cost vital time, especially as the pair would only be separated by 1.5 seconds over the afternoon loop.

While the race for the title was now down to a battle between Mackarel & Condell, the 2WD title was all but secured in formidable fashion in Enniskillen as Shane McGirr & Denver Rafferty once again arrived home as the top 2WD crew on the event, something they would repeat four out of five times this year (losing a close battle with David Crossen & Ben Teggart in Cork being the only blot on their copybook), meaning the Lada Riva VFTS crew become the 2024 2WD Champions.

While McGirr & Rafferty dominated the 2WD standings on paper, they definitely did not have it easy as the likes of Craig Rahill, Ryan McHugh, Keelan Grogan, Sam Stewart & Mickey Conlon all featured amongst the leading 2WD crews right across the six events in the series, with Welsh pairing Ioan Lloyd & Sion Williams setting a remarkable final stage time in Clare to claim the 2WD victory in their Peugeot 208 Rally4.

As dominant as McGirrs victory was, that of Oisin McShane & Fabian McShane in J1000 seems even more incredible. 2024 was a remarkable season for the junior class, with an astonishing 32 cars competing across four events, all of which were subjected to thorough Technical Inspection during the off-season to ensure a fair and level playing field. In his debut season though, Donegal’s McShane was the standout star, winning three of the four events and ruing a costly stage 1 mistake in Killarney that prevented the clean sweep. Ross Ryan & Peter Keohane would end their days in J1000 with 2nd in the standings, with David Travers & Andy Purser in 3rd.

In the Omagh Showgrounds, the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship would crown a new Champion at the conclusion of Round 5, the Bushwhacker Rally, as Derek Mackarel achieved a lifelong dream by adding his name to the Doc Jackson trophy, joining his father Andy Mackarel on the roll of honour. Having started his career in a humble Vauxhall Nova, Derek grew through the series to become a Junior Champion, Group N Champion and now Overall Champion.

Heading into the 66km event, Mackarel knew that finishing in the top 6 amongst the Championship registered crews would be enough, but there were concerns right from the off as power steering issues plagued the Ford Fiesta R5 of Derek and navigator Eamonn Creedon on the opening Killeter test, allowing rivals David Condell & Mick Coady to make the stronger start. In a Ford Fiesta Rally2, Condell & Coady would have a 0.9 second advantage at the end of the second stage, but a spin on the Lough Bradden would see Mackarel & Creedon arrive at the mid-day service with 0.5 seconds to spare.

Over the afternoon loop, and with the gremlins sorted, Mackarel & Creedon upped the pace and none of their rivals could live with them. By the finish, the title was wrapped up in style for Derek as he returned with 33.5 seconds to spare, with the attention turning quickly to a similar strong result in Clare to see Eamonn claim the Navigator title. The leading Fiesta’s were joined by Ian Dickson & John McCafferty on the podium, the pair delighted to achieve their first Sligo Forest Rally Championship top three result and making it a Ford 1-2-3!

With the Drivers title secured, Mackarel knew he wanted to have his long time Navigator Eamonn Creedon join him as Champion, and that would be secured by the end of the first stage in the season ending Clare Forest Rally as closest rivals David Condell & Mick Coady retired.

The hugely anticipated return to Co. Clare after an absence of 42 years saw a real swell in support for the final event in the 2024 loose surface rally calendar, with a bumper field of 110 crews leaving the Scarriff base ready for the action that lay in store over six stages in the Forest complexes that surround the East-Clare town. By the first service halt, Mackarel & Creedon would hold the advantage on the times.

That wasn’t to last though, as 2023 Champion Ryan Caldwell, navigated by Stephen O’Hanlon, set the time sheets alight on the mammoth 16.9km Stage 3, blitzing the field to jump into the event lead by 11.1 seconds by the stage end, although this would be slashed to 5.8 seconds later by Purcell & Brennan.

With the rain really beginning to pelt down we were sadly denied a true battle to the finish, as a cancelled Stage 4 for all crews on safety grounds coupled with a neutralised final stage for the 4WD crews meant Caldwell & O’Hanlon, in a Skoda Fabia R5, would claim victory on the Clare Forest Rally, with Purcell & Brennan second ahead of Mackarel & Creedon who wrapped up their Championship title with yet another podium finish.

With the 2024 action put to bed, eyes already turn to 2025, and the series organising team have announced an eight-event calendar that see’s action right across the year and the return of events not seen in quite a while such as Donegal, Mayo & Carlow along with Championship stalwarts like Tipperary, the Moonraker, Cork Forest, the Lakelands and the Bushwhacker.

2024 Class Winners

Class 2: Craig Rahill & Conor Smith