It’s all to play for as we head to Portlaoise for the penultimate round of the Trailer Parts & Spares Irish Forest Rally Championship, the inaugural Laois Forestry Rally. The Championship are always delighted to welcome a new rally to the calendar, and it looks as if Clerk of the Course Pat O’Connor and his team have put together an event that could be a favourite among competitors.

It could not be much tighter at the top of the overall standings, as the pairings of Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes, and Mark Donnelly and Martin Brady, are now tied on 94 points after an exhilarating Bushwhacker Rally, with Jordan and Paul Hone still well in with a chance to take home the title at the end of the year. Given the form cards, it seems likely that overall victory in Laois will come from one of this trio.

Josh and Andy head to the Laois Forestry Rally on a high, having secured the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in Cork last weekend. That victory also means that Josh has now secured two-thirds of the treble he has been chasing this year, and will have his sights firmly set on coming out on top in the Forestry Championship. Josh has been hugely impressive in a very much outdated Hyundai i20 R5, and a stunning last loop on the Bushwhacker saw Josh take a third victory of the season. Another in Laois would be sure to put him in pole position for a third Forestry title.

Mark Donnelly has been a multiple event winner in the past but has finally managed to put a season together this year, taking two victories and a podium finish on every round of the Forestry Championship. Pairing up with the experienced Martin Brady this year, the duo were already impressing in an outdated Volkswagen Polo R5 at the start of the season, but the recent switch to a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 has seemingly given them another gear and they will be hoping it will be enough to get their title challenge over the line.

Jordan Hone, co-driven by his father Paul, is the current reigning Northern Irish Gravel Champion and has had probably his best campaign to date in the all-Ireland series, having stood on the podium on every round other than the Cork Forestry where he retired with steering damage. While he is currently some 23 points back on the leading pair, he is still well within striking distance with drop scores taken into account and will be on the hunt for a maximum score.

Jack Harris and Aaron O’Regan lead the way in the 2WD standings in their Ford Fiesta Rally4 and have put in some great performances against more powerful machinery throughout the year. The MI Academy driver has had his focus on securing the Class 2 honours recently but has still managed to pick up some very useful points in the 2WD section. While Paddy McToal has been the man to beat on recent rounds, he isn’t on the entry list in Laois meaning that Harris is in a very strong position to secure the 2WD Championship. Hugh McQuaid and Declan Casey are their main challengers but would likely require Harris to pick up a non-finish on one or both of the final rounds if they are to catch him.

Things are equally exciting in the many classes up and down the field. Tommy Furlong and Francis Kelly are the current frontrunners in Class 2A after the Northern loop, but their tit-for-tat battle is likely to be complicated by the return of the MIJRS competitors in that class. Jack Brennan’s Class 4 winning streak came to an end on the Bushwhacker, but it looks like he will have a chance to make up for it in Laois. Class 11F sees the top 3 separated by just six points, with Eugene Ward and Christy Butler tied level at the top and Mickey Joe Browne third after two non-finishes. Class 13 continues to be hotly contested, with Shane McCanney moving into the lead after his excellent third overall 2WD finish on the Bushwhacker although he will be pushed right to the end of the year by both Hugh McQuaid and Mark Stewart. 

We welcome back our Junior 1000 competitors from Class 21 in Portlaoise, with the crews having missed the previous two rounds due to the different regulations in the North. Daniel Ormond holds a sizable lead in the standings and has already done enough to secure the first of two Craig Breen Foundation prizes available to J1000 competitors but still needs to secure the class victory. Matthew Wray is his closest challenger, sitting some 14 points back, meaning that Ormond will need to be focused on finishing in what has been a year of attrition in the J1000 class.

The Laois Forestry Rally will feature a compact loop of three challenging stages that have not been run in recent memory, which means it will be a level playing field for all competitors. After Laois, we have one final round with the Dogleap Rally in Limavady on October 17th which will undoubtedly provide a worthy climax to what has been an epic season of forestry rallying.

Want to keep up to date with the Trailer Parts & Spares Irish Forest Rally Championship? Check out the Championship Website at www.IRLForestRally.com, the online Sportity Noticeboard at IrishForestChamp, or check out the Championship on Facebook & Instagram.