Welcome folks to the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship J1000 class of 2024!
There was a silence in the air as guest after guest spoke broken only by the faint scribble of notes on paper. In the Mondello Park Grand Prix Suite, a sea of the future stars of Irish Motorsport sat and listened to a wide range of incredible speakers as nearby the Motorsport Ireland Scrutineering Team worked away inspecting the latest crop of machines ready to tackle this years championship.
Run in conjunction with the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, the J1000 Technical Day was an incredible learning opportunity for all in attendance. The information session was kicked off by Art McCarrick, Sporting Manager of Motorsport Ireland. In front of audience of a staggering 18 J1000 competitors and their parents, Art detailed the updates MI have made regarding Child Safegaurding and License Requirements for 2024, which you can find the full details here.
Sean McHugh, the coordinator of the Motorsport Ireland Academy then introduced the work that they do to support and develop the next breed of Irish Rallying stars, and discussed the move this year, as detailed by Academy Patron John Coyne at our 2023 Prizegiving, to introduce the Junior Academy and the intention to run additional tuition days over the year.
One of the more memorable sessions for all those involved will surely have been the Performance Coaching session with Alan Heary. Joined by members of the MI Academy including Billy Coleman Award winners Jack Brennan & Eamonn Kelly as well as 2023 JWRC Champion William Creighton, the groups split to complete group exercises on what they consider to be the key elements to becoming a truly great rally driver.
Next up, Andy Walsh, well known for his work with OnThePacenote's stage end coverage as well as MI Academy Social Media lead, discussed the advantages of how Online Presence can boost profile and work towards finding sponsors required to progress in the sport, but also emphasised the importance of sharing the correct message online in a safe manner.
To break up the day, hugely experienced navigator Derek Brannigan lead workshops relating to optimising seating position, tips relating to pacenotes and gave an informative breakdown of the various signage that competitors can expect to meet on a Rally Stage. As this was ongoing, Tyre Change practice was also being completed in a Pit Garage.
Already with a huge amount of information absorbed, the day concluded for our J1000 crews with an informal Q&A session with the Motorsport Ireland Academy members present.
Leaving with a lot of learning, both from the MI Academy Tuition element but also feedback from the Scrutineering team relating to their cars, the J1000 crews have plenty of things to reflect upon as they prepare for the season opening Killarney Forest Rally.
Based in Castleisland, the February 18th event will be the opening round of both the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship, as well as the dual-surface Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series. Registration for both championships will be available in the coming days.
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