Round 2 Preview: Moonraker Forest Rally

After a break of just under three weeks, the 2025 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship shifts up a gear as we get set for the return of the Moonraker Forest Rally, and a new challenge for many of the competitors as the legendary events returns for Round 2 of the season with a new base and some incredible stages that have laid dormant for over a decade.

Having stepped off last years calendar, the ever-popular Munster Car Club event returns for 2025 and in doing so moves East to Dungarvan, with the Waterford town playing host to an incredible entry of 124 crews ready to tackle stages absolutely steeped in Irish Forest Rallying folklore!

After a break of eleven years, the frantic sound of a rally machine at maximum attack on gravel returns to The Vee, Scart Mountain and Coolatoor, with one of the strongest fields in Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship history set to tackle a six stage route of 64km that will be an incredible test for all, from the youngest of the J1000’s right through to those competing at the sharp end and in contention for a coveted Moonraker win and a huge haul of vital Championship points.

It was Michael O’Brien & Greg Shinnors who last tasted victory on these stages way back in 2013, and there are a whole host of stars ready to add their names to the history books this Saturday. Leading the field away are 2024 Champions Derek Mackarel & Eamonn Creedon, they began their season with a podium finish on the Carlow Forest Rally in March and sit second in the standings, but leaders Jason Mitchell & Paddy McCrudden are absent from the entry.

Local star and former Moonraker podium finisher Andrew Purcell & Liam Brennan will aim to be putting Mackarel & Creedon under pressure right from the off in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, with Vivian Hamill & Gary Nolan and Stephen Dickson & Dermot McCafferty also in with a shout in similar machinery, while both Niall Devine & Liam McIntyre and former Forest Champion Pat O’Connell & Mark Wiley will have older Fiesta R5’s in what is a very Ford dominated head of the field.

The standout amongst the registered Championship crews is the appearance of Eamonn Kelly & Conor Mohan in a Ford Fiesta Rally3. The pair, who finished second on last years Lakeland Stages Rally, will use the event as a test before they head to Rally de Portugal which is the next round of their Junior WRC campaign, but knowing the pair there will be a push on once the clock strikes ‘go’ at the start of the opening stage.

In the 2WD battle, it’s the Lada Riva VFTS of Shane McGirr & Denver Rafferty who are top seeds, last years champions will have a tight battle once more over the Waterford stages as they cross paths with long time rivals and friends Hugh McQuaid & Declan Casey, that pair coming out on top by just 2.6 seconds on the first round of the season. Another brace of Ford Escort MK2’s follow McQuaid, with Damien Tourish & Domhnall McAlaney aiming to replicate their incredible debut in the Historic spec car in Carlow and Sam Stewart & Alan Johnston keen to overturn the 0.5 second gap that separated the pair last time out.

With the big power RWD machines leading the way, lets not discount the often incredibly quick FWD machines with a pair of the finest young talents in Irish Rallying keen to make a mark on this legendary event. Both armed with Peugeot 208 Rally4’s, Cian Caldwell & Kyle McDaid arrive to Dungarvan knowing they missed out on the 2WD podium by just 4.3 seconds in Carlow and in great form, while 2024 Billy Coleman Award winner Craig Rahill & Conor Smith debut their new machine on Gravel fresh from an impressive result on the European Rally Championship opener in Spain.

The largest class battle once more is set to play out in Junior 1000, with 28 crews on the entry list ranging from 14-17 years of age. The entry is headed by David Travers and Andy Purser who claimed their first win in Carlow while debuting a VW Up, and they will have their work cut out defending their championship lead from the likes of fellow podium finishers Kyle Drury & Karl Egan and Jack McDermott & Paddy Robinson, as well as a host of star drivers who failed to make the finish of the opening event of the season.

The action begins at 9.30am on Saturday morning as the crews take a brief service halt before tackling the first of six high speed stages, with a mid-day return to Dungarvan. After this weekend, the next round of the 2025 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship will be the Tipperary Sean Conlon Memorial Forest Rally, based in Mitchelstown on May 11th.