Following an early concern with fuel pressure issues Aaron McLaughlin and Darren Curran put them to bed to become Brown & Brown Northern Ireland Rally Championship title winners while Marty Toner and David Wright won their local event for the first time, writes William Neill.
The PRM & RPM Loughgall Rally was already significant for the Volkswagen Polo R5 driver as the rally where he first won an event that wasn’t at an airfield – and now the crowning location as a champion following three maximum scores.
Missing a family wedding – such was the importance of bagging points – Donegal’s McLaughlin arrived with confidence having won the Loughgall event on two occasions prior, albeit in a Ford Fiesta.
While a rally win was on the cards, runner up was the result of those morning car issues that meant, after SS1, the pair sat in 14th. Winning the remaining five stages the team quickly fought back to third by the end of SS2 and moved ahead of Jason Black by mid-event.
The rally itself belonged to Toner in his rare Proton Satria Neo, leading from start-to-finish and winning by just under two seconds – a major turnaround from a non-finish in 2024.
Black, with Karl Egan alongside, hadn’t sat in his Toyota Starlet in ten months but quickly put his mark on the timesheets, although the Armagh man admitted he had to try hard on the closing stage to keep Conor Wilson and Kyle McDaid at bay. Black was 29.7 seconds back from McLaughlin but the place was secured by six seconds.
Wilson, who had a fifth overall finish at the Tyrone Stages last season, went one better with fourth at Loughgall, now their best result, and remain second in the overall Brown & Brown points with one round to go.
Downpatrick’s Shane Murray and Gary Hade had a consistent run throughout to finish a fine fifth in a Ford Fiesta R5.
James and Heather Kennedy put their experience of the park to good use to take third place Brown & Brown points and sixth overall ahead of a run of fellow Ford Escort Mk2 crews with John Devlin and John McCarthy the closest of competitors.
BROWN & BROWN FIA 2WD CHAMPION: SEAMUS GOODFELLOW
Donaghmore’s Seamus Goodfellow was delighted to take the FIA 2WD category title with guidance from Declan Campbell.
The Ford Fiesta Rally4 driver has had much success in the series before taking titles as a Junior, Group N and class winner.
BROWN & BROWN JUNIOR CHAMPION: EOIN KELLY
Eoin Kelly and Shane Maguire set the target of no mishaps and secure the Junior title in a Peugeot 208 R2.
A respectable fourth in class at the North Armagh Motor Club event was enough to clinch the reward despite finding the stage conditions tough.
Junior and FIA 2WD Championship winners Seamus Goodfellow and Eoin Kelly with co-drivers Declan Campbell and Shane Maguire
Next…
All eyes are now on the R Kings Down Rally taking place on Saturday, July 19 where final Brown & Brown championship positions will be decided before attention switches to gravel.
Results (Full results via www.rallyscore.net)
1 Marty Toner/David Wright (Proton Satria Neo);
2 Aaron McLaughlin/Darren Curran (Volkswagen Polo R5);
3 Jason Black/Karl Egan (Toyota Starlet);
4 Conor Wilson/Kyle McDaid (Hyundai i20 R5);
5 Shane Murray/Gary Hade (Ford Fiesta R5);
6 James Kennedy/Heather Kennedy (Ford Escort Mk2);
7 John Devlin/John McCarthy (Ford Escort Mk2);
8 Mark Graham/Damien Sheridan (Ford Escort Mk2);
9 Scott Singleton/Dylan Wilson (Ford Escort Mk2);
10 Adrian Hetherington/Philip McKeever (Ford Escort Mk2).
