Eamon Kelly and Conor Mohan claim maiden rally win

After a thrilling day of high-speed action and incredible drama, it was a home-town win as Junior WRC stars Eamonn Kelly and Conor Mohan took a first ever win on an Irish event as they raced to victory on the 2025 Donegal Forest Rally, the final round of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship. Behind the wheel of a Skoda Fabia RS Rally2, Kelly & Mohan took the lead from the very start with a fastest time on the opening Loughfad stage, and maintained his advantage across the day with two more quickest time before returning to the Donegal Town finish ramp with 31.1 seconds to spare over fellow local crew David Kelly & Shane Buckley. Tarmac regulars that have developed an impressive pace on the loose in recent months, Kelly & Buckley had a great run in their VW Polo GTi R5, but had just three seconds to spare in the end following a huge push by Jordan Hone & Paul Hone as they went fastest on the Lough Aghvog test to bring their Ford Fiesta R5. In the 2WD category, it was a spectacular performance by Marty McCormack & Rory Kennedy as they took the win in their incredible sounding BMW E30 M3, the straight-six howl delighting the large crowds out on the stages even in foggy conditions early in the day.

Second place would go to Ben McFall and Damien McCauley in their Ford Fiesta Rally 4 which sees him also secure second in the MIJRS standings, while recently crowned Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship 2WD winners Hugh McQuaid and Declan Casey came home third in their Ford Escort MK2. In the J1000 battle, it was all smiles at the finish ramp, especially for the Wray family as twins James and Matthew shared a podium, with James & Peter Ward taking an emphatic victory, while James & Joe McNulty finished in third. Splitting the Wray pair were James McShea and Grace O’Brien, the second-place finish saw the pair claim the J1000 title by a single point, and with it McShea claims the 2026 Craig Breen Foundation prize package, and will join Kyle Drury on a trip to Norway in January  to visit the John Haugland Winter Rally School. Across the classes Danny Brady & Liam Callaghan took a first victory in Class 2A in an impressive performance, Jack Brennan & Eoghan Doherty made a strong debut in their newly acquired Ford Fiesta Rally3 and Ciaran Carr & Gary Lockhart had a great day to take the win in Class 9. Stephen Mackey & Richard O’Shea wrapped up their championship Class 10 title by taking the win in Donegal, with a similar situation for Eugene Ward & Patrick Heaney as the 11F win ensures they take the honours at the Forest Championship Prizegiving. Barry Melly & Matthew Boyle were the sole finishers in 11R, while Liam McQuaid & Mervin Galbraith were Class 12 victors. In the rented Lada, Daniel Breslin & Paddy Boyle were the standout stars in Class 14, Nigel Creagh & Seamus Cooke won the Historic Class 18, while in the 4WD classes Robert McKelvey & Declan Campbell were the stars of Class 15, while Class 20 went to Darragh Kelly & Eamonn Doherty

Report with thanks to Motorsport Ireland