The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy crew of Craig Rahill and Conor Smith secured their first Junior WRC podium on the Croatia Rally while County Tyrone co-driver Aaron Johnston made it back-to-back WRC victories alongside Takamoto Katsuta, snatching a last-gasp win on the final stage. Rahill and Smith were competitive straightaway on their maiden asphalt start in the Junior WRC, setting several top-three times and a fastest time on Friday morning. The Ford Fiesta Rally3 crew remained in a fight for second with Sweden’s Calle Carlberg until a puncture dropped them back to third. They managed their pace over the remaining stages to secure the podium finish, over a minute clear of fourth, to claim a strong tally of points topped up by two stage-winning bonus points. Craig remarked
We had one goal this weekend – to stay clean, tidy, and get to the finish with points on the board so we are delighted with the result
In WRC’s lead Rally1 category, Jon Armstrong and Shane Byrne bounced back from an unfortunate retirement on Friday to finish third in WRC’s Super Sunday standings and go third-fastest on the Power Stage to score six world championship points. The M-Sport duo challenged the overall leaders on Friday morning, setting the fastest time up until the midpoint of stage two before a tyre delamination cost around 30 seconds. The Irish crew’s pacey performance continued, narrowly missing out on their first Rally1 fastest time by 0.1 seconds on the next stage. Unfortunately, Armstrong was forced to stop on stage four when he slid wide on loose chippings dragged onto the stage, damaging his Ford Puma Rally1’s suspension. He returned on Saturday to continue his impressive performance. In total, the MI Rally Academy crew racked up nine top-three stage times.
Josh McErlean and Eoin Treacy demonstrated their composure to finish 15th overall on their first experience of the tricky Croatian roads despite a series of setbacks. They had held fifth overall throughout most of Friday despite dirty road conditions before a puncture on stage seven forced a wheel change and dropped them down the running order. Saturday brought further challenges with a small electrical fire on stage ten costing seven minutes, followed by punctures on stages 13 and 14, though McErlean nursed the car through without stopping. Toyota’s Aaron Johnston had been second for most of the Croatia Rally alongside Takamoto Katsuta but snatched the win when Thierry Neuville hit a concrete block on the final stage. Their victory moves them into the lead in the WRC standings.