Maiden City Motor Club’s 50th-anniversary celebrations will continue on Saturday as its members host the final round of the McGrady Insurance NI Forest Rally Challenge between Coleraine and Limavady.
Having run the Dog Leap Rally as a single-venue event at Shackleton Airfield near Ballykelly on and off for over 20 years, the meeting is going to make its long-awaited return to two of the local area’s best-known forests.
When crews last competed between the trees back in 2010, the Donegal pairing of Donagh Kelly and Kevin Flanagan triumphed by just two seconds from Kenny McKinstry’s Subaru Impreza World Rally Car.
Switching over from asphalt to gravel, the action will centre around Cam – which totals 7.8 miles in length – and Springwell, which comes in at 5.24 miles. These will be tackled three times each – twice in the morning, twice after lunch and two further times before 4pm to decide the winners.
Among the top R5 and Rally2 starters are last season’s Irish Forestry champion Ryan Caldwell (Skoda Fabia) – fresh from his victory on the Clare Forestry Rally a fortnight previously – and Vivian Hamill, who earned a top-three finish at September’s Bushwhacker Rally in Omagh in his Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
“I am really looking forward to the Dog Leap – it is not an event I have done before,” said Caldwell, who is the No.1 seed.
“The two stages look in great shape – I can’t wait to get on to them.”
Other entries of note include the Ford Fiesta trio of Jordan Hone, Paul Britton and Gareth Gilchrist, and Jason Mitchell, who is also among the top seeds in another R5-specification Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
Britton will also start in the hope that he can hold off Andy Magee – a result that would see him finish second in the NI Forest Rally Challenge standings behind newly-crowned champion Derek Mackarel, who managed to wrap up the title with a round of the rejigged series remaining.
In the two-wheel-drive class, meanwhile, Marty McCormack makes his first appearance on home soil in 2024 in his Ford Escort Mk2, with competition set to come in the form of Shane McGirr (Lada Riva), Paddy McToal (Ford Escort Mk2) and Adrian Hetherington in a Ford Escort RS1800.
McGrady Insurance NI Forest Rally Challenge Co-ordinator Gavin Campbell said: “The last time the Dog Leap Rally ventured into the forests between Coleraine and Limavady was 2010, so it is going to be exciting to see the new generation of Rally2 and R5 cars tackling some classic gravel stages.
“Maiden City Motor Club deserves great credit for their efforts to put together a fitting final round. Gravel rallying is enjoying something of a resurgence across Ireland, and this event promises to be right up there with the best.
“Budgets are tight and forest rallies carry significant financial risks for motor clubs, so I would like to express a special thanks to all those competitors who have entered.”