Prize drive on offer for Junior ITRC winner

The winner of the Junior Irish Tarmac Rally Championship next season will be given the chance to drive an R5-specification car.

The new-for-2020 initiative, which is worth more than £20,000, has been created to encourage greater participation in the category after only 12 drivers took part this year.

The prize is the work of championship coordinator Paddy Flanagan, five-time Irish Tarmac champion Eugene Donnelly and Mellors Elliot Motorsport – the team that has developed the Proton Iriz R5 the winner will get to drive.

“There are a lot of extremely quick and incredibly talented young drivers in Ireland. They are the future,” Flanagan told Motorsport News. “We have to try our best to support them as much as we possibly can. I can think of quite a few young lads who deserve the chance to drive an R5 car.

“There is the Billy Coleman Award, which is fantastic, but not everyone is going to be in with a shout of winning that. What we are offering the winner of next year’s Junior Championship is a fully funded drive in a Proton Iriz R5 on one round of the ITRC in 2021.

“We have some small details to finalise but the response from younger drivers has been very positive and it’s great to have the support of Eugene Donnelly and Mellors Elliot Motorsport.”

Flanagan believes there is also every possibility that reigning

ITRC champion Craig Breen could return to the category next year on a bit-part basis as he helps Hyundai Motorsport with development work.

Breen and Paul Nagle emerged runaway winners of the series in 2019, returning maximum scores on every event they started in an R5.

“Craig might give it another go,” said Flanagan. “I would love to have Craig and Paul back in the championship next year.”