When a Welsh driver needed a co-driver for the Donegal Rally he sought a Kerry man

WHEN Welsh rally driver Meiron Evans needed a co-driver for the Donegal International Rally and had no hesitation in calling on a Kerry co-driver to do the job. Evans will bring his Toyota Gazoo Racing Yaris Rally2 to the famous three-day event next month.

He gave the car will its Irish debut in Carlow on Sunday where he finished a brilliant third overall with regular co-driver Jonathan Jackson alongside.

Evans won the 2023 Galway International Rally and 2022 Ulster Rally and he and Jonathan Jackson have been steering the Yaris in the British Rally Championship this season. However, Jackson is not available for Donegal so Evans called Milltown’s Ger Conway to fill the void.

“A chance to do Donegal is something I could never turn down! It’s a fantastic opportunity to take the Yaris to the hills. We’ve had a very busy start to the year, but with the British Rally Championship jumping from one surface to another we’ve spent most of our time adapting to the car and learning about what works,” said Evans.

“The car has massive potential and now with some tarmac events back-to-back, we can really try to extract some proper speed from it, on a surface I’m fully comfortable with. Unfortunately, JJ can’t make it, but Ger is a top-class co-driver and will bring a wealth of experience with him for the event.”

Evans has competed in Donegal in recent years, finishing third in 2022 and fourth in 2023. Conway’s best result in Donegal was in 2015 when he guided Rob Duggan to second overall in a Ford Fiesta R5.

Carlow Rally

Meanwhile, in Carlow over the weekend, several Kerry competitors made it to the end of a demanding fourth round of the Triton Showers Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship.

Jack Kelleher and co-driver Michael White were the best of the Kerry contingent. They brought their Ford Escort Mk2 home in 18th place. Killarney and District Motor Club co-driver Meabh Griffin was one place behind in alongside local driver David Condell.

It was a busy weekend for Currow-based co-driver John McCarthy. He contested Saturday’s Tour of the Sperrins on Saturday but an off-road excursion alongside Joh n Devlin resulted in a non-finish.

An overnight dash to Carlow resulted in third in class 13 while co-driving for Peter Wilson. Siblings Mossie and Megan Costello were eighth in Class 2 in their Ford Fiesta Rally 4. Gearóid O’Regan and Darragh Lynch were second in their class in a Honda Civic Type R.

Killarney and District Motor Club chairman Thomas Randles celebrated the 20th anniversary of his victory in the Carlow Mk2 Challenge. He was originally supposed to be co-driven by Darragh Lynch, but due to his last-minute unavailability, his father Diarmuid sat in at the last minute.

This resulted in the same partnership from 20 years ago being reinstated. However, an exhaust manifold problem on the opening stage cost the best part of seven minutes and they finished well down the order.

Keith McCarthy and his driver Neil Phelan had to resort to SuperRally rules to get their Escort to the finish.