Ryan Caldwell, the youngest driver ever to win the title and co-driver Arthur Kierans were winners even before the Bushwhacker Rally and were crowned new champions of the Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship.

It was a remarkable year for the crew in their 4WD Skoda Fabia R5. On the opening round in Killarney in only his second season Caldwell would go 2nd quickest behind his closest rivals all season Mark Donnelly and Stephen O’Hanlon. Donnelly did the double by winning the next round in Tipperary, while Caldwell and Kierans backed up their Killarney result with a fine 4th place. A win at the Moonraker Forest Rally was their first stage win..

They completed a southern double on by winning the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally. Round 6, the Lakeland Stages Rally would prove the biggest win when Caldwell and Kierans romped home to take a hugely significant maximum score for a third round in a row.

With a large advantage built, the 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship title was secured for Ryan Caldwell and Arthur Kierans before they turned a wheel on the Bushwhacker Rally.  Claiming a National Title at 21 years of age must surely be the mark of a remarkably bright future ahead.