Not even the weather could stop James Wilson and Arthur Kierans score a dominant win on the opening round of the 2020 Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship.

Winning every stage of the Carrick-on-Suir MC Willie Loughman Rally, the young Armagh star arrived back to the finish in their Hyundai i20 R5 with forty seconds to spare over 2nd Place crew, Michael Carbin and Conor Mohan (Mitsubishi Evo 8), and the same distance again back to the third placed Liam Ryan and Keith Moriarty (Ford Fiesta R5).

The 2WD battle was red hot too, with a pair of tussling Ford Escort MK2’s really setting a stunning pace through the rough and bumpy forest tracks of South Tipperary. Michael Conlon and Grace O’Brien had the early advantage, but a number of issues including a slipping clutch put paid to their hopes. Instead, it was the recent convert to Gravel rallying Gary Kiernan & Darren O’Brien who collected the crown as the top 2WD crew with 18 seconds to spare.

The closest battle of the day was in the M.O’Brien supported Junior 1000 class, when after a full days rallying, just 1.2 seconds separated the winners Reece Pollock and John Burke (Nissan Micra) and the runners up Kyle and Kieran McBride (Toyota Aygo).

Having committed himself to a full season of the Valvoline Irish Forest Rally Championship, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility, even at this stage, to consider James Wilson as a strong contender for the 2020 Crown, but there are a few big names due to make a return to the Wood over the next few rounds who will be aiming squarely at the 2018 Billy Coleman Award Winner.