Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Eamonn Kelly got his second season of the Junior World Rally Championship off to a perfect start by taking third place in Rally Sweden.

The result matched his Acropolis Rally Greece performance last September and sets him up nicely for round two in Croatia in April – an event he won in 2023. One of a record 19 entrants, Kelly found himself in a battle with eventual winner, local ace, Mille Johansson and FIA Rally Star program member Romet Jürgenson as the Donegal man completed the podium in the category for identical Ford Fiesta Rally3s run equipped with Pirelli tyres.

“It was really good to be on the podium in Sweden this year. It is a fantastic start for our championship to finish. To finish third [amongst 19 drivers] is something we can be really happy with."

Kelly and co-driver Conor Mohan called on all their previous Rally Sweden experience. “We came here this year with a plan,” he added. “We knew what we were up against in terms of the scale of the event. We were able to show what we had learned and then back it up and it is something that I am personally happy about. “It was a good just a good weekend in general we showed speed in places and then we were kind of maintaining a fairly consistent pace for the rest of the time.”

Kelly and Mohan won the junior element of Rally Croatia last season and the focus for the months ahead is preparation for the first tarmac rally of the season. “I would like to go there this year and show some speed. I want to go there and try and be much much faster and closer to the top position in the table. That IS going to be the main focus over the next two months."
 
Fellow Academy crew William Creighton and Liam Regan had a challenging start to their WRC 2 programme. Armed with an M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally2, and with support from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, Creighton endured an eventful weekend.
 
A double puncture on Friday’s penultimate stage and a spin on Saturday saw him stuck in a snowbank, but the pair dug themselves out and continued the weekend stress-free. Creighton would finish his first Rally Sweden in the Fiesta Rally2 14th in class and 26th overall.