As well as supporting 23-year-old Aoife Raftery during her second Junior ERC campaign, the talent-backing initiative is assisting Jack Brennan, 19, as he embarks on his first season of international competition.
John Coyne, the founder and patron of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, said: “I’m delighted to see Aoife return to the Junior ERC Championship to build on the impressive performance improvement she achieved during the 2023 season.
“It will be interesting to watch Jack’s progress as he builds on a very strong national season in Rally5 and an outstanding initial performance as he stepped up to Rally4 towards the year end. The Academy and PCRS have solid experience of the Junior ERC and will provide support and guidance to help both drivers progress rapidly in their emerging careers.”
After scoring Junior ERC points four times in five attempts, Raftery will be back in action in a Peugeot 208 Rally4 with Hannah McKillop co-driving her on the season-opening V-Híd Rally Hungary from 12 - 14 April.
“It’s a fantastic opportunity and a massive thank you to everyone behind me and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy and my sponsors for making this happen,” said Raftery, who only began competing in 2021. “It’s going to be a really exciting year ahead and we aim to bring everything that we learned in 2023 into this season and keep improving. I can’t wait to start my season.”
Brennan, the winner of the Billy Coleman Award, is preparing to make his debut in the Hankook-equipped Junior ERC aboard a second PCRS Rallysport-run Peugeot 208 Rally4 alongside co-driver John McGrath.
“I’m really excited to be heading to the Junior ERC and take on the demanding championship and its events,” said Brennan, who is pictured with Raftery above. “It is a dream come true to be competing in Junior ERC, the stuff of dreams to be competing against some of the best in the world. Our hope is to finish every rally and, maybe towards the end of the year, come home with some good results and also gain experience of all the different conditions and surfaces of these rallies and how to approach them.”
Finland
Italy
Hungary