Bushwhacker Rally winner Patrick O’Brien shocked to earn Academy place

WHEN Motorsport Ireland released the names of the six drivers to be included in its Rally Academy for the 2022 season, Patrick O’Brien was as shocked as anyone to see his on the list.

The Mountfield man has been a relative stranger to the stages from behind the wheel of a car in recent years as a combination of budget and the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have kept him out of action.

However, in September, he reminded the watching public of his undeniable talent behind the wheel with a stunning drive to win Omagh Motor Club’s ‘Gravel Grand Prix’, the Bushwhacker Rally.

And it’s on the back of that success and his Junior Irish Forestry title win back in 2015 when he was 17 that this opportunity has been earned.

“It was a bit unexpected, I certainly didn’t expect that!,” he beamed. “There were no expectations of being involved in that, it wasn’t something I’d even have thought about then I got an email the day before it was released on Social Media and I couldn’t really believe it.”

The six drivers selected for the Academy have been picked as an alternative to awarding the Billy Coleman Award for the second year in a row due to the Covid restrictions limiting the amount of competition that could be held.

As a result, Motorsport Ireland decided that six drivers would be selected from a self-application process, for inclusion in the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for the 2022 season. And following a final meeting of the adjudication panel for the Billy Coleman Award on Monday, December 20th, Patrick was named alongside William Creighton, David Kelly, Eamonn Kelly, Kyle McBride and Aoife Raftery in the Academy for this year.

Commenting on the announcement of the six selections, Sean McHugh Billy Coleman Award and Rally Academy Co-ordinator for Motorsport Ireland commented: “I’m looking forward to working with William, David, Eamonn, Kyle, Patrick and Aoife in 2022 and I think there’s a really good blend of youth and experience in the group.

“We have a number of development days planned for 2022 and I look forward to introducing this new group to our stakeholders as we continue to grow the Academy which is very much beginning to establish itself as a performance pathway for young Irish rally drivers.”

Patrick will meet up with the Academy directors and his fellow members later this month when he will discover what the next year will involve.