McCourt edges out Mitchell to claim dramatic victory

IT was drama right to the very last stage as Dromore’s Cathan McCourt and his co-driver Barry McNulty took victory on the 2025 Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, returning to the Kanturk finish line with an advantage of just 1.8 seconds in their Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 as the 2025 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship roared back into life.

On a cloudy morning and with the loss of the second stage, the stage was set for a titanic battle and it played out as anticipated with five Tyrone crews to the forefront of the action throughout.

McCourt and McNulty went fastest on the opening stage, but as they returned to the first Service the advantage had swung to Championship leaders, Victoria Bridge’s Jason Mitchell and co-driver Paddy McCrudden in a similar Skoda.

The second loop was even more dramatic as the two traded tenths of seconds over the high-speed Cork stages, and by the second Service just 0.6 seconds separated the pair. On the penultimate stage McCourt would take the biggest chunk out of his rival, and even a final stage attack from Mitchell was not enough as McCourt took the victory, but it will sill be maximum points for Jason Mitchell and Paddy McCrudden in their quest for the Sligo Pallets Forest Championship title.

“It was good value, we had a good race with Jason all day. It was nip and tuck all day with only a couple of seconds in it. It was tight racing, a good old day’s craic!,” beamed McCourt, who has endured a difficult year, losing his friend Sean O’Donnell and witnessing the immediate aftermath of Garry Jennings and Brian Hoy’s frightening crash in Cavan.

Things have improved dramatically for the Dromore man since then, however, moving back into a Skoda Fabia Rally2 machine to win the Down Rally before this latest success in Cork and he also has a second child due the day after Omagh Motor Club’s 50th anniversary Bushwhacker Rally.

“It just seems to be working [in the Skoda],” he beamed. “It was a tough enough old station that [the Jennings crash] and a tough enough old year, but you just have to get on with it.”

Meanwhile, joining the Skoda pair on the podium in Cork were Omagh’s Gareth Mimnagh and Barry McCarney in their Ford Fiesta Rally2, again that magical difference of 1.8 seconds proving decisive as they held off the late charge of Ballygawley’s Vivian Hamill and Andrew Grennan in the battle for third place, while Drumquin’s Jason Dickson and co-driver Ben Teggart were fifth in another Fiesta, while Jason’s dad, Ashley finished 12th overall alongside Martin Brady.

In the 2WD race, early leaders, Fivemiletown’s Shane McGirr and Ballygawley co-driver Denver Rafferty suffered a mechanical retirement on the middle loop which ended their charge, leaving the door open for David Condell and Eugene Donnelly to take a hugely deserved victrory, a nice touch for the pairing as Eugene had been the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally winners the last time the event ran out of Kanturk way back in 2022.

The 2WD podium was a full Ford Escort MK2 affair, with Sam Stewart & Stephen Peoples finally getting a break in their luck this season to come home second, with Dromore’s Hugh McQuaid and Declan Casey rounding out the top three.

In J1000, it was delight at the finish as Kyle Drury and Karl Egan, having been so close all year, finally got their first victory as they beat the largest field of Junior talent ever seen on an event before. Drury and Egan led from start to finish, and returned to the finish 4.4 seconds ahead of James McShea and Grace O’Brien, with David Travers and Brian Martyn rounding out the top 3.

Meanwhile, Clady’s Matthew Wray and co-driver Joe McNulty brought their Volkswagen Up home 61st overall and eighth in class 21, while Dromore’s Sean McMackin and Rory McCann were 16th in the same class and 76th overall in their Peugeot 107 after picking up a 50 second penalty.