Kelly claims maiden ITRC victory after dramatic Circuit of Ireland – Motorsport.ie

David Kelly and Shane Buckley secured their first Circuit of Ireland and Irish Tarmac Rally Championship victory after a dramatic final day saw them hold off Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes by just half a second.
The Donegal crew balanced speed and caution perfectly through Storm David’s wet conditions to seal a remarkable victory on the Dungannon-based event, claiming their first ITRC win after fourth-place finishes in both Galway and West Cork.
Kelly’s breakthrough came after championship leader Callum Devine slipped off the road on Saturday afternoon, dropping from first to 11th and handing the initiative to his rivals. Friday’s opening four stages belonged to Devine and Noel O’Sullivan as the reigning champions stamped their authority on the Circuit of Ireland. The Skoda Fabia Rally2 crew posted three fastest times across the really bumpy stages featuring big jumps to build a 26.4-second advantage heading into Saturday’s eight stages.
Kelly claimed the fastest time on stage two to establish himself as Devine’s closest challenger, while Eddie Doherty and Ryan Loughran both made improvements after set-up changes transformed their cars’ handling.
Jonathan Greer survived an impact on his Toyota’s front-left wheel after taking a cut on stage three, while Cathan McCourt had to stop and change a puncture, losing valuable time.
The battle for second intensified on Friday’s final test as Moffett moved up two places with the second-fastest time to finish the day just 0.1 seconds clear of Kelly in a thrilling three-way fight. Doherty dropped to fourth, 0.9 seconds behind Kelly, after both he and Kelly lost time on wet tyres versus Devine and Moffett, who had soft slicks on the quick-drying asphalt.
Moffett lost time and position on Saturday’s opening Drummond Hill test after choosing wet tyres rather than cut slicks, but the Toyota pilot’s tyre gamble paid dividends on the next test. As the only driver in the lead group on wet tyres for the rally’s longest stage at Brantry Lough, Moffett set the fastest time to halve Devine’s lead.
Kelly lost more time with an overshoot on the same stage, while Doherty aquaplaned under braking and overshot a junction, both crews struggling with the wrong tyre choice.
Another wet stage at Rockets Hill allowed Moffett to move within 2.7 seconds of Devine as the championship battle intensified. Kelly’s decision to put two spare wet tyres on the front of his car appeared to help his times, while Sam Touzel suffered a puncture that would ultimately cost him a podium challenge.
Devine responded with the fastest time on stage eight to extend his lead over Moffett to 5.1 seconds but disaster struck for the championship leader on stage nine when he slid into a hedge on Brantry Lough and took over six minutes to return to action. The Claudy driver dropped from first to 11th, handing Moffett a 4.4-second lead over Kelly.
Devine went on to set more fastest times, tallying eight in total to climb back to eighth overall and salvage valuable ITRC points.
Kelly went 8.5 seconds faster than Moffett on stage ten to snatch the rally lead which he then extended to 4.9 seconds on stage 11.
A big effort from Moffett on the deciding Rockets Hill stage took 4.4 seconds out of Kelly, but the West Cork winner had to settle for second place as Kelly held his nerve to secure a memorable maiden ITRC victory by an incredible 0.5 seconds.
Doherty had started Saturday just one second adrift of second-placed Moffett but was unable to match the pace through the wet conditions. The National Rally Champion finished 59.7 seconds behind Kelly in third place, securing his third consecutive podium finish of the season.
Sam Moffett sealed an impressive fourth place on his return to closed-road rallying in his Hyundai i20 Rally2, while Aidan Wray started his 2026 campaign with a top-five finish in his Skoda Fabia Rally2.
Circuit of Ireland top five:
1 Kelly/Buckley (Skoda Fabia Rally2) 1:55:43.8s
2 Moffett/Hayes (Toyota Yaris Rally2) +0.5s
3 Doherty/Murphy (Skoda Fabia Rally2) +59.7
4 Moffett/O’Callaghan (Hyundai i20 Rally2) +2:11.7
5 Wray/McCrudden (Skoda Fabia Rally2) +3:50.6

McEvoy Motorsport and Flat 2 The Hat Modified ITRC
Barry Morris and Dylan Doonan delivered a commanding modified victory in their Darrian T90 after dominating Saturday’s wet conditions.
Morris took the early modified lead on Friday’s opening stage after Mark Alcorn struggled to see out of his Ford Escort Mk2. Alcorn fought back on stage four with a rapid time that moved him into the modified lead, going 10.3 seconds quicker than Morris, who lost time with a mistake.
Less than ten seconds separated the modified top three of Alcorn, Morris, and Damian Toner heading into Saturday.
Morris proved unstoppable on Saturday, going 18 seconds faster than Alcorn on stage five before extending his advantage throughout the day. Toner’s challenge ended when he slid off the road on Saturday’s opening stage, while Alcorn retired with suspension damage after clipping a bank on stage ten.
Tomas O’Rourke grabbed another top Modified ITRC score with his runner-up modified finish in his Mitsubishi Evo X, maintaining his championship challenge.
Ford Escort pilot Darrel Quinn completed the modified podium in third place, ahead of Darren Hamill and Paddy McVeigh.

Circuit of Ireland Modified top five:
1 Morris/Doonan (Darrian T90 GTR+) 2:02:53.3s
2 O’Rourke/Scallan (Mitsubishi Evo X) +7:22.6s
3 Quinn/Devlin (Ford Escort Mk2) +10:08.7
4 Hamill/Corr (Escort Mk2) +12:30.1
5 McVeigh/O’Hanlon (Toyota Starlet) +14:12.9

Wales Motorsport Historic ITRC
Ray Breen and Martin Brady clinched an impressive start-to-finish Historic victory in their Subaru Legacy.
Championship leader Jason McSweeney had been running fifth before his Ford Escort Cosworth suffered propshaft failure on stage five, ending his run of two consecutive victories.
Meanwhile, Killarney Historic Rally points leader John O’Donnell’s championship challenge suffered a blow when his BMW M3 retired with mechanical failure on the opening stage.
Jimmy Mills and Ashley Trimble sealed an impressive second-place finish in their Ford Escort RS1800, while Andy Johnson completed the Historic podium in his Vauxhall Chevette.

Circuit of Ireland Historic top five:
1 Breen/Brady (Subaru Legacy) 2:13:39.3s
2 Mills/Trimble (Ford Escort RS1800) +2:36.7s
3 Johnson/McSherry (Vauxhall Chevette HSR) +3:13.1
4 Adams/Johnston (Escort RS1800) +5:18.8
5 Campbell/Greaney (Escort RS1800) +5:53.4