Evans pounces on Moffett mistakes to grab Galway Rally win
A superb display of driving in tricky Galway Rally conditions has given Meirion Evans and Jonathan Jackson their second international rally win.
The Welsh crew entered Sunday’s six stages locked in a fight for Galway International Rally’s final podium position, a distant 20 seconds behind overnight leaders Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes.
Sunday’s opening Black Road test was cancelled as ice littered parts of the mountain stage. Stage 11, Ballydoogan, was the first to challenge Irish Tarmac’s best, and it claimed one of Galway Rally’s frontrunners.
Sam Moffett hadn’t completed much of Ballydoogan when he met the stricken Citroen C3 Rally2 of Cathan McCourt and Liam Moynihan. McCourt, who at that time was Josh Moffett’s nearest challenger, had been caught out by shiny tarmac in a right-left sequence of corners. His damaged Citroen could go no further but the Tyrone driver can take plenty of positives from his Galway performance.
Sam Moffett lost crucial seconds passing McCourt’s accident but hoped to receive a notional time. Moffett’s time would have been that of his brothers – eight minutes and 25.6 seconds.
Even that wouldn’t have been enough for Sam to stay ahead of Evans, though, who took his rally by the scruff of the neck on Sunday’s opener.
Evans went fastest by 5.5 seconds through Ballydoogan. His Ballydoogan blinder brought hope of a rally challenge. He was still over 14 seconds behind Moffett and Hayes, however.
Robert Barrable was the second-fastest driver through Ballydoogan, a reminder of where he could have been in the overall standings had his C3 not suffered a small fire on Saturday afternoon.
Elsewhere Desi Henry was left describing his Ford Fiesta Rally2 as a 300-horsepower shopping trolley after ineffective set-up changes added to his woes in Galway. Last year’s Circuit of Ireland and Ulster Rally contender was left reeling down in ninth.
Conditions on Black Road had improved enough for it to run in Sunday’s second loop. And Galway’s most formidable stage was set to provide yet another twist in the rally’s tale.
Rally leader Josh Moffett arrived at Black Road’s stage-end with a disappointed look on his face. Reports indicated that his Hyundai i20 R5 had collided with a bale on the 19.5-kilometre test.
A spin after the chicane had done more damage to Moffett’s Galway Rally defence, however. The two-time Irish Tarmac Champion knew he had lost time but was it enough to lose his lead?
Next up, Sam Moffett arrived at the stop-line with Evans tight to his bumper. Sam was flying through Black Road, feeling at his best behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 Rally2.
The 33-year-old’s Black Road assault took a hefty hit, though. A tightening right-hander lured the Rally2 driver in and the section of shiny tar slid the front of his Hyundai into a stone wall.
Meanwhile, Evans and Jackson were pushing equally hard in their Volkswagen Polo R5. They completed Black Road without any mistakes, racking up another stage win, this time by 8.1 seconds.
Evans had leapt ahead of Josh Moffett but the rally was far from over. In fact, Evans led briefly on Saturday before Moffett charged back to retake the lead.
Patrick O’Brien was the second-fastest driver through Black Road. Interestingly, he was the only driver to take racing lines through a complex of fast corners when the stage was cancelled earlier on Sunday – a hint at the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy man’s focused approach.
O’Brien’s day was to get better when he scored his first-ever Irish Tarmac stage win on Galway’s final pass through Black Road.
Sam Moffett’s Black Road right-hander almost claimed Jonny Greer’s Citroen as well. Greer was nearly in too deep when he spotted Moffett’s tyre marks. The Northern Ireland Rally Champion pulled his Citroen’s handbrake just in time to save any damage.
Callum Devine and Noel O’Sullivan jumped up to fourth overall on Black Road. Their pacey performance through Galway’s 12th stage usurped Garry Jennings and Greer. 4.7 seconds separated the trio with three stages remaining.
Evans scored a hat-trick of fastest times on Stage 13 as Josh Moffett suffered another setback. Moffett’s Hyundai overshot a junction on yet another slippery section.
Moffett did well to limit his time loss to 3.5 seconds. The gap to Evans was 8.3 seconds with two stages to go. The rally was by no means over.
The race for fourth was certainly not over either. This time it was Greer’s turn to jump ahead of his rivals Devine and Jennings.
Evans was the nearest to O’Brien’s sublime Black Road benchmark on Galway’s penultimate stage. Josh Moffett couldn’t match his rival’s Sunday surge and struggled to push really hard through Black Road after his dramas the loop before.
Devine jumped into fourth, back ahead of Greer, with less than a second separating them heading into Galway’s Ballydoogan finale.
But it was Greer who set the joint-fastest time with Evans on Galway’s decider to clinch fourth ahead of Devine.
At the front, Evans held his nerve to claim a Galway International Rally victory that cements his status as one of Irish Tarmac’s leading contenders.
“I don’t know what to think,” said Evans after Galway’s final stage. “They never come easy over here and this rally was no exception. You just have to look at the number of lead changes.
“Josh’s mistake let us in but once we got that we knew we couldn’t let the opportunity go.
“We have been the fastest crew today and it is awesome to get the win.”
Evans and Jackson finished the 2023 Galway International Rally 12.7 seconds ahead of Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes. Sam Moffett and Keith Moriarty completed the podium after an impressive return to Irish Tarmac action on their Hyundai i20 Rally2 debut.
Photos by Roger Dawson
