Last weekend, the south coast of Ireland was full of rally cars taking part in the second round of the Irish Tarmac Championship, the West Cork Rally. Almost 250 special stages were completed by the famous Baby Blue Ford Escort MK2 with Frank Kelly at the wheel and his daughter Lauren Kelly with the pacenotes.
It was Frank and Lauren’s first outing of the year after winning the Irish Modified Championship and attending some of the famous rally legend’s events in 2024. The West Cork Rally featured 18 special stages and Frank and Lauren had a tough battle with Simon Reid, also driving a Ford Escort MK2. After 245 kilometers on the best Irish tarmac roads, the Baby Blue MK2 Escort with Samsonas Universal RWD sequential successfully crossed the finish line just seven seconds behind the aforementioned Simon Reid. So final result was 15th place overall and second place in among 2WD cars and class 14.
We made it to the finish of an unbelievable West Cork Rally!!
Small misfire for the last 3 stages cost a bit of time but we are over the moon with 2nd national.
Huge congratulations to Simon Reid and John on a well-deserved victory. Hard earned lads
-Frank Kelly
Photo courtesy – West Cork Rally
