Galway’s Aoife Raftery had to put in a massive effort to secure the best female driver in a two-wheel drive car at Barum Rally Zlin over the weekend.
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver, who is contesting this year’s FIA Junior European Rally Championship, had the worst possible start in this legendary Czech event in the fifth round.
During Friday’s opening stage, a spectator special on the streets of Zlin, as a result of cold tyres, the Peugeot 208 Rally4 driver overshot a junction, damaging the rear right wheel. The considerable time loss put the Craughwell woman very much on the back foot among the six female drivers for the remaining two days and 12 special stages, which was eventually won by Italian Rachel Somaschini driving a Citroen C3 Rally 2 car for the second ERC rally in a row.
However, the Galway woman and her Armagh-based co-driver Ronan Comerford, both Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy members, were in determined mode over Saturday’s loop of six stages.
They ended the day third in the woman’s category, but more important, they were second in the two-wheel drive section in their PCRS Rallysport-prepared Peugeot.
Ahead of them sat Hungarian Adrienn Vogel who was just 28 seconds clear of the Irish driver on Sunday morning.
Raftery nipped away at her rival’s times over Sunday’s demanding route and, with just one stage to go, the gap was down to 1.4 seconds, ensuring a final stage showdown.
Raftery and Comeford dug deep over the final 16km stage to go nearly nine seconds faster than Vogel and take the win by 6.9 seconds.
“It was a special weekend, and we learned a lot,” she said at the finish ramp.
“We had to build back up after Friday’s mishap and really had to dig deep on Sunday. It was really nice to have this battle with Adrienn. It was nice to have a target going into each stage, looking at times and knowing what I had to do on each test."
Raftery also finished seventh in the FIA Junior ERC category, her second European Rally Championship points-scoring finish in a row, following her 12th-place finish in Rome.
“I really enjoyed the event. There was a great atmosphere, the stages are so tricky, but when you get into the flow, they are some stages,” she added.
C-driver Comerford, also a Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member, added: “The stages are really challenging for a co-driver, you have to be on top of your game.”
Aoife Raftery Rallying is supported by O'Neill O'Malley Architects and Project Managers / Loughrea Auto Parts Ltd / Craughwell Tyre Centre/Sean Fleming Motors / Aertec Vacuum and Ventilation / Des Lyons Plant /Quinn’s Hardware.
