Another chapter of the Alan Moran Magical Forest Rally show was screened at a sun kissed Ballyvourney on Saturday last. The young Foxford man was delighted to kick start his forest season at round two of the 2016 Valvoline Motorsport Ireland National Forest Rally Championship, the Moonraker Forest Rally, in Cork.
Moran, and his navigator David Loughney from Ballina who was participating in his first forest rally, dominated seven out of the eight stages in the Junior section. With a lead of just over 50 seconds at the final service the current Mayo Young Driver Champion exercised caution on the final loop to avoid trouble and bring his Peugeot 206 home with a winning margin of 20 seconds at the finish.
Speaking afterwards Moran expressed his delight to be back in the car on Forest stages, he felt really comfortable through the day and thanked his navigator David Loughney for an excellent job on the notes, he also thanked his service crew of James McGreal and Sean McHugh who ensured the car did not miss a beat all day. “They earned their reputation as one of the best service crews around,” Moran said when a mechanical problem in the last service resulted in the starter motor having to be changed in a matter of minutes. As service is against the clock in these events any delay would have resulted in Moran occurring a time penalty, this however was not an issue for McGreal and McHugh and they got the Peugeot back out on the stages inside the allotted time.
Also having an excellent run in the event was London based Westport man Ed Muldoon who was having his first outing of 2016, stepping up to a more powerful machine than last year he was behind the wheel of a DJ Rally-Hire Mitsubishi Evo 9. Setting some impressive times Muldoon with navigator Mark Byrne finished the event second in Class 4 and 20th overall, a magnificent result for the pair. Next up, round three on May 7, the Tour of the Sperrins Forest Rally is based in Derry.
