The Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship prizegiving took place on Saturday night last in the Sligo Park Hotel. Monaghan man Derek Mackarel along with his Co. Cork navigator Eamonn Creedon were presented with their Cup’s and trophies for being crowned this year’s Champions. On the six-round championship, Derek and Eamonn finished 4th on the opening round in Killarney. Eamonn had to miss Round 2, the Willie Loughman Forest Rally due to family commitments. Derek had Darren Curren on the notes for that weekend and scored his first ever stage rally victory, finishing the six-stage event 20.6s faster than 2nd placed Jordan and Paul Hone who were in a similar Ford Fiesta R5. Eamonn was back in the passenger seat for Round 3, the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally and once again Derek finished on the podium with a 3rd place finish, 22s off the win.
Podiums continued on the following round, the Trailer Parts & Spares Lakeland Stages Rally. There was actually a Monaghan Motor Club member on each step of the podium that day as Patrick and Stephen O’Brien finished 1st, Conor Mohan navigated Eamonn Kelly to 2nd and Mackarel/Creedon finished in 3rd. The McKelvey Asbestos Bushwhacker Rally was the penultimate round. A 7th place finish overall here was enough to secure the drivers title for Derek but as Eamonn had missed Round 2 he had not claimed the navigators title, so it would come down to the final round in Clare. The pair had an excellent event here and once again finished on the podium which secured the navigators title for Eamonn. Derek and Eamonn will be hoping to defend their title in the 2025 Sligo Forest Rally Championship, which begins in Co. Donegal in February. Domhnall Lennon finished 2nd navigator in class 2 and Tommy Moffett finished 3rd driver in the same class. Mickey Conlon and James McEneaney finished 1st in class 14. Derek was also crowned the McGrady Insurance Motorsport UK Northern Ireland Forest Rally Challenge champion driver for 2024.
