Donegal driver Eamonn Kelly sweeps to Junior WRC win at Rally Finland

Eamonn Kelly took an overall victory in the Junior World Rally Championship round at Rally Finland.

The Frosses man led the way heading into the final two stages on Sunday - and he came through two runs of the famous Ouninpohja stage to take victory.

With Monaghan’s Conor Mohan on board as navigator, Kelly had 8.3 seconds to spare on Gill Taylor from New Zealand.

The 26-year-old Kelly set three fastest stage times to claim a famous overall win in his Ford Fiesta Rally3.

He won the Junior WRC in Croatia in 2023 and was second at the Acropolis Rally in Greece the same year before making it to the podium when finishing third at Rally Sweden in 2024.

On Friday, Kelly showed a bit of bite when going fastest on the third stage and moving into second at that point.

Kelly landed another pair of stage wins on Saturday. He was quickest over SS14, Leustu, a 16.44km stage, and followed up by surging to the quickest time on SS17, the 20.19km Paijala stage to stretch the lead out to 20.7 seconds.

Around Ouninpohja - known as one of the fastest stages in the world - Kelly played it safe to confirm his place at the top of the podium.

Taylor was second with Türkkan Ali from Turkey third, a further 13.4 seconds behind Taylor.

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In 2022, Kelly was confirmed by Motorsport Ireland as the winner of the prestigious Billy Coleman Award, given to the Young Rally Driver of the Year.

Kelly, a son of former Irish Tarmac Rally champion Donagh Kelly, won the Junior British Rally Championship that year, landing €100,000 worth of support to contest rallies nationally and internationally in 2023, when he stepped into Junior WRC.