Rally Sweden set to give Eamonn Kelly an ice test

Eamonn Kelly takes his biggest step yet over the coming days.

The 24-year-old rally driver from Frosses competes at Rally Sweden, as he gets his FIA Junior WRC Series underway.

Kelly, the winner of the Billy Coleman Award in 2022, begins the event, based in Umeå, on Thursday evening. Crews will tackle 18 stages, covering 301.18km, before Sunday afternoon’s finish.

Temperatures will plummet to -10 degrees with Rally Sweden the only event on the WRC calendar to take place entirely on snow and ice. It is also one of the oldest rallies in the world.

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For Kelly, who won the Junior British Rally Championship last year - landing €100,000 worth of support to contest rallies nationally and internationally in 2023 - it represents a massive leap.

"I believe it is the best place for me to go to further myself and my rallying career," Kelly said.

"It is a hugely exciting challenge with a lot of firsts - I can't wait. The past two years of my rally career have been very positive with good success, so I feel the time is right to make a jump like this."

Last month, Kelly, in preparation for this weekend, finished 18th overall and was fifth in the SM2 category at the Arctic Lapland Rally.

He said: “As a first snow rally, it was as deep end as you could go. It was vital that I used every mile and picked up as much confidence before Sweden as possible, which we accomplished, learning so much.”

Kelly will have regular co-driver Conor Mohan in tow when he takes on Rally Sweden.

A son of former Irish Tarmac Rally champion Donagh Kelly, he goes behind the wheel of a four-wheel-drive M-Sport Ford Fiesta Rally3 in the one-make championship.

The FIA Junior WRC has proved to be a launchpad for many successful stars, with several graduates of the series going on to forge long careers at the pinnacle of the sport.

Kelly will be looking to follow in the footsteps of former Junior WRC champions including Sébastien Loeb and Sébastien Ogier who, between themselves, have amassed 17 world titles.