Rhys McElhinney earns podium spot at Moonraker Rally

J1000 Manorcunningham driver Rhys McElhinney, who had Letterkenny’s Conor Morrison on the notes, made the long trip to Saturday’s Moonraker Rally, round 2 of the Sligo Pallets Forestry Championship.

After a disappointing round 1 a few weeks ago, where damage finished their rally, early pressure was on this weekend to gather valuable championship points in McElhinney’s newly built LHD Skoda.

The morning loop did not go to plan as the new car developed power problems which left them considerable down in power but still in 5th place out of a field of 30 odd starters in the juggling popular and competitive J1000 class.

Frustration on stage 3 with the lack of power led to the crew pushing a little too hard hitting a chicane and having some scary moments adding further woes to the morning loop. 

Service allowed the crew to reset and Powertune Motorsport, along with McElhinney’s service crew, got the power issues and damaged front resolved and got back out for the second loop.

The second loop of stages were a lot more positive setting top three stage times on stage 4 and 5 - only a few seconds off the fastest times getting to grips and experience of the new LHD Skoda car.

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Stage 6 was cancelled due to blockages, which was extremely disappointing as the crew had made a charge up the times starting from P7 and finishing on the podium in third place - the first podium for the new car, new crew and sponsors for 2025.