Rahill ‘delighted’ to collect two awards in Croatia

Craig Rahill brought trophies home to Cavan from the most recent European Rally Championship in Croatia: “I absolutely delighted to have secured the third in the Junior Rally Championship.” Along with it, he was named ‘Rookie of the Year’.

Rahill and co-pilot Conor Smith showed promising early pace in their Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 to set two second-fastest times on Saturday morning.

The 2024 Billy Coleman Award winner held Junior ERC’s runner-up spot after stage two but, unfortunately, they had to retire after an accident on the rally’s third stage. Despite their shortened weekend, Rahill and Smith finished the season third in Junior ERC, capping an impressive debut campaign in the championship.

“Unfortunately, we got caught out over gravel, lost the back of the car, and slid wide into a tree,” Rahill reflected afterwards. “We were really driving within ourselves and on a good pace before that, which makes it disappointing to get caught out on the gravel. We were lying second in Junior ERC, only 13 seconds off the lead, and we were enjoying the very technical, tricky stages. They were some of the most demanding stages we’ve done in our careers to date.”

At the end of the day, they came home with a celebrated overall third place: “We are also absolutely delighted to pick up the Rookie of the Year Award, which is a nice omen to show that all our hard work and dedication this year has been recognised.” He said he was “eternally grateful for the support” from team, family, friends and sponsors. He thanked supporter John Coyne and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy for giving him the opportunity to join the programme.

“After many highs and some lows this year it’s been a great experience taking part in this programme and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it.”