Final Round Showdown for NJRC
The NJRC returns next Sunday to where it all began for the final round in 2009 championship. The Tipperary Forestry Rally got the season under way and now The Birr Forestry Rally brings the curtain down. The penultimate round is just the day before in the north of the Country in Co. Donegal as the Donegal Harvest plays host to round thirteen but as not registered drivers are making the trip the focal point of the action will move to the town of Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. A blanket of snow covered the stages near Mitchelstown in February as Craig Breen grabbed an early lead and now the young man from Co. Waterford lies only one step away from claiming the National Junior Rally Championship Title. Apart from Breen however there are two other drivers in the mix for the championship crown, Craig Breen leads the way on 38 points, Jonathan Cunningham on 36 points and John Byrnes third on the table with 34 points. Breen has the cards stacked in his favour as he has only contested four events with Cunningham and Byrnes with five scores on the table and the best five points total counting towards the championship. Cunningham’s 36 points come from his five best point’s totals to date; he has competed on six events but has dropped the six points awarded from the ALMC Stages.
As we reach this part of the season the focus will also turn to the coveted Billy Coleman Award. The NJRC is the only route through to the interview process. The winner of each class, along with the drivers from within this series who will be nominated by expert competitors selected by Motorsport Ireland to get wild cards to the interview process. Over the years some of the biggest names in Irish Rallying have had the honor of winning the prize.

2000 Rory Galligan
2001 Stuart Darcy
2002 Shaun Gallagher
2003 Dessie Keenan
2004 Eamon McElvaney
2005 Gareth MacHale
2006 Owen Murphy
2007 Keith Cronin
2008 Ross Forde
2009 ????

This year has shown the rallying talent we have on our shores. The 2007 award winner Keith Cronin is after having an amazing season in the BRC (British Rally Championship). The 23 year old clenched the title on the final round and in doing so bridged a 35 year gap to the last Irish man to have claimed the British Rally Championship, who was BILLY COLEMAN.
Apart from the fight between the top three there will be class battles and the hope of a wild card spot for the Coleman award. Class battles that have been decided already are Class D Winner Craig Breen, Class F Winner Kevin O’Connor and Class G Winner Jonathan Cunningham. These three drivers will automatically go through to the interview process for the Billy Coleman Award. There are three drivers that will be fighting for the wild card places, they are: John Byrnes, John O’Connor and Vincent McAree.
If the winner of the championship goes on to win the Billy Coleman Award, he will retain the National Junior Rally Championship title but he will forfeit the €5000 worth of prize money. This money will then go to the second place finisher in the championship. With only a few days to go to the Forestry Finale all the drivers are looking forward to the event.
Drivers Update as we enter the last week of the season.
Championship leader Craig Breen had a very eventful Rally Catalunya. He was troubled with electrical gremlins in the R2 over the three days and rolled the car on Saturday but was able to continue on Sunday under super rally rules. After all his problems he is still in contention for the title (Fiesta Sport Trophy International) with the final round on Rally GB to come. This week his attention will focus on the Pirelli Shootout. The action takes place in the Sweet Lamb complex in mid-Wales on Wednesday the 7th. Second on the table Jonathan Cunningham is still on a high after winning the Cork 20 Junior Rally on Sunday last. The event was undertaken in his brother’s Honda Civic and was to build his confidence after the big accident in Clare. The nature of his win far surpasses what Jonathan had set out to do. He had a major battle with David Guest over the six stages and took the victory by only six seconds at the finish. Third on the table John Byrnes was also to tackle the Cork 20 event but had to pull just before the start because his navigator could not take part. Speaking to John today however he states all will be ok for next Sunday. He was to use the Honda Civic belonging to John Collins in Cork but in Nenagh he will be back in his C2R2. Next we have John O’Connor from Limerick. John scored his first victory in Clare after Cunningham’s last stage accident and in doing so moved into fourth place overall in the championship and he now hopes to finish the season in fine style and grab one of the wild card places for the Coleman award. Also fighting for a wild card place is Vincent McAree. Vincent was last out in the Cork Forestry but suffered an engine blow up. It has taken some time to get the car repaired but Vincent will make it to Birr and hopes the forestry event in Nenagh will be as kind as that of the Moonraker where he took victory earlier in the season. Kevin O’Connor doesn’t have to worry about his class status as he has Class F already in the bag. Kevin will be hoping to finish the season on a good note as he crashed in Clare and is best result (The Ravens Rock Rally Win) was some time ago.