Stage Rally

Northern Ireland Motorsport is a very close knit community and the Ulster Automobile Club are delighted to announce that they have reached out to Cookstown Motor Club to co-promote and organise the 2023 Circuit of Ireland Easter Stages Rally, yet another first in the history of this iconic event.

This event continually reinvents itself providing competitors, fans and global audiences with the opportunity to enjoy unique personal experiences of closed road rallies, within the spectacular landscape that Northern Ireland has to offer.

Graeme Stewart, Event Director of the 2022 Rally commented, “It’s clear that collaboration is the only way forward for closed road rallying and I am delighted that Cookstown Motor Club have decided to join us in this exciting new venture“.

Wastewater Solutions Circuit of Ireland International Rally goes to the wire. The final four stages of the ‘Circuit’ produced superb performances by winners Alastair Fisher and Gordon Noble in their VW Polo R5 to claim the coveted UAC Circuit of Ireland Trophy. 11.6 seconds separated them from Josh Moffett and Andy Hayes, (winners of the UAC Easter Stages Rally in 2018), in their Hyundai i20 R5 who had set the fastest times on stages 4 and 7 over the two days and were leading the event going into the final stage.

Callum Devine and Shane Byrne had set 3 of the fastest times on stages 2,3 and 6 on day one but were not able to repeat their performance given the blistering pace on day 2, finishing a further 30.3 seconds behind to claim third place. Desi Henry and Paddy Robinson pushing their Ford Fiesta Rally 2 to set fastest times on stages 1 and 5 led the rally at the end of day 1, however their rally ended with engine failure after stage 9 on day 2.