Round three at St Angelo saw Adam Bustard record his first victory. After an intense battle with Ben Crealey throughout the day, Adam battled through the morning’s driving rain and the afternoon’s slippery conditions to win by 0.7 second. Rhys Bunting was third, 26.7 seconds later. The top three are pictured above, as follows: 1st – Adam Bustard (centre left); 2nd: Ben Crealey (far right); 3rd: Rhys Bunting (far left).

Ben Crealey's 2nd victory of the season - 19th March 2012

Ben Crealey (centre right) recorded his second victory of the season in round two, which took place at Bishopscourt Racing Circuit near Downpatrick, As he did in round one, Ben led from the first of the day’s four stages, this time winning by a margin of 20.3 seconds. Second and third places were also a repeat of those from round one, with Kyle White (far right) and Rhys Bunting (far left) ending the day 17.9 seconds apart. Once again, all seven of the junior drivers finished the event, all of them reporting they had learned a great deal and really enjoyed their second ever rally.

Test day at Kirkistown - 15th March 2012

Thursday 15th March saw five of our seven drivers attend a very special test day at Kirkistown. Why special? Because Kris Meeke and Alastair Fisher kindly joined us for the day. They sat alongside all five drivers and gave them the benefit of their invaluable advice. They then drove each of the F1000 cars and provided technical feedback to the teams. Drew Wyle (Kris’ Manager) also attended and spoke to the junior drivers about the importance of fitness, diet, PR, media communication and sponsorship. At the end of the event, both Kris and Alastair said they were impressed with the standard of driving and the preparation of the cars. Needless to say, it was a memorable and very educational day for the five junior competitors who came and we are extremely grateful to Kris and Alastair for taking time out of their busy schedule to join us for the event.

Following last month’s opening round of the inaugural McGrady Insurance Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland, the seven registered youngsters who all successfully completed their first ever stage rally will be back in action again for this weekend’s round two, the Bishopscourt Stages Rally, which is also supported by McGrady Insurance - the Junior series’ title sponsor.

DGM Motorsport has contacted us to say that they have a prepared and ready-to-go Toyota Aygo for hire. The car competed in the UK F1000 Series last year and apparently it's top-spec. Any enquiries, please call Barry: 07980 707913.

On Thursday 15th March, two days before the second round at Bishopscourt, we have arranged for a test session at Kirkistown. We are delighted to confirm that none other than Kris Meeke has agreed to join us and has agreed to provide a master-class and a performance assessment. An occasion not to be missed!

The interest in our series has been overwhelming since the opening round. We have received a enquires from a number of potential new competitors, emails that have congratulated us for getting the series off the ground, plus Motorsport News published a half-page feature in this week’s edition.

Our first season got off to a fantastic start with round one - the Magic Bullet Stages - at Kirkistown Racing Circuit, which took place on 18th February. A great performance by Ben Crealey saw him take the very first victory in our brand new series. All seven crews successfully finished their first ever stage rally: Kyle White was second, Rhys Bunting third, Adam Bustard fourth, Eoghan Bogue fifth, Conor Woods sixth and James Partridge seventh.

First prize announced – 18th February 2012

At the pre-start drivers briefing – just before the opening round of the series got underway – it was announced that the end-of-season winner would will given a tour of the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team premises and have the chance to ride in one of the team’s Fiesta WRC cars alongside either Jari-Matti Latvala or Petter Solberg. I’m sure you’ll agree that this is great news and a prize well worth winning.

We are delighted to announce that McGrady Insurance has agreed to become our title sponsor for this year. Company owner - and a competitor himself - Fintan McGrady said: “I’m delighted to be involved with this new initiative for young drivers and support a series which will develop their driving skills and help discover new talent.”

Drivers taking part in this year’s Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland are getting ready for the season ahead and last week Adam Bustard took delivery of his brand new Chevy Spark. It looks like there’s going to be a few late nights ahead before the first round on 18th February.

Sunday 15th January saw the six juniors so far registered for this year’s series put through their BARS (British Association of Rally Schools) test, the compulsory qualification required to enable drivers to  apply for their competition licence. During the day, the six contenders were given a range of briefings on rally procedures, safety, terminology and driving – plus a host of other information they are likely to need when they eventually compete for the first time - followed by a written test. They were then driven around a mock special stage and asked to answer questions on what they saw. And, we are delighted to report that every single on of them passed with flying colours! From left to right: Kyle White, Connor Woods, Adam Bustard, Ben Crealey, Eoghan Bogue, Rhys Bunting.

The third of the three compulsory Autotests was held on Saturday 14th January at Tony Patterson’s yard, where all six of the currently registered junior drivers took part. Clear winner on this occasion was 14-year old Connor Woods, who displayed an excellent combination of speed and car control. In fact his pace was so good, he surprised many of the more experienced Autotesters as well! All of the Junior competitors showed great enthusiasm and impressed everyone who was watching. So, if this sort of driving is a sign of things to come, then we have a very exciting season ahead. The photo shows Connor proudly standing next to his bright red Nissan Micra.

Sunday 20th November at SuperDrive saw the first of three Autotests, which the juniors who are preparing to apply for their competition licences must take part in. 10 youngsters took part driving a range of 1000cc standard cars, similar to those they hope to be using in next year’s Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland. Best on the day was 15-year old Conner Woods from Fermanah, with Castle Durg’s Adam Bustard – also 15 - second and 16-year old Rhys Bunting from Lurgan in third. All of the drivers were accompanied by one of their parents and, by the smiles on their faces (the drivers rather than the passengers), a good day was had by all. The next Junior Autotest will take place on Sunday 27th November.

The first of the driver assessment days for the Junior 1000 Rally Challenge Ireland was held on Sunday 6th November at SuperDrive. Eight potential competitors turned up to be briefed in advance of the build-up to taking their BARS (British Association of Rally Schools) test, the qualification that is needed in order to apply for a competition licence. It was also an opportunity for the juniors to learn more about the sport and the series they are aiming to join next year. All who came thoroughly enjoyed the day and now look forward the first of the three Autotests, which are all part of the BARS process.