Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy driver Aoife Raftery had her best performance to date in an FIA European Rally Championship event by finishing fourth overall, three places better than her previous best in seventh in the Czech Republic last season.
Now in her second season in the Junior ERC competition, the Craughwell-based driver and her Antrim co-driver finished a sensational fourth -overall in the Junior element of the opening round of the 2024 European Rally Championship.
The event got underway on Friday night but the Craughwell-based driver completed six demanding loose surface stages near the town of Veszprem on Saturday.
She and co-driver Hannah McKillop honoured that promise, their Peugeot showing battle scars, a testament to just how hard they were trying.
Road conditions are rough and the ambient heat is not making it any easier for the crews but Raftery, so far, is exceeding self-set pre-event targets.
Sunday was no different, the rally threw everything at the two Irish women, including a front-right puncture, which in turn damaged both the power steering and the car’s cooling.
Her team of PCRS Rallysport mechanics worked miracles to have all the offending parts either repaired or replaced within the allocated 15-minute service time.
She started the final stage in third place but she was perilously close to her teammate Jack Brennan, just 18 seconds separated the two Irish drivers with three rough and challenging stages left to run.
Also in the mix was Swedish driver Mille Johnason to leapfrog both Irish drivers and snare third place on the final test.
In the end, the Galway driver was just 6.1 seconds off her maiden podium finish.
“Great to be at the end of Rally Hungary, some fantastic stages, a huge thanks to everybody who helped me get er, and PCRS in service,” she said.
“I would have taken fourth [out of 17 starters] on Friday, we were very close to third and hopefully we can see that again this year. Thanks to Hannah who did an incredible job and to all at the Rally Academy for their help.”
