Galway’s Aoife Raftery will make their second Junior European Rally Championship appearance of the year at Rally Liepāja in Latvia this month.
The Craughwell native and her Welsh co-driver Claire Williams had a successful maiden outing in the European Rally Championship in Poland last month driving a PCRS Rallysport-prepared Peugeot 208 Rally 4.
Aoife is a member of the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy which helps promote young Irish rally talent on an international stage.
She is following in the wheel tracks of one of her motorsport heroes, Rosemary Smith. The Galwegian is the first Irish woman to enter the European Rally Championship since Smith’s exploits in the 1960s and 1970s.
“We are really looking forward to Latvia and building on the experience from Poland. It is exciting to get a chance to compete in the Junior-ERC with help and with support from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy,” Aoife said.
“They are tough events, and it is a tough class, we just want to build on our pace and keep improving, same as Poland we will be taking each stage and each day one at a time.”
“Our focus is to get to the finish and improve and get the experience. Poland was an eye opener, it was an experience, long days but we know now what to expect.”
Rally Liepāja, now a decade old, will see four Irish drivers including Raftery when it takes place on June 17 – 18 in Latvia.
Correction: This article has been updated with the correct spelling of Aoife Raftery’s surname.
