MOTOR SPORTS NEWS

Latest News

  • Bella Bella! William Creighton records stunning victory on Rally Italia
  • 1000 Miglia to hit the United States’ Highways
  • Alpine Elf Endurance Team takes up the challenge of the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
  • Historic Le Mans underway for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
  • New LEGO Technic Peugeot 9X8 Pays Homage to the Hybrid Hypercar Ahead of Le Mans Debut
  • Home
  • News
  • Dakar
    • DAKAR 2016
    • Dakar 2015
  • Cross-Country Rally
  • Notice Board
  • Rally
  • Motorbike
  • Touring Cars
  • Circuit Racing
  • Events
  • follow
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Google+
    • Pinterest
    • RSS Feed
    • Linked
    • Youtube

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy established

Jan 30, 2019


  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
Tweet
  • Elite high-performance academy launched
  • Former National and Tarmac Rally Champion John Coyne providing support for future rally stars

The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy is being established to provide promising young drivers with a pathway from the junior rallying ranks through to competing at World Rally Championship (WRC) level.

Those eligible to enter the high-performance academy will initially be chosen from the Billy Coleman Award nominees, and will be joined by Winners of the J1000, J1600 and R2 Junior classes of rallying. Drivers and navigators who are selected will undergo a rigorous training programme to develop their skills and discipline and move them up through the various competitive classes in Irish rallying through to the highest levels of the sport internationally.

Leo Hassett, the CEO of Motorsport Ireland, said: “This new initiative is focused on creating a structured development programme for young Irish rally drivers and co-drivers and is designed to prepare them to compete on the world stage. It also adds value to the current Billy Coleman award system, which recognises our junior drivers competing in all classes of rally vehicles. All academy drivers and co-drivers will participate in a series of coaching events throughout the year which will include driving and co-driving theory, and practice on both sealed and loose surfaces, as well as fitness and media training.”

Initial funding for this initiative has come through the Team Ireland Foundation as a result of support from John Coyne.

John, now resident in California, is a former Irish National (1977) and Irish Tarmac (1982) rally champion. He also has championship wins to his name in Malaysia (Group N-1999) and California (Open-2016). A mechanical engineering graduate of UCD, John retired in 2013 from the CEO position at Western Digital, one of the world’s top digital storage companies, having worked for the company for some 30 years. Since his retirement, John has returned to rally in Ireland and abroad using both his 1982 Irish Tarmac Championship winning Talbot Sunbeam Lotus and a Porsche 997 R-GT, which has proved to be a real crowd favourite.

Speaking about the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, John said: “The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy is a great opportunity for me to give back to a sport that has provided me with so many great experiences over the years. I’m delighted to be involved with supporting this initiative to identify and nurture our young motorsport talent and help them progress and represent Ireland competitively on the world stage. I look forward to watching some of them competing in the WRC in the years ahead! I’d particularly like to thank Sean McHugh, Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Award Co-Ordinator for his leadership, enthusiasm and hard work in proposing and developing the details of the new Rally Academy program.”

The Team Ireland Motorsport initiative is now in its third year and this new rally-focused program will enhance its ability to recognise and support a larger group of talented young Irish drivers and co-drivers in the coming years.

John Naylor, President of Motorsport Ireland, said: “This is an exciting time for up and coming rally talent in Ireland. With this additional funding, we can do so much more for our young drivers. Team Ireland has been funded up to now by John Campion of CJJ Holdings in the USA and it is great to welcome John Coyne on board as a major contributor. It is encouraging to see people such as John Campion and John Coyne giving back so much to our sport and hopefully it will encourage others to come on board as well.”

Claremorris native Sean McHugh, Co-Ordinator of the Billy Coleman Award, said: “This donation will allow us to build on the success of the award over the last 20 years and facilitate an expansion of the project to get talented drivers into a training programme at a much younger age. We now can expand the level of support to the overall winner and runners up.”


  • tweet
Related articles
  • Bella Bella! William Creighton records stunning victory on Rally Italia
    Bella Bella! William Creighton records...

    Jun 05, 2023 Comments Off on Bella Bella! William Creighton records stunning victory on Rally Italia

  • 1000 Miglia to hit the United States’ Highways
    1000 Miglia to hit the United...

    Jun 05, 2023 Comments Off on 1000 Miglia to hit the United States’ Highways

  • Alpine Elf Endurance Team takes up the challenge of the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
    Alpine Elf Endurance Team takes up the...

    Jun 05, 2023 Comments Off on Alpine Elf Endurance Team takes up the challenge of the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

  • Historic Le Mans underway for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
    Historic Le Mans underway for TOYOTA...

    Jun 05, 2023 Comments Off on Historic Le Mans underway for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing

More in this category
  • Bella Bella! William Creighton records stunning victory on Rally Italia
    Bella Bella! William Creighton records...

    Comments Off on Bella Bella! William Creighton records stunning victory on Rally Italia

  • 1000 Miglia to hit the United States’ Highways
    1000 Miglia to hit the United...

    Comments Off on 1000 Miglia to hit the United States’ Highways

  • Alpine Elf Endurance Team takes up the challenge of the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans
    Alpine Elf Endurance Team takes up the...

    Comments Off on Alpine Elf Endurance Team takes up the challenge of the centenary of the 24 Hours of Le Mans

  • Historic Le Mans underway for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing
    Historic Le Mans underway for TOYOTA...

    Comments Off on Historic Le Mans underway for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing


Fleet Car Magazine

Notice Board

  • For Sale! 1991 Jordan-Ford driven by Mick Schumacher at Bonhams Grandes Marques du Monde à Paris auction
    For Sale! 1991 Jordan-Ford driven by Mick Schumacher at...

    Jan 18, 2023

    Tweet1991 Jordan-Ford driven by Mick Schumacher in 2021 to...
  • Opel Ireland partners with Mondello Park to launch 2022 EARLY-DRIVE road safety programme
    Opel Ireland partners with Mondello Park to launch 2022...

    Aug 21, 2022

    TweetA unique young driver education programme, developed...
  • Goodyear FIA ETRC pays tribute to Anthony Janiec
    Goodyear FIA ETRC pays tribute to Anthony Janiec

    Aug 07, 2022

    Tweet The Goodyear FIA ETRC, ETRA Promotion and the entire...
  • Killarney Forestry Rally to raise funds for Air Ambulance
    Killarney Forestry Rally to raise funds for Air Ambulance

    Feb 03, 2022

    TweetRally drivers from across Ireland will help fund...
  • McHugh’s Service Station, Ballindine Mayo Stages Rally, 6 March 2022
    McHugh’s Service Station, Ballindine Mayo Stages Rally, 6...

    Jan 27, 2022

    TweetMayo & District Motorsport Club, organisers of the...

Categories

  • Africa Eco-Race
  • Baja
  • BRC
  • Circuit Racing
  • Cross-Country Rally
  • Dakar
  • Dakar 2015
  • DAKAR 2016
  • DAKAR 2017
  • DAKAR 2019 PERU
  • DAKAR RALLY 2018
  • EV Motorsport
  • Events
  • EverGreeens: Irish Abroad
  • Extreme E
  • Forestry Rally
  • Formula 1
  • Hillclimb
  • IndyCar Series
  • Interview
  • Middle East Rally Championship
  • Morocco Rally
  • Motorbike
  • News
  • Notice Board
  • Rally
  • RallyX
  • Related products
  • Review
  • Sportscars
  • Touring Cars
  • Tribute
  • Truck Racing
  • Uncategorized
  • Video
  • WRC
Tweets by @IrMotSportNews

Recent Posts

How Extreme E delivered off track in Scotland

How Extreme E delivered off track in Scotland

May 26, 2023

Tweet The Hydro X Prix in Dumfries and Galloway marked a number of successes on course at the former opencast coal mine at Glenmuckloch. There were also multiple initiatives taking place off-track as...
Read More
Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux crew Al-Rajhi & Gottschalk win new Tabuk-Neom Rally

Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux crew Al-Rajhi...

May 21, 2023

X44 Vida Carbon Racing’s Fraser McConnell’s first win in Extreme E

X44 Vida Carbon Racing’s Fraser...

May 19, 2023

40 years of Audi Sport GmbH with a Rev-Up at the Nürburgring!

40 years of Audi Sport GmbH with a Rev-Up at the...

May 19, 2023

Impressive entry list for first Tabuk-Neom Rally: 2023 Saudi Toyota Rally Championship

Impressive entry list for first Tabuk-Neom Rally:...

May 14, 2023

Copyright 2016 / All rights reserved