Nineteen-year-old progressive Irish driver Joseph Kelly will make a return to the Junior British Rally Championship at the forthcoming get Connected Rali Ceredigion [3-4 September].
The Co. Donegal pilot tackled last year’s hotly contested series behind the wheel of a Fiesta R2T, but upgraded to the latest Peugeot Sport example, the Peugeot 208 Rally4 at the end of last season.
Concentrating on events at home and the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship in 2022, Kelly had been honing his asphalt skills in more familiar surroundings in the new machinery, but will make the trip to Wales next month to join the Junior BRC regulars with Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy co-driver Ronan Comerford alongside.
“I`m delighted to be returning to the Junior BRC for Rali Ceredigion” says Kelly.
“The championship was fantastic last year and it’s really helped develop me as a driver, but we concentrated on events at home whilst I learnt more about the new Peugeot 208 Rally4. After completing the season at last weekend’s Ulster Rally, we wanted to expand our skill set and try new events. The Junior BRC and the closed roads of Wales is the perfect place to do that”.
Kelly had only kicked off his rallying career in 2019, campaigning a Toyota Aygo in the Junior category. With much of his early years in the forests, he stepped into the mixed surface Junior BRC in 2021 in a bid to further his progression in the sport.
“It will be another learning curve for me but it will be great to see what our pace is like against the regular Junior drivers. I know the pace out front is savage so it should enable us to have a good benchmark to follow as we continue to build our pace and gain experience of new events.
Image courtesy of: Gavin Woods
