A Donegal man has been named as the first nominee for the 2024 Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year Award for the opening period of January to May.
26-year-old Ryan MacHugh from Frosses has been contesting the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, as well as the Junior British Rally Championship in a Ford Fiesta Rally4 alongside his long-time navigator Declan Boyle, with the experienced Arthur Kierans also co-driving on select events.
MacHugh has impressed this year with multiple class wins in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship and he classes his West Cork Rally performance as a season highlight where he not only took the class victory, finished 14th overall and was the second two-wheel-drive car home.
MacHugh has also focused on loose surface events in 2024 winning the competitive class 2 and finishing 8th overall on the Carrick-On-Suir Willie Loughman Forestry Rally in April.
Away from the stages, MacHugh, a member of Donegal Motor Club and the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy, works as a Mechanical Engineer with Moffett Automation.
MacHugh only started competing in 2021, using a Honda Civic before progressing on to the Ford Fiesta Rally4 he currently campaigns, in 2023. He plans to compete in more gravel events for the remainder of the season and wishes to thank all his sponsors for their support as well as NMH Motorsport for their assistance in preparing and running his car throughout the season.
This year’s Billy Coleman Award will see two qualifiers selected from the following monthly groupings: January-May, June-October. These nominees will be joined by the highest-placed eligible drivers from the Junior sections in the Motorsport Ireland National Rally Championship and the Motorsport Ireland National Forestry Championship, the highest-placed eligible drivers in the dual surface Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series J1600, Rally4/R2 and Rally5 categories as well as a wildcard selection, meaning that up to eight drivers may be nominated for the award in 2024.
The winner of the Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year Award will receive a support package to contest rallies nationally and internationally in 2025.
The Sport Ireland and Motorsport Ireland funded award is valued at €50,000. The award winner will receive assistance and guidance from Billy Coleman co-ordinator Sean McHugh.
An additional support package, valued at a further €50,000, will be available from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy as part of an agreed training and development programme designed to progress the winners’ career. The winner may apply for a second year of support upon satisfactory performances in their award-winning year.
Both Billy Coleman Award runners-up will receive support to compete in stage rallies at home and abroad up to an amount of €15,000 each as well as an invitation to participate in the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy development programme in 2025.
All funding will be based upon agreed plans which will be subject to the achievement of progression targets.
