England and Mullen give master class in tactics at Mayo rally
Lough Owel Motors backed Oran England (Cavan) and co-driver Darragh Mullen (Sligo) delivered a masterclass in tactical driving and foul-weather management to dominate the Rally4 category at Sunday’s West Tyres Mayo Stages Rally.
In what served as a high-speed shakedown for upcoming championship campaigns, Oran and Darragh brought their Peugeot 208 Rally4 home more than two minutes clear of nearest class rival, John O’Rourke and Derek Lynch, in an Opel Corsa Rally.
The top 20 finish was the highest-placed front-wheel drive car, which demonstrated exceptional car control in the rain-soaked conditions.
The performance was as much about strategy as it was about stage times.
Following an announcement on Friday that the Stellantis Cup would move to Michelin tyres for the 2026 season, Oran and Darragh changed their plan for Mayo to run on the French rubber.
That move proved inspired, allowing them to gather critical data on tyre compounds and pressures in treacherous standing water, knowledge their rivals will lack when the Stellantis Cup kicks off in Nenagh later this month.
Mayo (not a scoring round for the Motorsport Ireland Junior Rally Series) was the opening of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.
By taking maximum points in the National Rally4 class, Oran and Darragh have built a safety net for the season.
The winner of the Junior series is guaranteed a Billy Coleman Award nomination, and the same honour is available to national class winners.
Scoring well in Mayo ensures that if the junior series plans falter, the Triton-backed National series provides a secondary path to the nomination.
The event served as a vital tarmac shakedown before Oran heads to his father Timmy’s home patch for the Nenagh rally on March 29.
Having started the year with a fourth-place finish on the gravel of the Yeats Ridge Forestry, the transition to sealed surfaces in Mayo required immediate adaptation to some of the worst conditions in Irish rallying in years.
“The conditions were as tough as I have ever seen, with standing water making it a real lottery in places,” Oran said.
“We had to be extremely disciplined with the car and the notes. Moving to the Michelin tyres on Friday was a big decision, but it was the right one.
“Getting that mileage under our belts in the wet gives us a massive headstart for the opening round of the Stellantis Cup in Tipperary.
“We weren’t just driving for the win in Mayo, we were learning how the car reacts to the new rubber when the grip is constantly changing. It was about being smart as much as being fast.”
The victory validates the winter work Oran and Darragh put in to pace-note tuition and sets a high bar for the rest of the Rally4 field as the focus shifts to the opening tarmac round of the junior series in Nenagh.
Darrgah Mullen, reigning British Junior co-driving and Stellantis cup co-driving champion, was the highest placed Mayo Motorsport Club co-driving member at the event.
The Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member said:“ Mayo turned out to be a good rally for us across the three challenging stages in wet and tricky conditions. The recce went well, and we put a lot of work into the pacenotes beforehand, which definitely proved to work well once we got into the stages.
“Our plan was to make a steady start, bed ourselves in and get a feel for the car in the wet conditions, especially as Oran still has limited seat time in the Peugeot.
“A massive thanks has to go to all the marshals who stood out in that weather to make the event possible. Thanks as always to the academy for their continued guidance and to all the sponsors on the car for helping make it all possible.”
Oran England Motorsport is supported by Lough Owel Motors Peugeot; TEE Fire Safety Solutions; BJD Electrical; The Mason’s Apron; Lough Owel Motors; BSR Plant and Civil; Fortus; Streamline Coaches; OHR; CA Hire and Kerry Motorsport News.