Michael Malone, 14 Jun
Galway rally driver Aoife Raftery had a busy opening day at the BAUHAUS
Royal Rally of Scandinavia, as she aims to retain their third place in the
Junior FIA Rally Championship.
Driving a PCRS Rallysport-prepared Peugeot 208 Rally4, Raftery and
co-driver Hannah McKillop are looking forward to the next two days of
high-speed action in the Värmland and Karlstad areas of central Sweden.
“The roads here are really cool,” said Raftery. “We are really happy with
our recce and our pace notes, and thanks to the Motorsport Ireland Rally
Academy and my sponsors for all their support. It is a really cool event.”
The Craughwell native is the first and so far only female driver to be
selected by the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy.
The hub of the rally is the service park and HQ in Karlstad, the long-time
home of the WRC Rally Sweden.
Today’s stages are largely similar to last year and includes two runs over
the classic Colin’s Crest stage made-famous by WRC Rally Sweden.
Saturday is based east of Karlstad and the rally finishes at the service
park with the official closing ceremony.
The Galway Motor Club member is in her second year of FIA European Rally
Championship competition.