Raftery in the driving seat for prestigious motoring award

Craughwell rally driver Dean Raftery may be just 21-years-of-age, but he is certainly a young man on top of his game at the moment – as underlined by his nomination for the prestigious Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver of the Year award recently.

It’s no surprise then that Raftery is in great form and looking forward to the interview process for the award next week.

“It is my first year nominated while some of the other drivers have been nominated two or three times before. You have to be 26 at the start of the year to be still a junior,” explains the 21-year-old. “Sure, we will go up and do our best.”

Certainly, Raftery’s best has earned him plenty of accolades and plaudits throughout the year, winning both the 2012 Valvoline Irish Junior Forestry Rally Championship and the 2012 South East States Rally Junior Championship.

Those victories have secured him a wildcard nomination for the award – he is one of seven drivers nominated – with the winner receiving the very lucrative prize of €50,000 worth of support to compete in stage rallies nationally and internationally in 2013. Two runners-up will receive free entry into a number of events while the top three drivers will all be awarded coordinator support.

“Next year, I would be hoping to compete in the British Rally, either the Championship or Challenge. It depends on this award,” says the NUI Galway final year Economics student. “The Challenge is more cost efficient, although it is the same rallies as the British Championship. I suppose the Challenge is the next step down from it and it is a stepping stone up to the BRC. There are seven events and they are based between Wales, Scotland and England.

“There is also one in Northern Ireland, the Ulster Rally. I suppose, we would be going over the Tuesday or Wednesday before the rally on the Saturday. It is a big commitment, a lot of time off work or college, and there is a lot of organisation for it.”

In any event, should Raftery win the award or not, he is determined to build on the success of this year. The season began brightly for the Craughwell driver back in January when he finished third in the opening round of the Forestry Rally Championship in Donegal.

“We were leading it, but we had to stop to fix a puncture and that set us back,” he outlines. “In the next round, down in Carrick-on-Suir, we finished second in that. The third one is called the Moonraker Rally, based in Lismore, and we won the Junior [event] in that one. “

Significantly, he contested that event with his new navigator, 19-year-old Aileen Kelly. According to Raftery, Kelly would be one of only a few women navigating in Ireland while she is also very young in comparison to other navigators, who tend to be somewhat older.

“Aileen is from Rosscarbery down in Cork. I gave her a call [early in the year] and she is with me since. She came on board at the start of the third round.”

Meeting with instant glory with that first victory of the season in the Moonraker Rally – a win that placed Raftery at the top of the junior championship leader board – the partnership continued their winning ways with victories at the Jim Walsh (Mallow) and Sean Conlon (Mitchelstown) Rallies.

“The last one we did was the Bushwhacker Rally up in Omagh, which was the penultimate round, and we won the championship there. It meant we didn’t have to compete in the last round. I was delighted to win it, especially at my first attempt,” says the talented driver.

In addition, Raftery also clinched the South East Stages Rally Junior Championship, which was another notable feather in his cap.

For more, read this week's Galway City Tribune.