On a frozen lake on the outskirts of Dagali in Norway, a blue flash weaves through the snowbanks as a Nissan Almera GTi scrabbles for grip. Behind the wheel is 2023 Sligo Pallets Forest Championship Junior 1000 Champion Tommy Moffett, and he is here as part of a Prize Package funded by Craig Breen and the Foundation named in his honour. For the young star, the trip is one of learning and development, with two days spent under the guidance of rally legend John Haugland at his world-famous Winter Rally School. Over his 50-year career, the Norwegian ace has seen countless stars of the sport pass through his Rally School, and Tommy Moffett can now proudly add himself to the illustrious list of pupils. One of the most famous recent stars who spent time at Haugland's winter playground was Craig Breen, and it was through the prize package that he self-funded at the start of the 2023 season. Determined to make a real impact on the development of future Rally stars from a young age, Breen put together a €10,000 fund that would see every competitor benefit by way of vouchers throughout the season, and ultimately a driver development trip for the series champion. The Craig Breen Foundation aims to continue and build on the good work started by the Waterford driver in developing the path into top level rallying for young Irish competitors, while honouring his memory. With the support of Hyundai Motorsport, Sports & You, Hyundai Portugal, Hyundai Spain, Motorsport Ireland and the FIA, the foundation has committed to support the J1000 Championship for a minimum 5-year period from 2024 onwards. The foundation will initially see a total prize fund valued at over €35,000 made available for the 2024 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship J1000s. This year’s winner, Moffett, was joined on the trip by his championship winning navigator Domhnall Lennon, as well as Tommy's Brother and twice Irish Forest Rally Champion Josh. With the guidance of John Haugland, Domhnall & Josh, the trip was an incredible opportunity for Tommy to adapt to a more powerful FWD car as he prepares to make the step into a new machine this year, as well as to an all new surface. From the reports received back, the trip was a huge success with incredible amounts of seat time and practice put down, some great tuition from the legendary John Haugland and the only reported damage being from the elder Moffett leaving a Mitsibushi rear bumper in a snow bank (allegedly)!
The 2024 Sligo Pallets Forest Rally Championship kicks off on February 18th with the Castleisland, Co. Kerry based Killarney Forest Rally
