Eamonn Kelly's JWRC success in Finland leaves him with an outside chance of the title at double-points finale
Photography by M-Sport
Words by Luke Barry
Perhaps the number of people that had forgotten he’d won a Junior WRC event before was telling as to how important a result this was.
Surviving a chaotic Croatia Rally in 2023, under the emotional cloud of his countryman Craig Breen losing his life a week earlier, was a very different set of circumstances to topping a mega fight at Rally Finland in 2025.
Both however were important results for Eamonn Kelly, although one stands above the other.
“Of course Croatia was like super-emotional with everything that went on,” Kelly told DirtFish. “We’d only just been in JWRC – like we’d done one other event and we’d crashed so it was like a totally different high.
“We were obviously very inexperienced and we just survived while other guys were super-unlucky that weekend. So I didn’t particularly deserve to win, but we did and I think we just were very much caught up in the moment.
Kelly's only previous JWRC victory came in difficult circumstances at 2023 Croatia Rally
“But looking back on that, it’s not that you’re not proud of it but it’s like you didn’t earn it, you know? And this one we definitely did as we were in the mix from the word go and we were showing our pace. We had some stage wins – and they were convincing stage wins too where we were a couple of seconds quicker – and that’s a great feeling because no-one can take it away from you.
“That’s the thing and that’s what you chase – being in the battle and the guys that you’re racing against are all so fast too, so it was class.”
And well-timed, as it earned Kelly an outside chance at the Junior WRC title at October’s double-points Central European Rally showdown.
“I haven’t been in that mix before,” Kelly admitted. “I didn’t even do the last round last year and the first year I wasn’t in the mix. Look, we do need things to go our way, but anything can happen. It’s a great position to be in.
“I like racing on Tarmac and it’s been so long since I’ve got to do that. We know Central European Rally has thrown up plenty of surprises in the last two years of its running, especially with weather and everything. So you just never, ever know.
Kelly and Mohan were better able to enjoy 8.3-second success on Rally Finland
“We’ll just go and give it everything. There’s no pressure on us. We just go and do our best and enjoy doing one final Junior WRC round because we’re very, very lucky to be in that position.”
But this result (and drive) was also well-timed in putting Kelly’s name back on the map.
Kelly is one of the senior drivers within Motorsport Ireland’s Rally Academy, alongside 2023 Junior WRC champion (and current British championship leader) William Creighton and M-Sport Rally1 driver Josh McErlean.
The aim of that program is very clearly to unearth Ireland’s first World Rally champion, but that accolade can only be achieved by one driver.
Creighton’s already won a world title at junior level (in his third year, the same as Kelly is in now) while McErlean has a seat at the top table. Kelly has shown just as much potential as both at junior level in the UK and Ireland, but has less profile internationally.
Josh McErlean leads the way for the current crop of Motorsport Ireland-backed drivers
So does he feel any kind of pressure to deliver and compare well to his fellow Irishmen?
“None at all,” he replied. “I’m very much in my own program with my own goals and just doing what I can do.
“It’s very difficult to compare yourself to other people, especially as these championships change all the time,” he pointed out. “You know, people were in different circumstances at different stages, so it’s very hard to compare. But, yeah, you can only do what you can do.
“My goal is always just to do my best and give everything and to put as much effort in as I can and deliver the best performance. I’ve always said that from the very start when we entered this program; once I do that, I’ll be happy. And, yeah, just keep going until I can actually deliver no more. And whatever that is, it is. I’m content.
“That’s why Finland was so special because I feel like I have been giving everything and I have been trying my absolute best and leaving very little left on the table. And when the results aren’t coming your way, you feel like, oh my God, I’m just not good enough.
“And you start then to try and say, ‘well, maybe I just have to accept that’. But then when you get last week’s result and you go, ‘no, I am good enough, I have the speed and I can put it together and I can deliver a result at this level’, I feel a huge relief because you do begin to doubt yourself.
“But you never give up. You know you can do it, but it’s always slightly on that edge of ‘am I good enough?’ you know? So that’s the way I look at things. I don’t really compare myself to anybody else.
“Everybody’s in different situations, different circumstances, and everyone has different goals.”
In one of his earlier answers, Kelly referenced the fact he aimed to “enjoy doing one final Junior WRC round” in a couple of months.
Obviously if he did win the championship and took the Ford Fiesta Rally2 prize drives that come with it, there’s no way he and co-driver Conor Mohan would be back in Junior WRC again.
Kelly is relishing the prospect of Central European Rally's tricky aspalt stages
But regardless of the result, Kelly is viewing CER as a ‘now or never’ shot at the title.
He explained: “We decided to do this season really as a final shot at it. Like, honestly, three years is a lot. And I think if you’re not going to win something in three years, you’re not going to do it unless it’s obviously like top-flight stuff.
“We just said that this would be our last shot and we’d give it everything. And I do feel certainly that I’m ready for a new challenge, whatever that might be. We said we’re fully focused on this season and we’re not really thinking about it [next year], to be honest.
“But deep down, I know I’m ready to try something different. So we’ll get to Central Europe and give it everything and let’s see what happens after that.”
Co-driver Mohan is equally focused on making the duo's last shot at JWRC glory count
Kelly has good experience of driving Rally2 cars before, including twice in WRC2 two years ago.
He heads into the Junior WRC finale with a 40-point deficit and 68 points still on offer.
Kelly can count one of rallying’s biggest legends for support, with 1981 world champion Ari Vatanen a good family friend.
“I guess it looked really strange seeing Ari cheering on this random Irish junior driver,” Kelly laughed. “Like of all people, why the hell would he be cheering me on?”
“But Ari rings me after most WRC events and he takes great interest in everything I do and he’ll spend time with me on the phone and ask me questions. He’s obviously done all these rallies himself before. I know they’ve been very different, but he still understands what it’s like.
“So he takes great interest, as he does with lots of people – that’s why he’s so liked across the motorsport industry. Even his son Max was a great help to me too. He won the Juniors here in 2016 and he talked me through some of the stages on Zoom calls and went through them and what I could have improved on from last year.
“So they were fantastic and to have them there across the weekend and out spectating with my dad… Well, honestly, it was hard to miss them on the sidelines!”
Words:Luke Barry
Tags: Eamonn Kelly, JWRC, JWRC 2025, Rally Finland 2025, WRC, WRC 2025
Publish Date August 16, 2025 DirtFish 
https://dirtfish-editorial.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com/2025/08/YvAe9byu-WRC_FIN_25_E_KELLY_2108-780x520.jpg August 16, 2025
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