Galway rally driver Aoife Raftery enters Spanish National Rally Championship event this weekend

Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member Aoife Raftery will fly the flag for Irish motorsport at a rally in Spain this weekend.

With the Irish rally season all but over the Craughwell-based driver is keen to expand her international experience.

The first and so far, only female driver to be selected for the Rally Academy has placed an entry for Saturday’s Rally Ciudad de Pozoblanco, the penultimate round of the Spanish Super Championship.

She will drive the same Peugeot 208 Rally 4 that she used on five rounds of the FIA Junior European Rally Championship this year.

The car is prepared by Irish rally team PCRS Rallysport which is headquartered at Aragón racing circuit near Alcañiz in Spain and an opportunity arose to enter Raftery in the 93-kilometre gravel rally.

“One of the first international opportunities I got with the Academy was to complete the recce for the Spanish round of the World Rally Championship in October last year,” she said.

“I really like the country; they are motorsports mad out there and with the car based in Spain it is a great opportunity to get seat time during the Irish off-season in an international setting.”

Rally Ciudad de Pozoblanco is based in the town of Pozoblanco, in the Andalusian region of southern Spain.

The eight-stage rally gets underway at 8 am on Saturday morning.

Raftery is the only Irish competitor on the entry list that includes drivers from Andora, Finland and a host of locals like Spanish Super Championship leader and champion elect José Antonio Suárez.

Aoife Raftery Rallying is supported by O’Neill O’Malley Architects and Project Managers / Loughrea Auto Parts Ltd / Craughwell Tyre Centre / Sean Fleming Motors / Aertec Vacuum and Ventilation / Des Lyons Plant / Quinn’s Hardware