MOTORSPORT: Claudy's Jordan Hone nominated for this year’s Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver Award

Claudy’s Jordan Hone has been nominated for this year’s Motorsport Ireland Billy Coleman Young Rally Driver Award.

The title is currently held by Junior WRC driver Callum Devine, from the nearby village of Park.

Hone, 22, was nominated for his performances in July and August.  He drove his Opel Adam to victory in the Junior class of the Jim Walsh Cork Forest Rally, taking 13th place overall.

It was followed by a class win in the Ulster International Rally three weeks later.

Jordan finished as runner up in the Junior section of the Donegal International Rally earlier in the season.  He was less than two seconds behind the eventual winner after swapping places all day. He also took a Junior win in the Carlow Mini Stages Rally.

Jordan began rallying in 2013 at the age of 17, scoring a class win in his first ever event, and going on to take his class in the Northern Ireland Rally Championship.

He was NI Junior Rally champion the following year, and won the Group N Production class in the Valvoline National Forestry series in 2017. He hopes to contest the British Rally Championship next year, as well as possibly some European events.

Jordan is in the final year of a Masters’ degree in Mechanical Engineering at Queen’s University, Belfast.

His sponsors are: Premier Car Parts (Derry), Rallyhire (Belfast) and TOC Utilities (Dungiven).

He paid tribute to all the support he has had from his family and friends, particularly from his father and co-driver Paul Hone, Raymond and Matthew Mason of Rallyhire for their car preparation, and Aileen Kelly, who co-drove him in the Donegal International.