The Mayo husband and wife team will debut the Ford Fiesta R5 in the National Rally Championship

HUSBAND and wife team John Warren and Ruthann O’Connor are synonymous with motorsport success in their instantly recognizable McHale Fusion 4 Plus Toyota Corolla, earning the title of ‘Green Machine’ the length and breadth of the country.

But last Sunday the motorsport world welcomed a change from the norm when a Mayo couple debuted a Ford Fiesta R5 at the Birr Stages Rally, the third round of the National Rally Championship.

The Ford Fiesta R5 is a rally car specially built by M-Sport (M-Sport is a British sports engineering company) and is based on the Ford Fiesta ST road car. It was the first car to be assembled under the International R5 racing regulations that were introduced in 2013. The Fiesta R5 has participated in the World Rally Championship, the European Championship and various national competitions since then.

“It was just a time of change,” Warren said, still grinning from ear to ear after the incident.

“Following many conversations with our employer and assistant manager (McHale) they suggested seeing if it was possible. They were keen to push the idea to see if this was something that could happen; I had never driven a 4wd rally car competitively and with Ruthann’s desire to test the level of one of the most successful cars in the motorcycle world, the idea became a reality. We did a quick test in the car last week and immediately felt like I was comfortable. It’s a different style of driving compared to sleeping in the Corolla , but I felt good from the word go!

Ruthann was also quick to add: “R5 cars, they are as good as everyone says! The fiesta was simply shocking. Well, it’s not the latest, most modern car, but it wasn’t real to be honest.”

Speaking about how the actual event took place on Sunday, John said: “Throughout the event I felt confident coming with the car. Obviously it was difficult to know the boundaries right away and the last thing we wanted to do was make a mistake.

“Looking back there were times I felt we could have gone faster, but, as I said, it wasn’t the case. But the experience of the car and the situation is the biggest take-away from today. We had a blast and I want to say a big thank you to Niall McGonigle from IN Sport for the hire car and McHale’s for supporting us this weekend.

While Josh Moffett and Keith Moriarty started to finish victorious at the event in their Citroen C3 Rally2 car, it was the sight of John and Ruthann finishing 15th overall out of more than 165 cars that started the event that created a sensation.

Asked later if this was a one-off ride in the R5 machine, John replied: “While the original Green Corolla machine hasn’t been sold – yet – based on public feedback over the weekend and comments on the McHale Rallying TikTok account. we feel it would be a shame not to try to close the deal and connect another day.”