No trail can be blazed without a clear starting point.
April 2025 was that marker in the sand; the beginning of an inspirational story with room for many more chapters. Round three of this year’s American Rally Association National Championship turns the page to chapter two.
DirtFish Women in Motorsport Driver Aoife Raftery will return to the Olympus Rally presented by DirtFish, having debuted at the event 12 months ago.
Then, she drove a DirtFish Subaru WRX. Now, she’ll pilot a Ford Fiesta Rally3, run and prepared by Element Rallysport.
“I’m delighted to share the news that I’ll be competing at the Olympus Rally,” Aoife smiled. “It feels incredible to be heading back to the next round of the ARA and I couldn’t be more excited to get back behind the wheel and onto the incredible stages over there.
“It’s the first rally that we’re returning to for a second time in the US so it should definitely be a help for us, getting settled into the rally. The stages there are very technical so it should be interesting to see how that goes and with nearly 200 stage miles it should be an incredible event.
“Last year we did the event in the DirtFish Subaru WRX. This time going back in the Rally3, with some experience in the car, should definitely should be a help since we’ve made a lot of progress over the last year.”
Aoife’s not kidding. Olympus 2025 was a stunning result as the Irishwoman claimed a podium in the L4WD class, and she’s kicked on ever since – even claiming an outright podium at last year’s Overmountain Rally Tennessee.
Finishing second in class at Rally in the 100 Acre Wood earlier this month, the target is for more of the same in Washington.
But Aoife’s eyes are also off the stages, where the impact of the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Driver Program can really be felt.
“With the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Driver Program we’re really beginning to show strong presence on the American stages, and I’m very proud to be part of that momentum,” she said.
“Our goal is to keep developing this Program and take it all the way to the top.”
Aoife's shown great progress in a year, but this story is only just getting started
Those sentiments are very much echoed by DirtFish Women in Motorsport coordinator Josie Rimmer.
“Look how much we’ve achieved in the last year,” said Josie. “It’s incredible to think that Aoife hadn’t even competed in America 12 months ago and now she’s scored three podiums in four starts and a third overall in a Rally3 car [at last year’s Overmountain Rally]. That sort of progress, success and visibility is exactly what the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Driver program is all about.
“Next up is Olympus, back where this adventure started for Aoife. She’s staying with the Ford Fiesta Rally3, but the car will be run by Element Rallysport. We’re super-grateful to Ryan [Booth], Keaton [Williams] and the team at Standard Motorsports for the awesome car in Missouri, but with Tony’s [Torchia] shop at Element just down the road from us in Shelton, it makes more sense to run that car at Olympus.
“The Olympus Rally presented by DirtFish is going to be one of the biggest events in American rallying’s recent history and we’re very proud to have Aoife representing DirtFish and the DirtFish Women in Motorsport program there.”
