They say home is where the heart is. But in this case, it’s also where the clever money is.
She’s an Irishwoman with a US-based program, but home lies in Wales – specifically the town of Builth Wells to the south of the country.
The significance? It’s the first place she drove a rally car. The reason? Preparation for her next major event: the Olympus Rally presented by DirtFish.
DirtFish Women in Motorsport Driver Aoife Raftery smiles: “I’m told the Severn Valley Stages are some of the best in the country but I’ve no experience of them. However, it’s actually based in Builth Wells, where the service was at the Nicky Grist Stages in 2021 – my first ever rally.
“So it’s quite special to go back to the town where it all started and service in the same place. I think that’ll be nice.”
But Raftery’s not driving a Ford Fiesta Rally3 in the British Rally Championship this weekend for sentimental reasons. She’s doing it to make sure she’s ready to hit the ground running one week later for what will be the biggest event of her career to-date.
“We’re registering for the BRC, which means that we can do recce for this event, and that’s a really important element of preparation,” she explained. “So between the recce and the rally, this is all prep for the Olympus Rally the following weekend.
“Olympus Rally is the next round of the ARA and is the biggest event of the ARA season and also the biggest event that I’ve ever competed in with it being over 330 stage kilometers. I’ve never got the chance to do a rally as big as that, it’s like a proper WRC event in terms of stage kilometers and of course the stages over there are incredible too.
“So this weekend is all about preparation, it’s about getting the seat time, getting focused and getting comfortable to be able to push from the get-go over at Olympus Rally.”
Raftery has already proven herself in the ARA’s RC3 class: two starts, two second place podiums and even an overall podium at Overmountain Rally Tennessee. But she’s determined to achieve even more in Washington.
Jari-Matti Latvala has compared Olympus roads to North Wales – so Severn Valley may well prove to be ideal preparation for her biggest rally yet
“With the DirtFish Women in Motorsport Driver Program, Josie [Rimmer] and all the team over there, we’re looking for a good result. It’s DirtFish’s local rally, it’s the big one of the season, and of course I was there last year. A lot of the stages are different, but we still have the local knowledge background, which is helpful.
“This weekend’s Severn Valley is all in preparation for that. And, you know, we’re going to do as best a job as we can this weekend still. But our goal in mind is to be able to be on the pace straight away when we get over to Olympus, so I’m looking forward to that.”
