FOUR West Cork drivers, spearheaded by Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin, will contest Sunday's Waterford-based Raven's Rock Rally, the fourth round of the Triton Showers National Rally Championship.
The nine-stage event marks the midpoint of the series with Cronin currently fifth in the championship and aiming to secure a top-three championship finish for the third successive season.
The others, all in the top 15, making the relatively short trip include Clonakilty's Cal McCarthy and David Guest and Dunmanway's Jason McSweeney.
Cronin will campaign the Citroen C3 Rally2 car that his brother Keith drove to victory in the Clonakilty Park Hotel West Cork Rally last March. He will also have a new co-driver with East Cork's Padraig O'Donovan calling the pacenotes.
‘I did the recce (reconnaissance) last Saturday and the stages are nice – if you get into a rhythm they should be fine. I struggled with my pace the last time I did the event two years ago,’ Cronin said.
‘Although I haven't been out since the Cavan Rally everything should be okay. I just need a few things to go my way, like having a clean run. I'm happy with the car, so it's just getting a few stages under the belt. The championship pace is similar to last year, everybody is quick now.’
On his championship bid he added, ‘A top three finish is still the goal so I need a solid result.’
David Guest, who is seeded at number eight, will have his first tarmac outing in the Ford Fiesta Rally2 he debuted on the Moonraker Forest Rally in Dungarvan last April.
Ballylickey's Daniel Cronin heads the West Cork contingent.
‘I have no expectations whatsoever as I haven't even driven the car on tarmac. The West Cork Rally was my last tarmac event,’ Guest said.
‘I got a good seeding which is nice. Stephen Quinn will co-drive, we will do our recce on Saturday and take it from there. Anytime I ever did it (Raven's Rock) I enjoyed the rally as the stages were nice. This time, there's no pressure, no expectations and it will be nice to get a run out.’
As for the rest of the season, Guest added, '’robably Wexford, the Cork ‘20’ and the Fastnet.’ His best result in the Raven's Rock came in 2019 when he finished fifth overall in a Skoda Fabia S2000.
For Clonakilty's Cal McCarthy, who also has a new co-driver with Donegal's James McBrearty deputising for the unavailable Eric Calnan, it's a race against the clock. Seeded at No. 12 he explains, ‘We're awaiting the delivery of the engine from France, all going well it should arrive on Wednesday so that will be fine.’
The last time the event was run in 2023, McCarthy punched in his maiden fastest stage time in Irish rallying and also his first in a round of the national series. Unfortunately, he retired from second place on the fifth stage. It certainly was one of his best performances in any rally.
‘We learned a lot from it. We weren't as detailed in our pacenotes and we just got caught out as the road tightened up on a very fast section. We hadn't a run like it since. Setting a fastest stage time gives you the belief that you can actually do it,’ McCarthy said.
‘That weekend we were very comfortable and I felt that we weren't over extending ourselves. Again, I put it down to seat time as we were after completing three days in the Donegal International Rally.’
On his plans, he added, ‘After this, it's probably the Ulster Rally and then, either the Wexford Rally or the Cork '20'. I enjoyed Wexford last year – one day recce for two days rallying. Then there's the Fastnet in late October.’
Akin to what Cal McCarthy alluded to about seat time, Dunmanway's Jason McSweeney agrees wholeheartedly. McSweeney (Skoda Fabia R5) will occupy the number 15 slot with Blackpool's Liam Brennan on pacenote duty.
‘One of the main reasons we are competing in The Rock is that we have three days of seat time behind us and that is always beneficial. I won't be concerned about championship points so we can push on. The benefit of being in the car so soon is that you get up to speed quickly and hopefully, that will be the case on Sunday,’ McSweeney said.
Barryroe's Dylan Doonan will call the notes for Tyrone's Barry Morris (Darrian T90 GTR) as they continue their participation in the Triton series. After the opening three rounds, they top Class 14 and will be aiming to extend their advantage. In Doonan's case he leads the co-drivers category by six points while Morris’ class lead is five points. Their championship rivals include Cavan's Chris Armstrong and Johnno Doogan. both in Ford Escorts, and Donegal's Kevin Gallagher (Darian T90 GTR), all of whom are competing on Sunday.
For The Pike's Peter Keohane it's a role reversal. Having taken a class win on the Donegal International some two weeks ago, he switches to the co-driver's seat with Youghal's Jason Ryan (Toyota Starlet), who was his service manager in Donegal.
The Clonakilty husband and wife crew of Eamonn and Lisa McCarthy (Honda Civic) are seeded at No. 54 and should also benefit from their three days in Donegal. On this occasion, their principal opposition in Class 11F is headed by the Ryan/Keohane partnership while Macroom's Barry O'Brien and Rossmore's Declan Buttimer are also competing in the same class.
Another member of the Cronin clan, Robert will compete in an Opel Corsa Rally4 and will have Kilkenny's Paddy Heffernan as his co-driver as he enjoys a mid-season break from his Ginetta GT Championship outings. Cloughduv's Gavin Walsh (Renault Clio) competes in Class 3 and is seeded at No. 112 with co-driver Natasha Murphy. Dunmanway's Gerard O'Connell/John Murray (Ford Escort) start from the No. 125 berth and Bandon co-driver Daniel Seaman partners Fermoy's David Herbert in a Peugeot 208 Rally4.
Monaghan's Josh Moffett (Hyundai i20 R5) heads the entry from series leader Kilkenny's Eddie Doherty (Skoda Fabia R5) followed by Derry's Desi Henry (Ford Fiesta Rally2), Monaghan's Sam Moffett (Hyundai i20 Rally2), the Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 cars of Donegal's Declan and Michael Boyle and Tyrone's Jason Dickson (Ford Fiesta Rally2) with Cronin and Guest next off the start line. The first stage begins at 10.16am.
